SOAS CAS Mali Conference, May 2013

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

SOAS CAS Mali Conference, May 2013 Khalili Lecture Theatre, Russell Square College Buildings, SOAS, University of London For more information and to register contact [email protected] or call 020 7898 4370 www.soas.ac.uk/cas/events MALI IN TRANSITION A Two-Day Conference Held at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) University of London 29th - 30th May 2013 Mali in Transition 29-30 May 2013, SOAS, University of London Conference Programme Day 1 29th May 2013 Day 2 30th May 2013 9:30 Registration 10:00 Panel 3 – Historical Perspectives and Future Scenarios Chaired by: Prof Murray Last 10:00 Welcome by Prof Trevor Marchand, SOAS Mali: An attempt at some sensible comments on whatever the current development is... 10:05 Panel 1 – Regional Scenarios of the Malian Crisis - Dr Baz Lecocq Chaired by: Prof Trevor Marchand Towards a new cosmopolitanism in Northern Mali? - Dr Bruce Hall Criminal activities and their implications for con!ict dynamics in northern Mali - Wolfram Lacher Les relations intercommunautaires en sou#rance au Nord-Mali (2011-2013). Essai de compréhension à Implications of the Azawad issue for the Amazigh world - Prof Vermondo Brugnatelli l’écoute des populations civiles - Dr Charles Gremont (French) From Tuareg Nationalism to Jihad: Changing Patterns of Militancy in the Sahara - Dr Yvan Guichaoua Followed by Q&A Followed by Q&A 11:00 Co!ee break 11:30 Co!ee/Tea Break 11:15 The secessionist and the Islamic claim in Northern Mali - Prof Georg Klute followed by Q&A 11:45 Screening of Dr Charles Grémont’s footage on Community Meetings in Burkino Faso (30’) with Q&A 12:30 Lunch 12:30 Lunch break 14:00 Panel 4 – Cultural Heritage and Conservation 14:00 Panel 2 – Humanitarian dimensions and development of the con!ict in Mali Chaired by: Prof Mike Rowlands Chaired by: Prof Georg Klute The Djenné Mosque: world heritage and social renewal in a West African town - Prof Trevor Marchand Mutations socio-spatiales au Nord du Mali: enjeux et dé"s - Dr Hassan Kamil (French) UNESCO is what? World Heritage, Militant Islam and the search for a common humanity in Mali Longing to go home? A view from Malian Tuareg refugees in Mauritania - Dr Alessandra Giu!rida - Dr Charlotte Joy Azawad or Mali - in either case, development comes from Civil Society - Prof Robin Poulton Archaeology, Heritage and Con!ict in Mali - Prof Kevin McDonald Followed by Q&A The consequences of the con!ict in Mali on the protection of cultural heritage in Djenne - Dr Mamadou Samake 15:15 Co!ee/Tea break Bamako&London: documenting daily life through collaborative exhibitions - Dr Sophie Mew 15:30 Film screening: With the Nomads (80’) by Julian Richards followed by Q&A Followed by Q&A 17:15 Mali, quel passé pour quel futur? - Prof Pierre Boilley 15.45 Co!ee break Keynote Lecture followed by Q&A (French - with simultaneous translation for English speakers) 16.00 Workshop “Restoring the Timbuktu manuscripts” with Mohamed Alher Ag Almahdi, Donald Jacobs 18.00 Reception (until 19.30) and Chris Collins 17.00 Film screening Da kali: the pledge to the art of the griot (80’) by Dr Lucy Duran Followed by Q&A with Mr Michele Banal.
Recommended publications
  • Free Carton Boxes in Which to Store up to 300 Manuscripts
    From Dust to Digital Ten Years of the Endangered Archives Programme Edited by Maja Kominko Chapter 6 http://www.openbookpublishers.com © 2015 Maja Kominko. Copyright of individual chapters is maintained by the chapters’ authors. This work as a whole is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author attribution is clearly stated. However it should be noted than the individual chapters are each licenced under more permissive Creative Commons licences, most usually a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) which allows you to adapt the work and to make commercial use of those contributions providing attribution is made to the author(s) (but not in any way that suggests that they endorses you or your use of the work). Information on copyright and Creative Commons licence applied to individual chapters is provided on the first page of each chapter. Further details about CC BY licenses are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 In all cases attribution should include the following information: Maja Kominko (ed.), From Dust to Digital: Ten Years of the Endangered Archives Programme. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0052 Unless otherwise stated in the List of illustrations or in the List of recordings the copyright and Creative Commons licence associated to images, maps, tables and recordings within a chapter is the same as for the associated chapter.
