Abstract
Recently, many cultural aspects of some African countries have been in danger of being lost due to cultural disruptions, nonadaptive construction techniques and a lack of adequate conservation systems and strategies. These include the well-known manuscripts of Timbuktu (Tombouctou) as well as architecture, languages, beads, textiles, costumes and other cultural objects. Immaterial heritage, such as oral history, traditional music, instruments and dance, is also affected.In the northwestern part of Africa, the so-called Sahel-Sahara region, earthen architecture has played an important role in cultural identity and has been a key means of community establishment. This architectural heritage includes a wide variety of creations ranging from simple houses, granaries, and palaces to religious buildings, urban centres, cultural landscapes and archaeological sites. By studying northwestern African cultural heritage and cultural exchanges during trans-Saharan trade, we can benefit from traditional knowledge and use these teachings to build a sustainable knowledge system for earthen architecture conservation. This work is urgent since these structures are in danger of being lost, destroyed, badly conserved, or not documented.The aim of this research is to point out, through an anthropological approach, the importance of local community involvement in the conservation process. This research is based on a comparative study of different earthen architecture conservation spaces within the abovementioned region that have been important and were influenced by cultural exchanges during trans-Saharan trade. In these historical towns, some architectural heritage sites have been abandoned and are in ruins, while others have been preserved solely as tourist attractions. In this paper, I introduce the case of Djenné to share our research approach. This paper provides insight into earthen architecture conservation issues and how local communities have used tangible and intangible methods to preserve cultural heritage.
Highlights
Introduction of DjennéDjenné ( Jenné), a historically and commercially important small city in the Niger Inland Delta of central Mali, was linked to the trans-Saharan gold trade
This paper provides insight into earthen architecture conservation issues and how local communities have used tangible and intangible methods to preserve cultural heritage
3.1 Overview of Djenné conservation projects Djenné has been subjected to many conservation and restoration projects since it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List (Feilden and Jokilehto 1998) (Jokilehto 2011)
Summary
2.1 Mali: history and geography Mali is a landlocked country situated in the heart of West Africa It was a French colony for approximately one hundred years and used to be called French Sudan. Mali is bordered on the north by Algeria, on the east by Niger and Burkina Faso, on the south by Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, and on the west by Senegal and Mauritania It is a relatively large country with an area of 1,240,192 km2, and the Sahara Desert covers 65% of its territory. 2.3 Town organisation Djenné is organised around ethnic/professional quarters along a major axial system, at the centre of which the mosque and the market square form an imposing urban space (Fig. 3). The major construction material of the whole region is banco, the local name for the earthen construction material used in block conception as mortar for building plasters (Fig. 6)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
