A true symbol of the golden age of Guinean music, the La Paillote cultural center is now in peril. Located under the 8-Novembre bridge at the entrance to Kaloum, this legendary venue, once a haunt of great musicians for performing and rehearsing, has been in a sorry state for over a year and threatens to disappear if concrete measures are not taken.

In the shade of a large mango tree, musicians continue to keep the heritage alive, like Ousmane Hervé Camara, of the legendary group Keletigui et ses Tambourounis: "We didn't want you to see it like that. That's not our intention. This is where Guinean music began. La Paillote is our nest, it's our village. Lots of musicians come here. It's our hideout."

Saved in the nick of time from the excavators in August 2025, the open-air concrete building is now stripped bare and roofless, rendering it unusable. The musicians had to move into a large construction container provided by the Ministry of Culture.

Joseph Faranimino, alias Petit Jo, singer of the group Émergence Culturelle, deplores these conditions: "We are in bad conditions. Everything was going very well at La Paillote, but now you see how broken it is."

The fate of La Paillote is part of a series of losses to Guinea's musical heritage: last August, the Bar-Dancing, next to the center, was razed, and in January 2023, the homes of the musicians of the national orchestras were destroyed.

Despite the difficulties, Lamine, dean and percussionist of Bembeya Jazz, remains optimistic: "It's disgusting, we don't have the strength to oppose the government. We've always worked with the state. La Paillote is one of those things that allows us to work."

A glimmer of hope emerged a year ago with the promise of Culture Minister Moussa Moïse Sylla to restore the site. According to the ministry, the work, initially announced for October, is expected to begin in the coming days, rekindling the artists' hopes of seeing their heritage revived.