    [Show full text]
  • The Reconstruction of the Mausoleums of Timbuktu, an Integrated Approach Thierry Joffroy, Hale Ousmane
    The reconstruction of the mausoleums of Timbuktu, an integrated approach Thierry Joffroy, Hale Ousmane To cite this version: Thierry Joffroy, Hale Ousmane. The reconstruction of the mausoleums of Timbuktu, an integrated approach. International conference for the protection of cultural heritage in conflict areas, Dec 2016, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. hal-01931775 HAL Id: hal-01931775 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01931775 Submitted on 6 Dec 2018 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. The reconstruction of the mausoleums of Timbuktu, an integrated approach. Thierry Joffroy, Chairman of CRAterre, AE&CC / ENSAG / CUGA Hale Ousmane, Mayor of Timbuktu By the beginning of 2012, armed groups invaded the northern part of Mali with not only the intention to establish a new “kalifate”, but also to eradicate the local culture and history, as well as the living traditions, with the intention to impose their own rules. As a provocative symbol of their power, in June 2012, these armed groups used the opportunity of the World Heritage Committee meeting in St-Petersburg (Russia) to destroy a first series of Mausoleums which were the main components of the property inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1988.
    [Show full text]
  • Timbuktu Civilization and Its Significance in Islamic History
    E-ISSN 2039-2117 Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences Vol 4 No 11 ISSN 2039-9340 MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy October 2013 Timbuktu Civilization and its Significance in Islamic History Abdi O. Shuriye Dauda Sh. Ibrahim Faculty of Engineering International Islamic University Malaysia E mail: [email protected] Doi:10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p696 Abstract Timbuktu civilization began as a seasonal settlement for trade caravans in the early 11th century. It later flourished in trade and as one of the early African centres of Islamic culture. This paper reviews the trend of Timbuktu civilization from prehistoric period up to the current state of its political impact of the region. The paper further focuses on the role Timbuktu played in African history by serving as academic and commercial centre. The significant of this paper is to reveal the fact that Africa has a long Islamic civilization. The paper provides evidences from reliable sources of the symbolic representation of the impact and influence of the early schools and universities between 11th and 15th century that existed in West Africa. The manuscript of Timbuktu serves as a living testimony of the highly advanced and refined civilization in Africa during the middle ages. The history of monuments, artefacts as well as architectural land marks that signifies the historical origin of this ancient city is presented. The early heroes that stood firm towards the development and civilisation of Timbuktu are outlined. Analysis of the development as well as the factors that led to the civilization is presented in this paper. Keywords: Timbuktu, civilization, Islamic History, Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • {DOWNLOAD} Timbuktu Ebook
    TIMBUKTU PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Paul Auster | 192 pages | 03 Jan 2008 | FABER & FABER | 9780571229093 | English | London, United Kingdom Timbuktu PDF Book Fact Monster - World - Timbuktu, Mali. Timbuktu quickly grew in importance by the start of the 12th century, with a thriving economy based on trading salt, gold, spices, slaves and dyes. In , Timbuktu became part of the independent country of Mali. In the German geographer Heinrich Barth reached the city during a five-year trek across Africa. Barth gained fame through the publication of five volumes of his experiences. Geography Expert. Sections of the river flood periodically, providing much-needed fertile agricultural soil along its…. Thus, Timbuktu became renown as an African El Dorado, a city made of gold. The IMDb editors are anxiously awaiting these delayed movies. Words nearby Timbuktu timber wolf , timberwork , timberyard , timbre , timbrel , Timbuktu , time , time after time , time and a half , time and motion study , Time and tide wait for no man. Give Feedback External Websites. Pimp Nails Known wells would be dry or would not provide enough water upon an expedition's arrival. History at your fingertips. Added to Watchlist. Many of them remain, though in precarious condition, to form a priceless written record of African history. His body was never found. Luther Davis. Sound Mix: Dolby Digital Dolby 5. Skip to main content. In , a London company was formed to establish trade with Timbuktu. Sands Of Time. Night Of My Nights. In addition to that, these three Mosques are also witnesses to the commercial role that Timbuktu played in the southern trans-Saharan trading route.
