Timbuktu, 18 June 2012
Since April, the city of Timbuktu, former intellectual and spiritual capital of West Africa is in the hands of different rebel groups. Desecrations of mausoleums and mosques are multiplying in the region.
Moreover, information state that acts of pillage have taken place at the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research (IHERI-AB) which possesses a certain amount of documents, terracotta works and manuscripts from between the 12th century and the 15th century. In addition, some of these treasures have not been studied yet. Consequently, the risk of a parallel market fuelled by the influx of artworks is high.
In addition, the North region of Mali, which contains three sites listed as World Heritage by UNESCO: the city of Djenné, the Tomb of Askia and the Bandiagara Escarpment, is at the centre of the UNESCO’s concerns. (Statement taken from Le Journal des Arts.)