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Maintaining Timbuktu’s unique tangibleand intangible heritageAli Ould Sidi aa Timbuktu Cultural Mission , Timbuktu , BP 63, MaliPublished online: 01 Mar 2012.

To cite this article: Ali Ould Sidi (2012) Maintaining Timbuktu’s unique tangible andintangible heritage, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 18:3, 324-331, DOI:10.1080/13527258.2012.651744

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2012.651744

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Maintaining Timbuktu’s unique tangible and intangible heritage

Ali Ould Sidi*

Timbuktu Cultural Mission, Timbuktu, BP 63, Mali

(Received 25 September 2011; final version received 17 December 2011)

Africa, the cradle of humanity, holds secrets among its uncountable cultural trea-sures. Timbuktu, a city of scholarship in Mali and inscribed on UNESCO’sWorld Heritage List in 1988, remains one of those treasures. Timbuktu is a cityof earthen architecture, with three main mosques and 16 cemeteries and mauso-leums. The Timbuktu World Heritage Site is known for its participatory man-agement approach, initiated by the Timbuktu Cultural Mission. To achieveexpanded involvement of local communities and to establish improved manage-ment tools are some of the challenges faced by the World Heritage Site. Thiscase study presents initiatives to enhance community involvement in the imple-mentation of the World Heritage Convention, from awareness building throughtourism management, to building maintenance and conservation. The communityhas a duty to participate in the maintenance of the mosques, and the ability tocontinue this tradition represents an essential aspect of their cultural rights.

Keywords: Timbuktu Cultural Mission; local community; World Heritage sites;participatory management and culture

Introduction

For most Western people, when you say Timbuktu, it is like the end of the world.It is the point you may reach once you are done with the world map. However,Timbuktu has been a permanent settlement since the early twelfth century CE andbeing located in the heart of the Sahara on the Niger River, was prominent duringthe Songhay Empire, one of the largest Islamic empires in history dating from theearly fifteenth to the late sixteenth century. Situated on trade crossroads betweensub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, Timbuktu flourished from trade in salt, goldand slaves (Fage 1976, pp. 338–339, Hull 1976, p. 71, Fletcher and Cruickshank1996; Elleh 1997, Coquery-Vidrovitch 2005, pp. 44–45, Rael 2008). Timbuktubecame an intellectual and spiritual capital and centre for the propagation of Islamthroughout Africa, playing a role in the spread of science, literature, philosophy andreligion. At the height of the Songhay Empire the Islamic University Sankore inTimbuktu had 25,000 students. Timbuktu’s great mosques of Djingareyber, Sankoreand Sidi Yehia, which were built in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, recall theGolden Age of the city (see Figure 1).

Today Timbuktu, a regional capital in Mali, is an impoverished town with a popu-lation of 54,000 in 2009. Both residents and settlement – including the area designatedas World Heritage – are exposed to severe threats from seasonal droughts and floods,

*Email: ouldsidi_ali@hotmail.fr

International Journal of Heritage StudiesVol. 18, No. 3, May 2012, 324–331

ISSN 1352-7258 print/ISSN 1470-3610 online� 2012 Taylor & Francishttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2012.651744http://www.tandfonline.com

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sand encroachment and soil erosion. Reflecting living traditions, the main buildings ofTimbuktu have evolved considerably over time – a result of the way they were builtand of Timbuktu’s particular physical and socio-cultural environment. The sense ofmystery and magic in Timbuktu attracts travellers and tourists from all over the world.A well-known cultural event – the ‘Festival au Desert’ – takes place in January eachyear to celebrate the 1996 peace treaty that ended the Tuareg rebellion.

Following a short outline on World Heritage in Timbuktu, this paper focuses onthe processes of traditional maintenance that we still follow to safeguard our mostcherished material and immaterial heritage: the mosques of historic Timbuktu.

Timbuktu World Heritage

The historic centre of Timbuktu – with the mosques of Djingareyber, Sankore andSidi Yahia, and 16 cemeteries and mausoleums – was inscribed on the UNESCOWorld Heritage List in 1988 based on criteria II, IV and V:

(I) Timbuktu’s holy places were vital to the early spread of Islam in Africa,(II) Timbuktu’s mosques represent the cultural and scholarly Golden Age of the

Songhay Empire and(III) The mosques, still largely ‘original’, represent living traditions in terms of

use of materials and construction.