    [Show full text]
  • The Timbuktu Manuscripts Collection
    The Timbuktu Manuscripts Collection http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.ae000195 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org The Timbuktu Manuscripts Collection Author/Creator Publisher Aluka Date 2007-11 Resource type Aluka Essays Language English Source Aluka http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.ae000195 http://www.aluka.org The Timbuktu Manuscripts Collection The Timbuktu Manuscripts Collection offers an unparalleled window into societies and intellectual traditions of the Western Sudan from the late 15th century onward. The manuscripts are now under grave threat from a variety of sources, both natural and human.
    [Show full text]
  • Mali Case Study
    This project is funded by the European Union November 2020 Culture in ruins The illegal trade in cultural property Case study: Mali Julia Stanyard and Rim Dhaouadi Summary This case study forms part of a set of publications on the illegal trade in cultural property across North and West Africa, made up of a research paper and three case studies (on Mali, Nigeria, and North Africa). The study aims to describe how the breakdown of security has shaped the long-standing dynamics of illicit trade in Malian cultural objects. The research is focused on the northern and central regions of Mali where archaeological looting is most intense. Key findings • In the early 1980s, large-scale trade in cultural objects from all regions emerged, driven by international demand and drought-related economic hardship in the archaeologically rich regions. • In recent years, the looting of archaeological sites has again increased dramatically as economic pressure on communities in conflict-affected regions has risen. • The key areas for looting are around Djenné, Mopti, Timbuktu and Gao. • Regional middlemen have historically controlled and financed teams of looters. The current economic pressures and breakdown of state structures have introduced new groups of looters while at the same time entrenching the established regional middlemen. • Bamako is still a major centre for illegal trade but other routes across Mali’s porous land borders are being increasingly used. CASE STUDY CASE Introduction A broad range of actors was interviewed including: Situated at the confluence of ancient trade routes • People involved in illegal trading crossing the Sahara and at the centre of major medieval • Members of Malian cultural institutions civilisations, modern Mali is home to an inestimable • Law enforcement members cultural, archaeological and historical wealth.1 However, • Members of the military this heritage is threatened by destruction from both • European-based antiquities dealers engaged in armed groups and illegal trade.
    [Show full text]
  • E-Proceeding of the 4Th World
    E-PROCEEDING OF THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ARABIC STUDIES & ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION 2020 TIMBUKTU: A FORGOTTEN ISLAMIC LEGENDARY CITY! Soufiana Salim DRAMÉ The Department of Curriculum and Instruction_ Islamic Education, Kulliyyah of Education International Islamic University Malaysia, 53100 Gombak Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Over the past thousand years, the Islamic civilisation had been shining and made immense contributions to the global civilisation. The early development of Islamic civilisation started in Madinah in the mid-7th century, and then it spread to all the Muslim world. The Muslim scientists and thinkers were the mastermind and original source of several modern sciences and numerous innovations. Muslim civilisation gave birth to the first university alongside the first mental health hospital in the world. That greatest contribution was made by Muslims from all over the continents. Despite this ethnical diversity and geographical distance between Muslims, the Islamic faith (Tawhid) was the strongest link that connected them. In fact, that universality was the great secret of the true success of Islamic civilisation. Unfortunately, the reality shows that all these wonderful and priceless Islamic heritages and legacies seem to be forgotten by our today’s Muslims society, especially, among Muslim youth. Therefore, this paper aims to revive one of those forgotten Islamic legacies, which is the legendary city of Timbuktu. It is also the vision of this paper to call and recall the Muslims to turn back to those Islamic heritages and legacies. This study highlights considerable achievements of Islamic civilisation and as well as some significant contributions of Muslim Scientists around the world. The writer used the document research method by analysis and evaluation with an argumentative as well as narrative approach.
