|
A collection of 40 rare manuscripts is to be released from the
Ahmed Baba Institute in Timbuktu in Mali, for a
travelling
exhibition around major centres in South Africa. The exhibition will
open in the Grain Cellar at the Castle in 2008 on a date to be
confirmed. It will then
travel to major centres and national museums throughout South
Africa. The exhibition in South Africa of these very precious
manuscripts is linked to a larger partnership project, viz. the
conservation of the manuscripts and the construction of a new
library building to house the collection of the Ahmed Baba Institute
of Higher Learning and Islamic Research (Iheri-Ab) in Timbuktu. This
is a joint project of the South African and Malian governments, and
resides in South Africa in the President’s Office. It is also a
project of Nepad (New Partnership for Africa’s Development). The
exhibition will celebrate the manuscripts as cultural treasures of
Africa, in the context of the history of scholarship in Mali, and
will raise awareness of the centuries-long history of the written
word in Africa. A range of themes will be covered within the
selection of the manuscripts, inter alia, astronomy,
medicine, mathematics, science and botany, music, poetry,
philosophy, religion, commerce and social relationships. The
exhibition is presented in partnership with the Department of Arts
and Culture.
For more information about the Timbuktu project,
click here [PDF -
1.3MB]. |