Soon after the inscription – and at the request of Mali as State Party to theWorld Heritage Convention – the Timbuktu property was placed on the list of

Figure 1. Sankore mosque: Timbuktu’s former university during the 15th century. A groupfrom the local community or Maçons participated in the restoration programme.

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World Heritage in Danger. This position lasted until 2005, when conservation activ-ity and the inventory were completed according to the requirements of the WorldHeritage Committee. Although the buildings were constructed in fragile and perish-able materials, the three mosques of Timbuktu have withstood weather cycles,humidification, drought and the actions of human beings over several centuries. Theliving traditions of the Timbuktu artisans and age-old methods of building withoptimal use of local materials and knowledge have contributed to this.

Timbuktu Cultural Mission

The protection and enhancement of heritage – both tangible and intangible – is animportant issue to Timbuktu and its inhabitants. The Cultural Mission of Timbuktu(CMT) was established in 1993 in order to manage and monitor the World Heritagesite (Malian Ministry of Culture Decree No. 93–203/PR.M. dated 11 June 1993).The institution has a ‘flexible’ structure, with main responsibilities of heritage man-agement of the World Heritage property and for ensuring continuous dialogue andcollaboration with community organisations including the religious leaders and mas-ter artisans.

The CMT has two main objectives:

• to achieve better involvement of local community in the site management pro-cess, and

• to establish improved and management tools suitable to the urban conserva-tion needs and adopted conservation regime of Timbuktu Old Town WorldHeritage property.

Figure 2. The Djingareyberre mosque, built in 1325, one of the world heritage sitesrestored in 1998.

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To help achieve this, the CMT maintains close contacts with traditional commu-nity structures, and provides municipal, local and technical support for cultural heri-tage, develops and implements a strategy of information and awareness buildingabout the Timbuktu cultural heritage, and strengthens local community capacity byproviding training in heritage management and the Word Heritage system.

Improving the condition of the heritage sites and developing respect for all liv-ing traditions related to the life of the Timbuktu World Heritage property representa continuous challenge. Ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders has helped, how-ever, to redefine the roles and responsibilities of elected officials, traditional chiefs,imams, masons and local community representatives (see Figures 2–7).

Traditional maintenance and community

The annual maintenance of the mosques is an important event in Timbuktu, sup-ported by the community, the guilds of master artisans and the CMT (Joffroy2005). To protect the mosques from imminent rain damage, the repair work isscheduled just before the winter season, and organised and carried out according toold traditions. The annual process is initiated by a meeting with mosque leaders todiscuss the coming activity, the conservation needs, the collection of materials andhow to organise the work. Mosque maintenance is perceived as a religious andsocial duty, and all young people of working age are ‘rounded up’ to take part andhave to start their work only after an obligatory mud-bath. The conservation workhas character of a community celebration.

Figure 3. Sankore mosq: restoration of the western part, where about 150 m of sand wasremoved. A gate discovered during the restoration work was covered by sand (desertification)since 1972.

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The two main Timbuktu families of stone masons – organised into a guildknown as one of the ‘Mysteries of Timbuktu’ – have exclusive rights to buildingwork under a master’s authority. The masons engage in secret rituals. Each familyis responsible for one of the two big mosques, a responsibility with associated mag-ical power as illustrated by a local belief that a mason might transform into a mag-got if one of the walls that he has built falls down. This is part of the culturalbackground on which the annual mosque repairs are organised.

The imam would launch an appeal and announce the works. Gradually the neces-sary materials – truckloads of earth, wooden beams and a water spouting – are contrib-uted by Timbuktu residents. Once the materials are assembled, the imam tells theguild of masons to get ready. The community is informed at the main Friday prayersand through the radio about the date, the need for all to contribute and possible dan-gers associated with the work to be done – such as an excessive number of workersclimbing onto the fragile roof construction. The town criers encourage workers toorganise themselves. On the actual day, the early morning is devoted to plastering themosque and the afternoon is reserved for the renovation of the minaret.

Figure 4. Improving the Sankore roof water drainage system by changing to a traditionalpump to conduct water during the raining season.