    [Show full text]
  • Preservation of Endangered Archives: a Case of Timbuktu Manuscripts
    PRESERVATION OF ENDANGERED ARCHIVES: A CASE OF TIMBUKTU MANUSCRIPTS ALEXI MOTSI NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICES OF SOUTH AFRICA [email protected] Abstract This study seeks to discuss the preservation of archives with a focus on those that are constantly exposed to various threats such as the ancient manuscripts of Timbuktu, an ancient city found in the North of Mali in West Africa. The paper will share my experiences working on Timbuktu’s ancient manuscripts and some of the findings in my Master of Science Degree in Archives and Records Management research titled “Preserving Ancient Manuscripts in Hostile Environments, with Reference to The Preservation of the Ancient Manuscripts of Timbuktu”.1 Traditional methods of preservation have been employed in Timbuktu from the 13th century which is why these manuscripts have survived till today. The study examines the currently accepted international standards and practices used in the preservation of library and archive material and how these fare against the challenges faced by the ancient manuscripts of Timbuktu. The use of the Timbuktu manuscripts serves as the worst case scenario that can assist in the better understanding of the unique preservation challenges facing the documentary heritage in Africa and other developing countries. 1 This research was done to fulfil the requirements for the completion of the Master of Science Degree in Archives and Records Management with the University of Dundee in Scotland in 2015. 1 | P a g e Alexio Motsi The reality that war has become the worst threat to archives and other cultural heritage must be acknowledged. No one has an answer to how preservation of heritage can be done amidst raging wars and terrorism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Meanings of Timbuktu Ebook
    THE MEANINGS OF TIMBUKTU PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Shamil Jeppie | 376 pages | 05 Sep 2008 | HSRC Press | 9780796922045 | English | Cape Town, South Africa The Meanings of Timbuktu PDF Book External Websites. Share this. In an airless room across the courtyard, a dozen archivists huddle over Epson and Canon scanners, creating digital images of the works, page by page. Maybe he wants to destroy them. The city reached its height in the 16th century when it was controlled by the Songhay Empire. Ingenuity Ingenuity Awards. Give Feedback External Websites. Introduction to the Timbuktu region. Product information Format : mm x mm Hard Cover. Account Options Anmelden. During the Askia period — Timbuktu was at the height of its commercial and intellectual development. Part IV provides a glimpse into Timbuktu's libraries and private collections. Modern scholarly research on this African Islamic tradition of learning has a presence in a few scattered places in Africa, Europe and the United States of America. A fascinating read for anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of the aura of mystique and legend that surrounds Timbuktu. Jacqueline marked it as to-read Feb 03, His monumental contribution was posing questions and explaining the curse which national liberation would become for the developing world. Part IV provides a glimpse into Timbuktu's libraries and private collections. It is one of a handful of remote Saharan settlements where Islamic scholars and others, under Haidara's tutelage, have begun building their own manuscript collections. Show full item record. Fida ag Mohammed, the collection's curator, fiddles with a set of prayer beads in the rear seat.
    [Show full text]
  • The Manuscripts of Timbuktu an In-Depth Look at an International Effort to Digitize and Help Preserve Timbuktu’S Rich Intellectual Heritage
    Community Focus Content Contributor The Manuscripts of Timbuktu An in-depth look at an international effort to digitize and help preserve Timbuktu’s rich intellectual heritage The manuscripts of Timbuktu offer an unparalleled window into societies and intellectual traditions of the Western Sudan from the late 15th century onward, but for decades they have been largely inaccessible. They are now under grave threat from a variety of sources, both natural and human. Starting in 2005, Aluka began to collaborate with partner organisations in Mali, South Africa, and the United States to digitise a selection of the manuscripts and make them available to an international scholarly audience and, at the same time, support critically important conservation and cataloguing efforts. The first of these manuscripts will be available in the digital library in 2008. Following the collapse of empire of Mali in 1433, Timbuktu was incorporated into the Songhai Empire in 1468, and reached its apogee of prosperity and scholarship in the 16th century during the Songhai Askia Dynasty. Even before the rise of the Songhai Empire, Timbuktu was part of the vast trade routes linking the scholarly tradition. They cover a diverse range of topics and genres, Western Sudan to the Maghreb, stretching onward to the Fertile including the natural and physical sciences (astronomy, mathemat- Crescent and other regions of the Near East. When Leo Africanus ics, botany, and medicine); the literary arts (poetic verse, panegyrics, visited Timbuktu in the early 1500s, he reported that its people grammar); the Islamic religious sciences such as theology (kalãm), were very wealthy and that books and manuscripts imported from jurisprudence (fiqh), legal opinions (fatawa); and historical accounts North Africa were the most profitable commodity.
