Mosque of Djenné

Djenne prayer

Fig. 1.  Men entering the Mosque of Djenné for prayer (Source: Herr Hartman/Khan Academy)

 

Djenné, located in Mali and previously the capital of Ancient Mail, is a town that has been inhabited since as early as 250 BCE. The entire town is listed as a World Heritage Site in Dangerthis distinction is due to the variety of archaeological sites in the area that, according to the United Nations, are subject to the deterioration of their construction materials (due to climate change) and urbanization. In addition, the World Heritage Committee has stated that this designation is related to the presence of Islamist militant groups in West Africa. Timbuktu, a city just north of Djenné, has already been the site of architectural destruction by Islamic militia groups, so qualifying Djenné on the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger is more a precautionary measure. The entire district of Djenné is representative of Islamic architecture in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially pre-Islamic urban structures. One of the most special architectural monuments of Djenné, and of the world, is the Great Mosque (fig. 1). This mudbrick mosque has a unique history of construction that relates to the contemporary issues of Djenné today.

 

The first iteration of the Mosque of Djenné was built by the first Djenné king to convert to Islam, Mansa Musa, in the 13th century. During this time period, Mali was internationally recognized as a powerful country and carried the reputation as the land of gold. Mansa Musa travelled through Africa and the Middle East on his hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and contributed to disseminating this image of Mali by giving out gold and riches in every city he visited. On his return to Mali, he sought to elevate the architectural vocabulary of Mali by arranging a more uniform style across the country and erected mosques everywhere. The Great Mosque of Djenné was the largest of these undertakings. By the early 19th century, a local ruler, Seku Ahmadu, destroyed Mansa Musa’s original mosque because it did not align with his fundamentalist Islamic views and built a new one.

 

Ultimately, Mali was conquered by France in the 20th century, and in 1907 the French Colonial administration became the patron for a reconstruction of the original mosque. The chief of operations for this project was Ismaila Traore, a local master mason who had great familiarity with the structural techniques required and authentic Djenné architecture, but there is speculation that the design still seems influenced by the French. Historians have noted that the overall design seems more “neo-Sudanese,” a style that the French promoted in order to give a uniform look to all of their West African colonies and posts. Still, at the heart of it, the Great Mosque of Djenné represents the old, traditional construction of mosques in Africa, with its large courtyard and roofed prayer hall. The conical elements along its façade are also a distinct characteristic of the architectural landscape of Mali.

 

While characteristic, the façade simultaneously has features that are incredibly unique. Sticking out from the face of the building are grids of wooden posts that serve both a decorative and structural purpose. The entire mosque is made out of rammed earth, and the building is replastered annually as part of a festival called the Crepissage de la Grand Mosquée. As the exterior naturally erodes from the elements each year, it becomes necessary to maintain its integrity with this replastering. This festival has become part of the identity of the Djenné locals, and the entire community participates in it. Usually, the men of Djenné gather the clay the make the plaster, and women will retrieve water from the nearby rivers. Special masons ultimately mix these materials and use the wooden posts as a kind of scaffolding for climbing up the walls of the building to slather on plaster. The entire replastering festival is a time where the whole of the Djenné community gathers and participates, regardless of age, gender, or role. Aside from the practical purposes of a single day dedicated to architectural maintenance and upkeep, the Crepissage de la Grand Mosquée also contributes to maintaining the social fabric of the community.

 

crepissage de la grand mosquée

Fig. 2. Master masons replastering the Mosque during Crepissage de la Grand Mosquée and community members contributing to collection of materials (Source: Peter Howard/African World Heritage Sites)

 

Djenné locals have unfortunately faced negative consequences due to its UNESCO designation as a World Heritage Site, which brings to light the question of what preserving cultural heritage looks like in reality, and how often we seem to discard the needs of people in the present in order to “save” objects from the past. In 2006, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, a Geneva-based organization with a very broad human development and welfare mission in Africa and Asia, decided to intervene with the Great Mosque because its structural supports were starting to deteriorateyears and years of replastering had made the exterior too heavy, and its original wooden skeleton was starting to wane. The Aga Khan Trust launched conservation efforts for the mosque through extensive restoration, but in doing so altered the very organic nature of the building by stopping the replastering festival for three years. While this move made sense for the longevity of the building, the collateral damage was the deprivation of one of Djenné’s most important holidays, as well as its tourist lure. The Crepissage de la Grand Mosquée is akin to celebrating the new year in the sense that it is a time for revitalization and renewal, as well as bringing the entire community together. With the Aga Khan Trust conservation project in progress, the locals were deprived of one of their important customs that had been ongoing for decades, as well as the income generated from foreign travelers who come to witness the replastering. Although the project was completed in a quick three years, it still brings up the question of how efforts to preserve cultural heritage often do not consider the local communities and their relationship with the sites themselves. The Aga Khan Trust is an international organization that has no genuine stake or claim to Djenné, its buildings, or its culture, and yet it made the executive decision to intervene.

 

Additionally, this issue in Djenné extends beyond just the Great Mosque. The town’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site has prevented people in the entire area from modernizing their homes for the sake of preserving their historical integrity. Djenné locals are proud that their architecture has been designated as culturally significant and have agreed to keep their building façades in this old style, but UNESCO has prevented any sort of construction on the interiors of their homes as well. As a result, homes in Djenné are blocked from becoming more modernized, even though people would like to have more current appliances and facilities and have ultimately been forced into using outdated ones. The people feel like they are props for UNESCO and other cultural-preservation institutions, as if their whole life is like them living in a museum.

 

Boys at Crepissage

Fig. 3.  Young boys posing for the camera during the Crepissage de la Grand Mosquée. (Source: Peter Howard/African World Heritage Sites)

 

The preservation of cultural heritage sometimes exists in this kind of paradox, where the desires of the local community are oppressed so that their cultural objects can be protected and prosper. This issue relates to the idea of a greater foreign body dictating the right or wrong way to achieve cultural preservation. This dwindling sense of local autonomy is glaring and must be reconciled, especially in Africa where there are a disproportionate number of sites declared in danger by UNESCO. In order to strike a balance between both parties involved in this scenario, it would be of interest for UNESCO to provide the required resources to update the interiors of homes and other facilities in Djenné while maintaining the aesthetic of their exteriors, and to employ local contractors for future conservation efforts in order to integrate the community into foreign-led projects. If these two standards are upheld, there is at least a more equitable solution for both parties in prioritizing their own needsUNESCO can still highlight this site as World Heritage and continue its mission of preserving cultural heritage, and Djenné locals will not have to be subjected to unfair conditions and life as a museum prop, and will actually gain more tangible support from UNESCO. Djenné’s designation as cultural heritage will only continue to cause problems for the community until these issues are reconciled.