Category: Mali

Mali receives a “symbolic euro” in token reparation for damage on Timbuktu heritage; Africa News

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Source: Mali receives a “symbolic euro” in token reparation for damage on Timbuktu heritage

Mali, UNESCO to Receive a ‘Symbolic Euro’ for Timbuktu Heritage Destruction; The Wire

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This gesture is the outcome of a 2017 judgment by the ICC on Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi.

Source: Mali, UNESCO to Receive a ‘Symbolic Euro’ for Timbuktu Heritage Destruction

These 6 African Heritage Sites Could Be Destroyed by Climate Change; Khanyi Mlaba; Global Citizen

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Africa could lose 6 heritage sites because of climate change…

Source: These 6 African Heritage Sites Could Be Destroyed by Climate Change

Some of Africa’s most important heritage will be lost to climate change without intervention; Joanne Clarke, Elizabeth Edna Wangui, Grace W Ngaruiya & Nick Brooks; Quartz Africa

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One study estimates only 1% of research on impacts of climate change on heritage is related to Africa. Yet it has already resulted in damage to African heritage.

Source: Some of Africa’s most important heritage will be lost to climate change without intervention

UNESCO will restore Mali’s conflict-hit Bandiagara site; AFP

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UNESCO will restore the world heritage site of Bandiagara, in central Mali, which has been hit hard by the country’s long-running conflict.

Source: UNESCO will restore Mali’s conflict-hit Bandiagara site

UNESCO and ALIPH to rehabilitate Mali’s Bandiagara World Heritage site and support conflict-affected communities; Unesco

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Source: UNESCO and ALIPH to rehabilitate Mali’s Bandiagara World Heritage site and support conflict-affected communities

20 underrated cities around the world you should visit in your lifetime; Talia Lakritz; Business Insider

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These cities may not be as well-known as their touristy counterparts, but they have just as much to offer (and will probably be less crowded, too).

Source: 20 underrated cities around the world you should visit in your lifetime

Why War-Torn Mali Is Looking to China to Revive Tourism; Anna Pujol-Mazzini; Time

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With four UNESCO World Heritage sites, Mali used to be one of Africa’s top tourist destinations…

Source: Why War-Torn Mali Is Looking to China to Revive Tourism

Rendering Ceremony of the Historic Grand Mosque in Mali; Al Bawaba

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Several thousand residents of the historic central Malian city of Djenne, a UNESCO World Heritage site, took part in the annual rendering ceremony of the Grand Mosque, which will now be powered by solar electricity.  The rendering of the building with banco (a mixture of soil and water, with rice bran, shea butter and baobab powder) made by the city’s inhabitants, helps to protect the mosque from bad weather ahead of the rainy season. The Grand Mosque in the Malian city of Djenne described as “the largest adobe…

Source: Rendering Ceremony of the Historic Grand Mosque in Mali | Al Bawaba

Photos of the Week: German Asparagus, Traffic Zebras, Enormous Bear; Alan Taylor; Atlantic

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The Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali, pet rescue in flooded Quebec, the NRA Fashion and Firearms show in Indiana, a giant “spider” in New York, an attempted uprising in Venezuela, a tornado in Romania, and much more…

Source: Photos of the Week: German Asparagus, Traffic Zebras, Enormous Bear

Mali: Thousands take part in annual Grand mosque plaster; AFP

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The city of Djenne in Central Mali has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage list since 1988.

Source: Mali: Thousands take part in annual Grand mosque plaster

Technology in sub-Saharan Cultures; Khaleel Shaikh; The Muslim Times

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Genetic and paleontological findings have concluded that Africa is the birthplace of the entire human race. Africa is often thought of as a continent rich in natural beauty and…

Source: Technology in sub-Saharan Cultures

British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme sheds new light on the history of Africa and Islam; Nick Leech; The National 

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Beyond Timbuktu: Preserving the Manuscripts of Djenne, Mali is a new initiative from the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme…

Source: British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme sheds new light on the history of Africa and Islam 

See the Striking Earthen City of Timbuktu; National Geographic

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This West African city—long synonymous with the uttermost end of the Earth—was added to the World Heritage List in 1988, many centuries after its apex.Timbuktu was a center of Islamic scholarship under several African empires, home to a 25,000-student university and other madrasahs that served as wellsprings for the spread of Islam throughout Africa from the 13th to 16th centuries. Sacred Muslim texts, in bound editions, were carried great distances to Timbuktu for the use of eminent scholars from Cairo, Baghdad, Persia, and elsewhere who were in residence at the city. The great teachings of Islam, from astronomy and mathematics to medicine and law, were collected and produced here in several hundred thousand manuscripts. Many of them remain, though in precarious condition, to form a priceless written record of African history. Read more here.

