Virginia Friends of Mali is working to create and promote educational and cultural pathways to understanding and cooperation between the peoples of the African nation of Mali and the state of Virginia, USA.

Connecting Cultures

VFoM organizes inter-cultural exchange programs designed to connect the people of Mali and Virginia in compelling and productive ways. These exchanges have included excursion groups to Mali during the Festival on the Niger, lectures and convenings at Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Richmond and Universities in Segou and Bamako. We have hosted Mali’s prime minister and and several ambassadors to the U.S. We promote the exchange of cultures between the sister cities of Richmond, Virginia and Segou, Mali.

Music! 

For more than 15 years, our two favorite annual destinations have been the Segou’Art Festival sur le Niger in Segou (January/February) and the Richmond Folk Festival in Richmond (September/October). These are spectacular gatherings of musicians and performers to showcase the traditional music of the festival regions as well as contemporary and international influences and introductions.  Malian musicians have performed in the Richmond Folk Festival since its inception, reinforcing and expanding Virginian knowledge of the origins and evolution of music of Africa and the Americas. Virginia musicians have performed at the Festival Sur le Niger as well and we look forward to bringing more visitors to both for many years to come.