West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song – The Place of the Sunjata Story in the British Library’s Exhibition

The British Library mounted a major exhibition entitled West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song from October 2015 to February 2016. It brought together the intellectual traditions of literature, music and art from across 17 countries, referencing 1000 years of history to offer insight into a profound, engaging and current literary culture with centuries-old written heritage existing alongside ancient oral traditions that persist to this day. This paper describes the intentions of the exhibition – to dispel misconception and to encourage engagement with West African intellectual traditions – foregrounding the place of oral traditions in descriptions of each of the five primary sections, with a focus on forms of oral traditions, and on the Sunjata epic specifically. The final section of the paper evaluates the impact and legacy of the exhibition, demonstrating how it engaged teams across the institution by invoking the British Library “machine,” and, most importantly, young visitors of West African backgrounds as they “reclaimed” and took pride in their histories.