An archaeologist explaining to villagers the importance of protecting sites.
Mali
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The
Red List: Sounding the Alarm
The International
Council of Museums (Icom), an NGO with close ties to UNESCO, has drawn up a Red
List featuring eight categories of African archaeological items which are particulary
threatened by looting. These include Nok terracotta; terracotta and bronzes from
Ife; Esie stone statues (Nigeria); terracotta, bronzes and pottery of the Niger Valley
(Mali); terracotta, statuettes, bronzes, potteries and stone statues from the Bura
sites (Niger and Burkina Faso); stone statues from the north of Burkina Faso; terracotta
from the north of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire; terracotta and bronzes known as
Sao (Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria).
“These objects are among the cultural goods most affected by looting and theft. .
. . An appeal is therefore being made to museums, auction houses, art dealers and
collectors to stop buying them,” says the organization. The Red List gives the provenance
of items in each category, information on their physical characteristics as well
as the national and international legislation protecting them.
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The
return of a work of art or record to the country which created it enables a people
to recover part of
their memory and identity, and proves that the long dialogue between civilizations
. . . . is still continuing.
Amadou-Mahtar
M’Bow, former Director-General of UNESCO (1921-)
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For
20 years, Mali has been waging a war on the archaeological plundering that plagues
the country. Everyone has followed the president to the front lines
Today, the archaeological
site of Jenné-Jeno is no longer looted. Not far from there, the villagers
of Nombori have even founded their own museum. And they’re not alone. In the Mopti
region, the inhabitants of Fombori have taken the same initiative. People who could
have been tempted by looting to improve their difficult lot have become curators!
These few startling examples go to show that Mali’s efforts over the past two decades
have paid off, even though looting is a long way from being wiped out.
The story goes back to the 1970s. Before that, most of the trade in art works involved
wooden statuettes and masks, which were the only items with an aesthetic and commercial
value in the west. Then, looting started to grow at a dramatic pace. Mali, with Nigeria
and Niger, has become one of the West African countries whose archaeological heritage
has been hardest hit by illicit trafficking. A 1989 study by the Bamako Institute
of Social Sciences says that 17 percent of the 834 sites listed in Mali’s Dogon country
have been targets of large-scale looting, of which two percent have been lost forever
for research.
Ancient
cultures shrouded in mystery
In
the inner Niger delta, hundreds of “Djenné” terracotta statuettes, named after
a city1 near Jenné-Jeno, have been scattered among private collections and
museums around the world. The famous “Bankoni” statuettes, which are named after
a village in Bamako’s suburbs, share the same fate. The priceless bronze figurines
from the Méma sites, in the Ségou region, have fared no better.
The genius of Mali’s ancient oral civilizations was chiefly expressed in statuary,
one of our most precious sources of information about the past. For example, one
of the few statuettes found during a scientific archaeological excavation of the
Jenné-Jeno site has revealed that earlier inhabitants buried their dead in
large earthenware jars and practised other animist traditions. But we still know
little about the Bankoni, except that their civilization flourished in the 14th and
15th centuries. Looters were the first to discover all these sites. As a result,
the ancient art-producing cultures remain shrouded in mystery, despite the high number
of pieces sold on the art market.
This market is basically supplied by so-called antique dealers who in turn are supplied
by their own networks of looters: farmers or organized gangs. The antiques are exported
to France, the United States and above all Belgium, a hub of illicit trade.
Early on, Mali’s officials realized how serious the situation was. Under the impetus
of the country’s current president, Alpha Oumar Konaré (head of the national
historic and ethnographic heritage division from 1976 to 1978, minister of culture
from 1978 to 1980), a legal framework was set up allowing for an effective campaign
against looting and trafficking. A series of laws was passed, starting in 1985. Two
years later, Mali ratified the 1970 UNESCO Convention (see p.
21).
International
co-operation: the missing link?
The
next step lay in raising public awareness. Several meetings bringing together 50
to 100 people from all walks of life were held, especially in areas most beset by
the problem. These gatherings provided an opportunity to explain the new laws and
how important archaeological sites are to our national history and cultural identity.
It was not always easy. The rural population, victims of repeated droughts since
1974, sometimes turned to looting as a way to survive and did not always accept or
understand our approach. But we persevered. In 1993, we took a new step by setting
up cultural missions in Bandiagara, Djenné and Timbuktu. Their purpose: to
continue raising people’s awareness and encourage them to get involved in protecting
their heritage. Near Djenné and Tenenkou, for example, villagers recently
staged a play and held a temporary exhibition about heritage. Some have even volunteered
with the police to guard archaeological sites.
In cities, the media helped the campaign along by running many articles on the subject.
During a 1994 exhibition on the “Niger Valleys” held at the National Museum, many
visitors discovered the extraordinary richness of our archaeological heritage and
the dangers that threaten it. Mali has not hesitated to arrest, prosecute and imprison
some lawbreakers, which also sends out a message to our citizens on how serious the
scourge of looting and trafficking is.
But the nationwide campaign has its limits, so long as foreign demand remains strong.
International co-operation is a must. In the framework of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, Mali and the United
States signed an agreement in 1997 restricting the illicit import of the Niger Valley’s
archaeological heritage and of items from the tellem caves of Bandiagara2. This accord
is the only one of its kind in all of Africa. Mali would like to establish bilateral
co-operation with other importer countries, such as France, which has already joined
the UNESCO Convention, and Switzerland
and Belgium, when they ratify it.
As far as professional co-operation goes, Mali took part in the regional workshops
held by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in Arusha in 1993,
Bamako in 1994 and Kinshasa in 1995, which brought together museum professionals,
law enforcement agents and customs officers. In 1997, we also participated in the
international workshop in Amsterdam, aimed at strengthening solidarity between source
and importer countries. The Icom’s Red List was drafted during that meeting (see
box).
International solidarity is more than critical to curb illicit trade, develop archaeological
research and set up education programmes. The weakness of financial and human resources
in a country like ours, which is confronted with tremendous challenges such as poverty,
prevent us from implementing all the programmes necessary to stop the looting. Rich
nations must say no to selfishness. The heritage of poor countries deserves as much
respect as that of the wealthy ones. The battle is far from won.
1. Inscribed
on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.
2. The cliffs of Bandiagara (Dogon country) were inscribed on the World Heritage
List in 1989. |
