New Meanings and Historical Messages in the Larabanga Mosque Michelle Moore Apotsos Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/49/4/8/1815433/afar_a_00311.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 s a structural manifestation of the ways in explore the modes through which the Larabanga mosque itself is which time and transformation have been being remade both physically and symbolically in the contempo- allowed to act upon the human environment, rary period to navigate the murky waters of development while architectural form is very much a documen- continuing to sustain the value systems and cultural frameworks tary record of the histories, events, inuences, that have formed the foundation of the community’s distinc- and interruptions that make up the cultural tive identity. In doing so, it will highlight the role of the mosque fabric of society. Architecture, in essence, is a three-dimensional in the context of Larabanga as a layered text that is capable of Aworking through of past and present narratives that collide, con- encoding not only established identities but also their contem- test, and negotiate with one another within a specic context. porary reimaginings within its evolving material and conceptual Such conceptualizations in the contemporary period nd ready frameworks. expression in iconic, heritage-saturated structures like the his- toric earth and timber mosque of the village of Larabanga in TRACING LARABANGA’S ARCHITECTURAL LINEAGE Northern Ghana (Fig. ), which is one of the oldest remaining e nature of the mosque’s expressive exibility is in some earthen mosques in the region. e mosque, whose construc- ways rooted within the Afro-Islamic architectural legacy from tion is tentatived dated around the mid seventeenth century in which it descends. Larabanga’s historic mosque is part of a genre conjunction with the founding of the town itself, has served as of West African Islamic forms previously known as the Suda- both a symbol of regional Islamic faith and in many ways an nese style that originated between the thirteenth and eenth architectural emblem of Larabanga’s primary cultural group, centuries in the Niger Bend area of Mali. While current scholar- the Kamara. However, in the past two decades, these identities ship has problematized the “Sudanese” designation by highlight- have become increasingly problematized by the addition of two ing its rootedness in French imperial terminology (the region new careers to the mosque’s repertoire: those of national heritage was previously part of the colonial French Soudan; Prussin site and tourist attraction. e uneasy rapport that has devel- :), certain fundamental components of this style can still oped between these various identities has generated shis within be identied within regional forms. Perhaps the most iconic of the mosque’s conceptual program as newly introduced building these forms is the Great Mosque in Djenné, Mali (Fig. ). Cur- materials like cement compete for prominence with traditional rently the largest freestanding earthen structure in the world, earthen material, and the presence of tourists during religious the mosque is constituted entirely of mud brick covered with an events like Ramadan force the mosque’s established and contem- earthen clay plaster that is specic to this area in its composition porary roles to collide in unpredictable and sometimes volatile of local earth, organic materials, and mineral deposits, which are ways. Such occurrences not only speak to the ambiguous nature le behind on Djenné’s ood plain aer the annual rains (Morris of the mosque’s current reality within this community, but also and Blier :). is clay mixture is also distinctive in terms the condition of the community itself as a society in a state of of the highly sculptural surface quality it creates on many of the rapid social, economic, and cultural ux. As such, this essay will buildings in Djenné, making them appear to grow directly from | african arts WINTER 2016 VOL. 49, NO. 4 Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/49/4/8/1815433/afar_a_00311.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 1 Historic Mosque, Larabanga, Northern Region, Ghana, 2012. the keepers of this knowledge, the barey ton. As the protectors of Photo: Michelle Moore Apotsos Djenné’s specialized architectural knowledge systems, the barey ton maintain an intimate rapport with the built environment that not only manifests through its construction but also through the spiritual practices they perform to ensure its success. Trevor Marchand notes that “the importance of benedictions, amulets, the ground as if they are a natural extension of the earth itself and blessed objects in the construction process is equal to, if not (Vogel et al. ). Embedded in many of the sculpted walls of greater than, the mortar than binds bricks” (Marchand :). Djenné’s architectural forms are also palm timbers called toron In addition, because the architectural practices and traditions (Fig. ), which act as both scaolding for the city masons (barey in Djenné constitute such a powerful brand of knowledge, the ton) to replaster the surface of communal structures, as well as barey ton have instituted ancillary forms of social control to aerators that wick moisture from the walls to preserve the struc- protect it. Mason work in Djenné is largely a kin-based occupa- ture’s integrity. In addition, both the mosque and the houses tion, which means that the architectural practices and associated built in this style maintain heavily molded, sculptural facades ritual knowledge systems within the barey ton are passed down whose composition of protruding and receding geometric ele- generationally within familial groups. is creates something of ments and series of pillars and pinnacles lining the rooops not a hereditary exclusiveness that is supported by the fact that the only emphasize their extreme verticality (Shaw :) but also primary cultural group of the masons, the Bozo, rarely marry gesture to pre-Islamic ancestral beliefs and their manifestation outside their cultural group (Marchand :). Such param- within the form of the earthen mound (Fig. ; Prussin ). eters have helped to create a largely impenetrable occupational Yet these structural components and their physical attributes network whose various elements actively mediate access to kin- are also grounded within a larger architectural framework that based architectural knowledge systems through both social and positions the built environment as both a product and a producer cultural languages of exclusion. of Djennenke cultural identity. Through the communicative In fact, it is the intimate interconnectivity that exists between components of form, material, and organization, the collective the barey ton and built form in Djenné that makes ongoing ques- reality of the Djenné landscape is that of a structural manifesta- tions (or doubts) about the authorship of the current mosque tion of established bodies of cultural knowledge and architec- structure somewhat perplexing. The contemporary Djenné tural practice, a reality made possible by the accomplishments of mosque is actually one of three structures that are said to have VOL. 49, NO. 4 WINTER 2016 african arts | 2 Eastern face, Grand Mosque, Djenné, Mali, 2011. Photo: courtesy of Barbara E. Frank Dr. Barbara Frank has rightly noted that the aesthetic of the Djenné mosque as pictured in this 2011 image is decidedly different from that of the mosque when she made a trip to the region two decades earlier. The general modeled look of the mosque has become noticeably more rectilinear, and the curves of the pillars and pinnacles less organic and more geometric. The reasons for this shift are undoubtedly a complex combination of factors that combine shifts in available materials with UNESCO’s involvement in “standardizing” the form and technique of the mosque in the late 1980s. The progres- sive aesthetic values of Djenné’s barey ton or masonry guild have shaped the structure’s evolution over the years as well. Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/49/4/8/1815433/afar_a_00311.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 existed in this area in one iteration or another for over years. to adjust their cultural and architectural sensibilities. Shiing cli- e current structure was rebuilt during the French colonial mate patterns and increased humidity, as well as the presence of regime in aer decades of neglect and, as such, has been numerous political, social, and cultural frameworks that would the subject of much debate with regards to the particular source keep Islam from becoming the sociopolitical authority that it of its aesthetic. Architectural historian Labelle Prussin has said had been in the Niger Bend, gave rise to hybrid architectural that this structural system was most likely the result of early styles expressive of a more uid, malleable Islamic identity that twentieth-century French Beaux-Artes inuence and the stylis- no longer required the Sahel’s monumental, proclamative archi- tic leanings of the École Polytechnique (Prussin :). While tectural languages of authority to create a statement (Prussin the theory merits consideration, other scholars, including Jean- :). Instead, this merger between the monumental earthen Louis Bourgeois, have pointed out that, while the project was legacies of the Niger Bend and the diverse cultural and structural funded by the French, the construction of the building itself was sensibilities of local populations would produce a series of small, nonetheless undertaken