From left to right: Tunde Jegede, Natalia Molebatsi, and Linton Kwesi Johnson.

The second annual Mboka Festival of Arts, Culture and Sports took place in The Gambia from 6 to 20 January 2018. The event, a celebration of Gambian cultural heritage and African diasporic heritage, was a collaboration between Camp Africa, Global Hands and SABLE Publications. The name “Mboka” is Wolof for “one family.”

The first edition of the Mboka Festival happened from 7 to 17 January 2017, and had Ngugi wa Thiong’o as the guest of honour. This second edition featured a literary, book and visual arts fair, an academic conference, a chef competition, as well as wrestling, bike challenge and marathons.

The photos below, by Lena Nian Photography, are from the performance poetry session by the poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, the jazz poet Natalia Molebatsi, and the kora player Tunde Jegede.

Take a look.