Wood Carvings Made in The Gambia

Wood Carvings by Malang.

Malang Manneh was born on February 21st, 1972 in a village called Nyofellah on the outskirts of Gunjur.

Son of Essa Manneh and Fatou Kebbeh and a father himself to six children. His mother was a farmer and his father a master carver, this is where he gets his incredible talent for working with wood.

He says ” I used to watch my father for hours”, From an early age I would watch him as he began creating anything from simple wood carvings to more practical things like handles for garden tools.

Dad would close his eyes for some minutes and then sketch on the floor before starting any job. In the end, you will see an exact copy of the sketch carved beautifully.  It was only natural that I wanted to follow in his footsteps!

Practice, Think and Improve

For me, before I start any job I have to drink ataya ( Chinese green tea) to give me more energy to do the work. In the end, I am always happy and proud of the job I have done.

I always remember my dad’s words,” Practice, think and improve “. With these three words in mind, my carving is always loved by my clients. Which I am proud and happy about.

I love doing creative and lovely artwork for my clients. From an early age, dad always told me, ” to be a good carver you have to be creative and practise more to improve on every job you do. 

Most of my training was with my Father. I also had training with a charitable organization called Concern Universal. I try my best to make my clients happy by giving them the best carving in The Gambia. That’s my pride. I am happy and proud when clients love the job I do for them. To all the tourists planning to come to The Gambia, I say ” please be sure to visit Footsteps for all their crafts job and state of art carving. You will never regret it, your satisfaction is our pride.