Gaya Art Café, The Gambia, West Africa – opening Friday 3rd April, 2015, 3-6pm. Everyone is welcome.

‘Silafando – a gift to you on behalf of my journey‘ – award-winning portraits of Gambian village chiefs and elders, by Jason Florio, taken whilst on ‘A Short Walk in the Gambian Bush – a 930km African odyssey‘, with Helen Jones-Florio, Samba Leigh, Ablie Janneh, and Momadou Cham.

In 2009 we turned left at the gate, from Makasutu Culture Forest, to embark on the first ever circumnavigation of The Republic of The Gambia, West Africa, completely by foot, with two donkeys – Neil & Paddy – (courtesy of The Gambia Horse & Donkey Trust) and a cart, to carry our camping and camera equipment.

At the end of each day, we presented ‘silafando’ (the traditional gift giving of kola nuts) to the village chief – the alkalo – and asked permission to pitch our campsite for the night, along with a request to take a formal portrait of the chief and, at times, the village elders.

‘A New York dinner party isn’t the place to open your mouth and not follow through – no matter how much Brooklyn Lager you’ve drunk. Yet, after a fellow guest told my partner, Helen, and I how he had walked 500 miles across Europe on the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, we declared that we’d been contemplating a journey for some time and a long walk sounded like just the thing… ‘ read the full story here:  You People Cannot Walk, You Only Move in Cars‘ – The Independent .

‘Silafando’ is an award-winning body of work, which has been published and exhibited around the world and now, for the first time, we have been given the opportunity to do something we have dreamed of doing, since we finished the walk, and that is to exhibit them here in The Gambia (we are indebted to Athens Photo Festival, APhF:15, for shipping the prints to West Africa).

At last, the chiefs are coming home – thanks to Gaya Art Café and Gregor Gorman.

We hope you can make it.

The Florios – Helen & Jason

Related blog: ‘930km African Odyssey’  – images and stories from the journey.