From Timbuktu to Gao: sources for the study of earth architectures in Africa, by means of the mosques of Djinguereber, Sankore, Sidi Yahia, Djenné and the Tombs of Asquia, in Mali

• Grant number: 23/15899-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Renata Maria de Almeida Martins
• Grantee: Maria Júlia Garib Destro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06538-9 - Baroque-açu: Portuguese America in the art geography of the global South, AP.JP2

Abstract

This scientific initiation project seeks to bring together and synthesize the main studies on the mosques of Djinguereber, Sankore, Sidi Yahia and Djenné and on the Tombs of Ásquia, located in World Heritage Sites in Mali, a country in West Africa, in the cities of Timbuktu, Djenné and Gao. The region gained global prominence with the establishment of the Mali and Songhai Empires, respectively in the 13th and 15th centuries. Geographically and economically strategic, these cities acquired a unique and grand architecture that reflects the pre-colonial years of power, included in 1988 on the UNESCO World Heritage List (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). This study will take a general historical and historiographical journey, starting from the first reports on the subject, such as that of the Berber traveler Ibne Batuta, who travels through the lands of Mali and describes its habits, culture and architecture; reaching the most recent major research projects at the site, such as the Étude sur les mausolées de Tombouctou, carried out by UNESCO. Thus, with a theoretical-methodological background centered on a decolonial approach, the work will seek to synthesize and make available easy-to-understand and up-to-date material on who the main researchers were, how they approached the topic and how they dialogue with each other, as a way of facilitate any future research. This project aims to collaborate with the study group Abya-Yala FAU: Decolonial Challenge and Amerindian Cultures in the History of Art, Architecture and Territory, created within the scope of the JP Barroco Cifrado Project (2015/23222-4), and continued through the Project JP 2 Barroco-Açu (2021/06538-9), coordinated by Profa. Dr. Renata Maria de Almeida Martins at FAU USP, advisor for this Scientific Initiation.