Timbuktu Script & Scholarship is an exhibition of about 40 manuscripts from the holdings of the Ahmed Baba Institute (IHERI-AB) in Timbuktu, Mali. Some of these manuscripts are hundreds of years old, and were written in a variety of styles of Arabic calligraphy by scholars and copyists who were part of an African Islamic intellectual tradition centred in Timbuktu. Some of the manuscripts are beautifully decorated with gold illumination and kept in finely tooled leather covers. The exhibition includes manuscripts ranging in subject matter from religion to astronomy and mathematics, as well as history and literary forms. It also includes manuscripts covering legal judgements and commercial transactions that give a sense of the daily life of the citizens of Timbuktu.

The exhibition is an integral part of the South Africa-Mali project which was initiated by President Mbeki in 2002. As a flagship cultural initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the project aims to conserve the important collection of manuscripts held at the Ahmed Baba institute of Higher Islamic Studies in Timbuktu through the training of conservation staff and the construction of a building to house the collection of the Ahmed Baba Institute.

Timbuktu Script & Scholarship is complemented by a catalogue, edited by University of Cape Town historian, Dr Shamil Jeppie.

The exhibition is funded by the national Department of Arts and Culture

Exhibition tour schedule

Cape Town: Granary, Iziko at the Castle of Good Hope, 8 August – 3 September 2008
Grahamstown: Albany Museum, 9 – 15 September 2008
Pretoria/Tshwane: National Library of South Africa, 23 September – 8 October 2008
Bloemfontein: Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 15 - 29 October 2008
Durban: Durban Art Gallery, 5 – 16 November 2008
Johannesburg: Standard Bank Gallery, 21 November – 1 December 2008

High Resolution images available on request.

Issued by The Heritage Agency on behalf of Iziko Museums of Cape Town.

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