Source: See the Striking Earthen City of Timbuktu

Meet the scientists immortalizing African heritage in virtual reality; Chris Giles; CNN

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Mali – Old Towns of Djenné

(CNN)The archaeological wonders of the world offer a rich window into the past. But many are crumbling, weed-laden and victim to vandalism and conflict.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as those in Libya and Mali, have been caught in the crossfire of regional disputes.
Concerned with the decay of African heritage sites, The Zamani Project, based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, is seeking to immortalize historic spots in three-dimensional, virtual reality-ready models.
Professor Heinz Ruther steers the project. He ventures up and down the continent — visiting Ghana, Tanzania, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya and elsewhere — recording in remarkable detail the structure and condition of tombs, churches and other buildings.
“I’ve seen how sites are deteriorating visibly,” Ruther told CNN.
The project’s aim is to build a database of complex, lifelike 3-D models. Presently, they’ve mapped around 16 sites.
Read more

Nuclear Disarmament and the Protection of Cultural Heritage; Patricia Lewis; Chatham House

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Mali – Old Towns of Djenné

States possessing nuclear weapons should be called upon to consider and publish the risks posed to cultural heritage, and their mitigation strategies, in their nuclear-weapons doctrines and policies.

Summary

  • Renewed risk assessments for nuclear weapons and policies are taking place around the world in light of nuclear modernization and the changing geostrategic environment that is making the use of nuclear weapons more likely. As such the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons and tests have received increased attention. However, the effect on cultural heritage has so far been neglected.
  • The potential for armed conflict to destroy cultural heritage has been recognized in international law since 1954. There is significant evidence on the impact of nuclear weapons on cultural heritage including the consequences of their use in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the effect of nuclear-testing programmes in places of cultural significance since 1945.

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Timbuktu’s mausoleums, ancient city protectors; Oman Observer

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Mali – Timbuktu

The shrines of Muslim saints in Timbuktu in northern Mali are widely believed to protect the fabled city from danger, but were largely destroyed by radical Islamists in 2012.

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What You Need To Know About Mali’s 5-Century Monument, “Tomb of Askia”; Philip; How Africa News

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Mali – Tomb of Askia

The Tomb of Askia, in Gao, Mali, is believed to be the burial place of Askia Mohammad I, one of the Songhai Empire’s most prolific emperors. It was built at the end of the fifteenth century and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Tomb of Askia is a secular monument that shares both the cultural and religious heritage of Mali.

The pyramid-shaped tomb also functions as a Mosque and is located in the northern town of Gao.

The archaeological site was built by Askia Mohammad I, a famous emperor of Songhai who reigned between the 15th and 16th century.

It is his burial place as Mohamed Soumaïlou Traoré, a cultural animator explains. “It is known as the Tomb of Askia, as a mosque, because Askia himself is buried here. Many of his sons, grandchildren, daughters are buried here.

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11 Vernacular Building Techniques on the Verge of Extinction; Ariana Zilliacus; ArchDaily

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Mali – Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)

“Vernacular architecture can be said to be ‘the architectural language of the people’ with its ethnic, regional, and local ‘dialects,’” writes Paul Oliver, author of The Encyclopaedia of Vernacular Architecture of The World. Unfortunately, there has been a growing disregard for traditional architectural language around the world due to modern building technology quickly spreading a “loss of identity and cultural vibrancy” through what the Architectural Review recently described as “a global pandemic of generic buildings.”

People have come to see steel, concrete, and glass as architecture of high quality, whereas a lot of vernacular methods including adobe, reed, or peat moss are often associated with underdevelopment. Ironically, these local methods are far more sustainable and contextually aware than much contemporary architecture seen today, despite ongoing talks and debates about the importance of sustainability.

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Saving Timbuktu: rebuilding history in Africa’s ancient city; Brand South Africa

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Timbuktu was once one of Africa’s greatest cities, but centuries of war, colonial rule and, more recently, radical terrorism has taken a toll on its historic buildings. Now, thanks to efforts by Unesco and the town’s citizens, these important buildings are being restored to their former glory.

Source: Saving Timbuktu: rebuilding history in Africa’s ancient city | Brand South Africa

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