    [Show full text]
  • Safeguarding Africa's Literary Heritage: Timbuktu Rare Manuscripts Project
    SAFEGUARDING AFRICA’S LITERARY HERITAGE: TIMBUKTU RARE MANUSCRIPTS PROJECT Presentation for: Library and Information Association of South Africa: Western Cape Higher Education Libraries Interest Group, Winter Colloquium, 15 June 2006. Presentation by: Mary Minicka: Book & document conservator, Parliament of South Africa; and member of the Timbuktu Rare Manuscripts Project’s Conservation Team. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to speak to you here today about the Timbuktu Rare Manuscripts Project. As you are aware, this Project was created as a result of a bi-lateral agreement between the governments of Mali and South Africa in 2003; this Project is both a Presidential Special Project and the first NEPAD Cultural Project. As a conservator involved with the Project, I like to share with you today some of our experiences, as well as some of what we have learned about the manuscripts of Timbuktu. 1. Introduction: the place of Timbuktu1 I would like to first set the context for this presentation: that is the place of Timbuktu – it is a city of legend and myth, as much as of actual history. The city of Timbuktu is located in modern-day West African country of Mali close to the river Niger2 at its northern-most bend, on the fringes of the Sahara desert. It is though that Timbuktu was founded some time around 1100 CE (Bovill 1958:88; Hunwick 2003:1;Saad 1983:4). The fortuitous placement of Timbuktu at the crossing of the Niger River and a major caravan route that continues to Marrakech (Morocco) in the north and swings towards the modern-day state of Sudan across the Sahara desert; as well as one of the major routes for pilgrimage to Mecca is surely a large part of the reason for its success as a centre of commerce – which brought with it both wealth and culture (Bovill 1958:105; De Villiers & Hirtle 2003:212; Saad 1983:6).
    [Show full text]
  • Africa's Islamic Civilization
    Journal of Education and Social Sciences, Vol. 4, (June.) ISSN 2289-9855 2016 AFRICA’S ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION: AND ITS CONTINENTAL CHALLENGES Muhammed Haron Department of Theology & Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, PB UB 0703, University of Botswana, 4775 Notwane Road, Gaborone 0001, Botswana. [email protected] Department of Religion Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa ABSTRACT Anyone acquainted with Africa’s rich social history cannot deny the fact that Islam – as a dynamic religious tradition - has indeed been an integral part of its identity. In fact, it was Ali Mazrui, the Africanist, who powerfully described this dimension when he highlighted the continent’s triple heritage (of which Christianity and African Religious Tradition also form a part). Though Khalid Diab, the Egyptian-Belgian journalist, significantly remarked that, “Islamic Civilization is so hard-wired into Europe’s cultural, social and intellectual DNA that it would be impossible to expunge its influence” (Al-Jazeera 8 Jan 2015), one is of the view that Africa neatly fitted that profile since it – more than any other continent - tangibly reflect that. Indeed when one scans the length and breath of the continent, one comes across various types of evidence that points to the fact that Muslims left behind their footprints in almost every sector of the continent. These have since become part of Africa’s continental heritage and most of them have fortunately been preserved by its numerous nation-states. For example, when traveling through central Africa one finds many scholarly manuscripts that have yet to be edited and that cover different themes. And when moving to East Africa’s coastal regions one comes across numerous historical sites/towns such as Kilwa that are clearly reminiscent of Muslim influence.
    [Show full text]