Blog

Update from Djenne

7 February 2013

In the midst of Mali’s sudden emergence in the world ‘s focus, the Unesco World Heritage city of Djenne sits tranquil in the heart of the Niger delta, just 120 km South of Sevaré, the launching pad for the continued French air strikes into the North of Mali, where pockets of Islamist rebels are still present.

Why does Timbuktu matter?

31 January 2013

Timbuktu sits on the edge of Saharan desert. It was a trading entrepôt in the age when the camel was the only means of transport and it became a centre of commerce in the region; trade in books come to be part of that exchange network. The city and its desert environs are an archive of handwritten texts in Arabic and in African languages in the Arabic script (mainly, Fulani and Songhay), produced, it appears, between the 13th and the 20th centuries. The earliest date of written heritage is still speculation for no scientific tests have been done on inks and paper.

Timbuktu Update

30 January 2013

Since the start of this week there are reports about the destruction of library buildings and book collections in Timbuktu. It sounds as if the written heritage of the town went up in flames. According to our information this is not the case at all. The custodians of the libraries worked quietly throughout the rebel occupation of Timbuktu to ensure the safety of their materials. A limited number of items have been damaged or stolen, the infrastructure neglected and furnishings in the Ahmad Baba Institute library looted but from all our local sources - all intimately connected with the public and private collections in the town - there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection.

“Manuscript Culture in the Niger Bend” Seminar on 24 October

15 October 2012

The Tombouctou Mss Project and

Susana Molins-Lliteras

Doctoral student in the Department of Historical Studies funded by

The AW Mellon Foundation

Invite you to a Seminar Programme entitled:

“Manuscript culture in the Niger Bend”

Date & Time
Wednesday, 24 October 2012, 09h00-14h00

Venue
TB Davie Seminar Room, Postgraduate Centre and Funding Office,
3rd Level, Otto Beit Building University Avenue, Upper Campus
University of Cape Town

Reminder about Calligraphic Africa Lecture (tomorrow, 11 September 2012)

10 September 2012

This is a reminder about the final lecture in the “Calligraphic Africa” series which is scheduled for tomorrow, the 11th of September at 13h00 in the HUMA Seminar room, Humanities Building, University Avenue South, Upper Campus, University of Cape Town.