africa art

Timbuktu Mali

Jenne (Djenne) Mali

Bobo-Dioulasso Burkina Faso

Kong Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Kawara Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Larabanga Ghana

adobe (banco) mud brick architecture

ARCHITECTURE OF ISLAM 14th century CE to present

Labelle Prussin Practicing Architect and

Architectural Historian (later went for a PhD)

Problems at the time (1968) when she wrote the article:

1) lack of research, or research too focused on a particular area, not enough research across the broad region

2) Lack of permanent structures to study, mostly mud-brick architecture, not much stone (remember that at Koumbi Saleh, the stone mosque survived, but the kings palace did not)

3) Lack of respect for African architecture generally not seen as Architecture (with capitol A) but rather as building technology

Note: So, the exhibition at the Met is called “Sahel: Art and Empires of the Shores of the Sahara”. We are now moving south into the region known as the Sudan. The term Sudan refers to the region Arabs called the land of the Blacks (Bilad-al-Sudan). Remember our discussion of the trans-Saharan trade? Camel caravans made their

way across the desert in search of gold among other things. The success of that trade depended on the fact that there was already a thriving trade network across the Sudanic region, connecting the (Guinean) forest zones with the Sahel. The Berbers and Arabs brought the Islamic faith with them, and it spread along trade routes throughout this region. The traders were among the first to adopt Islam and trade and Islamic learning went

hand in hand throughout this region. As more people adopted Islam, there was a need for mosques to accommodate the faithful. So who do you think built these mosques?

What do you notice about the distribution of Sudanese mud mosques in West Africa?

Timbuktu

Jenne

BoboDioulasso

Kong

Kawara

Larabanga

Prussin identifies 5 distinct types of Sudanese-style mosques that correspond to five phases of spread of this distinctive architectural style in West Africa (read the article by Prussin!).

Timbuktu, M

Kawara, Cote d’IvoireKong, Cote d’Ivoire

Jenne, Mali

Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Djinguereber Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali probably built in the 14th century,

possibly following Mansa Musa’s return to Mali after his pilgrimage to Mecca.

There is a tradition that he brought an architect with him

https://www.zamaniproject.org/site-mali- timbuktu-djingareyber-

mosque.html#header5-a9

Check out this website with 3-D modeling of the mosque (also posted on Blackboard)

Very cool. The only weird part is that the model has no people and the mosque

seems to be out in the middle of nowhere.

Sankore Mosque, Timbuktu, Mali

Above: photograph taken in the early 20th century. The caption says the mosque was constructed in the 11th century, but it was probably constructed in the 14th century, around the same time as the

Djingereber mosque.

Right: a photograph I took in the middle of the day when it was well over 100 degrees. The streets

were deserted except this young woman and the goat. But when we returned to the city at 6 pm, the streets and shops were packed. Noon was a

great time for pictures, but not for shopping.

Aerial photograph of a town along the Niger river during the dry season. The dark spot in the center of the town is the mosque, designed to resemble the Great Mosque of Jenne, but smaller. The open space near the mosque is the market place. You find the mosque, you find the market, you find the

market, you find the mosque. Trade and Islam went hand in hand.

The Great Mosque of Jenne, Mali on market day

Market day in Jenne, Mali

The Great Mosque of Jenne, Mali (1980s) on market day

The Great Mosque of Jenne, Mali (1980’s) the open place is deserted except for this horseman named Chokari. I had just interviewed him and returned back to where I was staying for lunch

when I saw him riding across the square.

Jenne, Mali

https://www.zamaniproject.org/site- mali-djenne-great-

mosque.html#header5-an

The Great mosque, Jenne, Mali

Massive pillars and arches on the interior. Air and light vents on the

roof with ceramic caps.

The main mosque, Bobo Dioulasso

Burkina Faso

Kong, Cote d’Ivoire

Kong, Cote d’Ivoire

Kawara, Cote d’Ivoire

Larabanga, Ghana probably dates from the 17th century

(Wikipedia says 1421) conserved in 2002 with help from the World Monuments Fund, but hard to

maintain in this climate.

2011

2002

Sorobango, Cote d’Ivoire

Small Sudanese style mosque in a village in southern Mali. It has been years since it was

re-plastered, because they built a new mosque next to it out of cement.

An even smaller village mosque that is made of cement, but still has that unmistakable Sudanese style

Traditional Sudanese-style mud brick architecture, Jenne, Mali

French colonial architecture Sudanese style in cement,

Dakar, Senegal

Train Station in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Community center built in 1930 in the town of

Frejus, France (the French Riviera). It was built for West African troops stationed in France during the

Colonial period, and still owned by the Ministry of

Defense

Main market building built by the French in the center of Bamako

View of one of the main banks in the capitol of Bamako

Mosques built today are usually of cement and follow a style more familiar from Saudi Arabia