An evening of drum activation, artist dialogue, and shared food – honoring African musical traditions and community!

*A Djaliis a historian, storyteller and musician, who preserves tradition and culture in West African societies.

Join us for a powerful day of music, movement, and shared meal as we celebrate the activation of three newly created Senegalese drums and honor the cultural traditions that brought them into being.

These drums were crafted during the Senegalese Animal-to-Drum Making Workshop held April 26 at Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, where participants collaborated with visiting Senegalese Djali*/ Traditional artists and local culture workers, to transform the hide of a cow born and raised on the ranch into instruments of music and ceremony.

Join us! Get tickets/info Senegalese Animal-to-Drum Making Workshop

With the support of local artists and culture workers, the three communal drums created during the workshop will now be activated for the first time at the Mendocino Art Center. 

The event will begin with an artist talk with the visiting instructors, Saliou M’Boup and Adama Diouf, and collaborators who helped guide the drum-making process. 

Soon after local artists, African Dance and drumming performers, will join our visiting instructors in a procession and rhythmic activation, bringing the newly made drums into motion through collective music and movement. This moment marks the beginning of the handmade drums’ lives in Mendocino County, where one will remain as a cultural resource for the Art Center – continuing to share African musical traditions with the community for years to come.

Following the activation, guests will be nourished by a community meal curated and provided by local chef (TBA). 

Together we will reflect on the craft, cultural lineage, and spiritual significance of the drums, and the journey from animal to instrument to community offering. This evening celebrates not only the creation of new instruments, but also the relationships between land, animal, craft, culture, and community! 

Featuring:
Senegalese Artist Saliou M’Boup and Adama Diouf. They will be joined by local artists and culture workers who are connected to MAC (TBA).

Timeline:

Artist Talk – 4:00p - 5:00pm 

Activation (procession and performance) –  5:00p - 5:30pm 

Community Meal – 5:30m - 7pm 

* If attending the Activation & Community Meal feel free to bring percussion/spiritual instruments of your own.

$80 (Sliding scale for activation/performance and meal)
Use discount code: DRUM20 at checkout to receive 20% off for sliding scale price or email education@mendocinoartcenter for further discount pricing.

About the Instructor(s): 

Saliou M’Boup is a multi-instrumental musician specializing in West African and Senegalese drumming, songwriting, and teaching. Based in Los Angeles, CA, he continues his family legacy of playing and  teaching West African music which he learned from his mother and father at a young age. His father, Bara M’Boup, is a Senegalese storyteller of oral tradition (griot) and master drummer who traveled to America as the director of music for Ballet Bougarabou. His mother Mindy is a prolific dancer and student of the illustrious Guinean dancer, Youssouf Koumbassa.

Saliou co-created the djembe drum curriculum that is used in public schools around California and teaches African drumming in the Los Angeles Unified School System and plays with Adama Diouf in the musical group, “The Mafe Ensemble.”

Adama Diouf recently moved to Los Angeles from Senegal where he is a drum instructor in the local public schools. In Senegal, Adama spent his younger years traveling the country performing healing ceremonies and learning the history of each traditional song and rhythm. When a member of the community fell ill, their family would gather some money and ask Adama and his group to come and heal the afflicted individual with their music. Adama was also an expert in “drum butchery” or breaking down livestock to make drums. Adama currently performs with his cousin Saliou M’Boup in the musical group, “The Mafe Ensemble.”

Join us for a fun new artistic venture and make a beautiful blue Cyanotype print of your very own in 15-30 minutes!
This is part of our June Second Saturday event.

Event Pricing: 5” x 7” prints $15  & 8” x 10” prints $25   (To be paid at the time of printing) 

Event Description: Join us for a fun new artistic venture and make a beautiful blue Cyanotype print of your very own in 15-30 minutes!

Date: June 13th
Times: 12noon - 6pm
Level: All / None
Membership Price:  N/A     

Workshop Description:
The Cyanotype process was discovered in the 1840s, and is a great way to combine the soothing blue of the Mendocino coast ocean with the rich history of this place, while making art by hand from your favorite Mendocino memories.

This isn't a structured workshop -- just drop in anytime and make prints by hand from photos in your smart phone, or stencils, drawings or objects provided by the studio. The studio will provide all necessary materials and expertly guide you through the process -- ANYONE can make Cyanotype art.

This “Drop into the Blue” Art In Action event will be held in the Rogan Studio off of our studio courtyard.  Shane will be available to take payment on the spot, charging by the size of print you would like to make and then will guide you through this process using a photo from your phone. 

5” x 7” prints $15
8” x 10” prints $25

About the Instructor:
Shane began his photography career in Boise, Idaho in the late 1990's, through his desire to reveal the meaning inherent in relationships between people and places. From 2003 to 2005, Shane built a comprehensive, year-long photojournalism program for 80 students and 10 teachers in 6 Boise-area high schools, funded by the state of Idaho and featured in Photo District News Magazine. In 2005, Shane moved to San Francisco to pursue his Master of Fine Art degree from Academy of Art University, which he completed in 2008. It was during this time that he continued his Boise-born fascination with "old-world" traditions by beginning an ongoing photographic exploration of San Francisco's 150-year-old Dolphin Swimming & Boating Club. As part of that exploration, Shane began working with the cyanotype process, which he used to complete the first phase of that exploration, a 16-image collection entitled "Swimming With Ghosts".

Shane's photographic work has been displayed nationwide in galleries such as the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado, The Vermont Photographic Workplace, and Rayko Photo Center in San Francisco. Shane's work has been selected by prestigious professionals such as Mary Ellen Mark, Andy Adams of Flak Photo Magazine and Cig Harvey. Shane also spent four months in Tamil Nadu, India, as a guest lecturer in India's premier private photography college, Light & Life Academy. From 2008-2014, Shane taught cyanotype, Photoshop, digital printing and other classes in San Francisco's Harvey Milk Photo Center, one of the oldest and largest community darkrooms in the nation.

Shane is now the proud owner and operator of Cyan Art Studio, part of the Art Scene Collective in Downtown Fort Bragg, California.