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The Guild Patriarch selects four experienced young masons from within theancestral families of the guild to oversee the work. Each of the four masons has a4-m long piece of cotton fabric tied to his waist, to be filled with amulets andchanted over by the ‘marabouts’ (Muslim religious leaders, teachers or wanderingholy men in West Africa and the Maghreb). The masons are the first to climb themosque walls – climbing up the pieces of wood set in the walls for this purpose.As a signal to start the work, and with incantations accompanying them, the firstballs of mud plaster are thrown at the uneven wall surfaces to establish a new pro-tective layer. The first wall to be done is that of the ‘mihrab’ (mihrab – a niche setinto the middle of the ‘qibla’ wall; ‘qibla’ – the direction that should be faced dur-ing prayers, indicating the direction of Mecca).

The skilled workers are divided into four working groups. Most of them applythe new protective coat with the others replacing roofing beams or waterspouts. Theolder artisans remain seated in the shade supervising the work. Non-specialists,often young people, prepare and transport the material needed. Large amounts ofwater are necessary for mixing the mud plaster and to dampen the walls beforeapplying the plaster. Women walk non-stop with jars and buckets filled from tapsmade available for the occasion.

The afternoon passes in a quieter manner. After preparing the special mud plas-ter with baobab powder to make it more resistant to the effects of exposure, thefour masons apply the mixture, each working on one of the façades of the minaret.At the end of the day, the imam offers thanks for the assistance and gives blessingsto preserve community unity, closing off with reading the ‘Fatiha’ (first chapter ofthe Qur’an). In the evening, the Patriarch of Masons gives an annual dinner for allparticipants at his home, a major social event that contributes to strengthening ties

Figure 5. Reparing the Sankore mosque roof by changing broken beams.

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Figure 7. Restoration of the western courtyard of the djingareberre mosq. This court isused as a place of prayer during summer or hot seasons.

Figure 6. Repairing Djingareyberre mosque roof by strengthening some beams andreplacing weak or broken ones.

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between Timbuktu people of different ages and backgrounds (Sidi and Joffroy2005).

Conclusions

The practice of heritage conservation is part of an ancient tradition. Indeed, the pos-sibility that every new generation can leave its trace on these sacred spaces is prob-ably an excellent way of promoting voluntary involvement in conservation works,thereby ensuring the mosques endure over time, having until today already wit-nessed more than six centuries. We see the mosques as the fruit of the Timbuktucommunity, of its somewhat varied culture, its history and personalities. Theyreflect the will of successive generations and of Timbuktu’s distinctive environment,which is both destructive and creative. While religion is the main driving force, thedays of communal maintenance work unite all the city’s inhabitants and almost cer-tainly reinforce a sense of community in each person.

The role of the Timbuktu Cultural Mission in all of this is essential today –helping to find a new balance among the various partners involved in Timbuktuand World Heritage property management, and of coordinating effective interven-tions on the mosques to conserve their link with the community and safeguardingtheir tangible and intangible authenticity.

The traditional management systems used for the maintenance of the World Her-itage property are giving the community access to their cultural properties, and assuch they contribute to the safeguarding of their cultural rights.

Notes on contributorAli Ould Sidi holds an MA degree in history and geography of the Ecole NormaleSuperieure de Bamako and an MA in cultural geography of Western Illinois University,USA. He is currently the Manager of Timbuktu World Heritage Site and Chief of TimbuktuCultural Mission, Mali.

References

Coquery-Vidrovitch, C., 2005. The history of African cities South of the Sahara. Princeton,NJ: Markus Wiener.

Elleh, N., 1997. African architecture: evolution and transformation. New York, NY:McGraw-Hill.

Fage, J.D., 1976. The Cambridge history of Africa. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-sity Press.

Fletcher, B. and Cruickshank, D., 1996. Sir Banister Fletcher’s A History of Architecture.20th ed London: The Architectural Press.

Hull, R.W., 1976. African cities and towns before the European conquest. New York, NY:W. W. Norton.

Joffroy, T., 2005. Chantiers Pilotes à la Conservation des Mosqués de Tombouctou. Craterre.Rael, R., 2008. Earth architecture. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press.Sidi, A.O. and Joffroy, T., 2005. The conservation of the grand mosques of Timbuktu, in

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