See also Structure of the NCAC

The National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) is a semi autonomous institution established by an Act of Parliament in December 1989 to promote and develop Gambian Culture. The 1989 Act is now superseded by the NCAC Act of December 2003. The eight member Board appointed by the Secretary of State for Tourism and Culture is the highest official decision making body on all matters relating to Arts and Culture in the country. The functions of the Centre are;

a) To advise the Secretary of State on matters of policy relating to Arts and Culture and in particular on matters relating to national languages, the creative and performing arts, monuments and relics, research and documentation, science and indigenous technology, and sports and recreation;

b) promote and develop Gambian arts and culture;

c) implement, monitor, co-ordinate and evaluate artistic and cultural programmes in The Gambia;

d) promote artistic and cultural co-operation at regional and international levels;

e) encourage, at the local level, the emergence of groups and institutions interested in the promotion of arts and culture;

f) supervise the functioning of the committees that may be established under this Act;

g) investigate and report on artistic and cultural matters relating to research, information processing, storage, documentation, retrieval, and dissemination;

h) equip, maintain and manage the National Museums;

i) establish, equip, maintain and manage such other museums as it thinks fit;

j) preserve, repair or restore any ethnographical article which it considers to be of national importance;

k) when required by the Secretary of State, investigate and report on any matter relating to any ethnographical article;

l) keep a register of all ethnographical articles which it acquires or which are brought to its notice;

m) list all monuments whose proclamation as National Monuments it considers desirable, ascertain their owners, before recommending to the Secretary of State to proclaim them as National Monuments;

n) perform such functions as may be conferred on it under any law on copyright;

o) perform such duties as are related to the research and development of arts and culture in The Gambia.

The Institution is the professional arm of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and executes its mandate through three technical Directorates, namely, The Directorate of Cultural Heritage, The Directorate of Literature Performing and Fine Arts and The Directorate of Copyright.

1. The Office of the Director General

The Director General's Office is the administrative and financial secretariat. Its functions are:
- To co-ordinate and monitor the day-to-day activities of the NCAC.
- To provide the necessary backstopping to the Technical Divisions in execution of their activities.
- To serve as the public relations arm of the NCAC.
- To evaluate policies relating to the activities of the Centre in particular, and matters relating to arts and culture in general.
- To monitor, evaluate the projects and activities of the Technical Departments.
- To provide information to the Board and to serve as the Secretariat for the Board.
- To formulate budgets and project proposals for the Centre.

2. Directorate of Cultural Heritage (DCH)

The Directorate has two divisions namely:                                                                                                                                        2a. Museum and Monuments Division-MMD: This unit is responsible for the material culture heritage, both movable and immovable. Its tasks are:
- Management of museums;
- Proclamation, inventorization, interpretation, protection, conservation
and promotion of national monuments and sites of historical and cultural
significance;
- Research into new archaeological sites;
- Organisation of exhibitions;
- Organisation of outreach programmes in relation to material and non-
material heritage.
- Collection of historical artefacts.

2b. Research and Documentation Division - RDD

The Division is responsible for all research and documentation activities. Read on...

4. Directorate of Literature Performing and Fine Arts - DLPFA

This Division is mandated to protect, preserve, develop, promote and celebrate Gambian arts and culture nationally and internationally. Read on...