On October 2 1958, after over 60 years of colonial rule, Guineans voted overwhelmingly for their independence, and Guinea was declared a Republic with Skou Tour as President. To free Guinea from it’s colonial legacy, president Tour sought to restore dignity to his nation and give cause for Guineans to take pride in their culture, history and newfound freedom. To achieve this, he instructed his government to implement new cultural policies to revitalise indigenous culture.In 1961, President Tour launched authenticit, the new cultural policy for Guinea. One of it’s first acts was to assemble the best Guinean musicians into a new state-sponsored orchestras that were tasked with presenting traditional Guinean music in a new and modern style. During the years of Skou Tour’s presidency (1958 – 1984), the government’s cultural policy of authenticit was applied strictly to the creative arts. Guinea’s sole political party exercised complete authority over arti