MENDOCINO CO., 4/30/26 — Last Sunday, curator Leyna Lightman, together with Ridgewood Ranch and the Mendocino Art Center, hosted a Senegalese animal-to-drum-making workshop. Saliou M’Boup, a multi-instrumental musician specializing in West African and Senegalese drumming, taught the workshop at Ridgewood Ranch, in which a traditional Senegalese drum was made from the hide of a goat named Benjamin who was born and raised on the ranch.
On Saturday, the drum will be activated—tuned by stretching and tensioning the goat skin—and celebrated at the Mendocino Art Center, after which the drum will be gifted to the center.
At the Willits workshop, M’Boup, was joined by his father, Bara M’Boup, a storyteller of oral tradition and master drummer from Senegal. Both men are griots, West African storytellers who keep alive the culture and history of the people. Saliou described this practice as a living library.
“Someone who’s griot, their last name is a griot last name. And those people in their village, they’re the people who are supposed to know history of the people, of the families, of what they do, of your last name.”
Lightman, who organized the workshop, said the workshop began with learning about different rope knots required for making the drum. Saliou taught them that the way the knots are tied and tightened to adjust the tuning of the drum.
“I think everyone felt incredibly connected and enlivened and enriched by the stories and the sounds and the playing,” Lightman said.
Near the end of the workshop, Bara crowned the drum with the goat hide.
The event Saturday will feature food from the goat used to make the drum, cooked by local chef Chantelle Sookram.
The drum activation and celebration is Saturday, May 2, 4-7 p.m. at the Mendocino Art Center, 45200 Little Lake St., Mendocino. The celebration will cost $50 but can be reduced by 20% using promo code DRUM20.
