Restoration of the FESFOP Village Percussion Museum
A project between Senegal and Turin to restore and enhance the Musée des Percussions in Louga, promoting rhythm as a language of cultural dialogue.
Obiettivi del progetto
The project aims to restore and enhance the Musée des Percussions of the FESFOP village in Louga, Senegal, preserving and promoting local musical heritage.
Through concrete interventions on the museum, educational activities, collection of testimonies and public moments of exchange, the initiative aims to strengthen dialogue between Senegalese and Italian cultures.
Rhythm is proposed as a universal language: a form of memory, communication and mutual recognition capable of uniting communities, spirituality and social practices.
Il progetto
Rhythms of Life: Percussion, Rituals and Spirituality between Senegal and Turin is a project promoted by Movimento Sviluppo e Pace from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, in collaboration with the FESFOP Festival in Louga, Senegal.
The project involves the restoration and enhancement of the Musée des Percussions, established in 2008, with the aim of preserving local musical heritage and making it accessible as a space for education, memory and cultural dialogue.
In Senegal, percussion instruments are not merely musical tools: they are means of communication, cultural transmission and collective storytelling. The griots, custodians of the oral tradition, as well as contemporary musicians, use rhythm to narrate stories, accompany rituals and convey social messages.
The intervention unfolds in two phases. The first takes place in Louga, with minor repairs to the museum, reorganization of spaces, acquisition and reproduction of traditional instruments, local educational activities and collection of testimonies. The second will take place in Turin, in March 2026, with a public event dedicated to the social and spiritual value of rhythm.
The initiative is part of a dialogue process between Senegalese and Italian culture, born from civil society and based on mutual recognition. As the project describes, it's not just about building a bridge, but about making traditions and communities resonate together.
In September 2025 MSP welcomed Babacar Sarr, founder and president of the International Festival of Folklore and Percussion, to Turin. The meeting strengthened the vision of the Musée des Percussions as a space for research, experimentation and historical memory, capable in the future of reaching villages, communities and Senegalese schools.
The project is carried out with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and in collaboration with FESFOP and the Circondati di Musica association.