Sali Sylla
her
@salisupremacy
An Ode to Djeliya, explores the preservation and transmission of Djeliya, the West African oral storytelling tradition, through contemporary design and digital research. The installation combines physical custom-built objects, re-designed traditional instruments and video content to create an immersive cultural space. The work emerges from a research into community and family archives and an engagement with oral histories to trace how Djeliya travels across time and digital platforms. The project materializes this research into a real environment where Jalilu* and visitors can gather, perform, and connect with Maninka heritage. It takes the form of a scenography specifically designed for cultural celebration and the perpetuation tradition. The space functions as a contemporary vessel for an ancient practice, questioning how French-Maninka descendants can reappropriate and contribute to their cultural legacy in the future.
