Archives de catégorie : Actualités
Mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa – Short Course
23 and 30 May 2022
This two-day online course introduces participants to Muslim architecture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following an introduction on Islamic architecture and mosques, the first session will explore mosques in West Africa, from the Sahara to the tropical forests. The second session will look at the mosques in East Africa, from the Nile valleys to the Swahili coast. This day will be based on Professor Stephane Pradines’ extensive knowledge and fieldwork in Egypt, Ethiopia and the Swahili coast.
This short course provides the basis for understanding and critically examining the development of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. It approaches architecture through building materials and African construction techniques, from earthen monuments to coral stone buildings. Two important themes will be developed: first, the diffusion of ideas, people and material cultures across the Sahara Desert; second, the role of Islam in the building of maritime regional identities, international trading networks and urbanisation of the Swahili coast.
Learning Outcomes
This course presents Muslim architecture in a very specific context: Sub-Saharan Africa during the Medieval and Modern Ages. Following this short course, participants will be able to:
• Differentiate between mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa from their counterparts in North Africa and the Middle East.
• Recognise the different types of African mosques by geographical areas and by chronological phases.
• Learn about the importance of cultural exchanges across the Sahara Desert and the Indian Ocean.
• Receive a methodological background on archaeology, history, and the history of architecture in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Distinguish between different types of building materials and natural resources in Africa.
• Study the impact of the past to understand the political tensions in West Africa today.
Course Convenor
Stephane Pradines is an archaeologist and Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London. Professor Pradines was the Director of the excavations of the Walls of Cairo (Egypt) and many other excavations in the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Currently, his main excavation project is at Lahore Fort in Pakistan. He is a specialist of Islamic archaeology in Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean medieval trade and Muslim material culture of war. Professor Pradines is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW). He has published many articles and books on Swahili architecture, urbanism, and mosques. Professor Pradines is a mosque expert on the Indian Ocean region for UNESCO and the WMF. He has excavated several mosques in Ethiopia (Nora), Kenya (Gede), Tanzania (Songo Mnara, Sanje ya Kati and Kua) and the Maldives (Fandiyaaru and Bodha Miskiy, Koagannu, Hulhumeedhoo, Addu Atoll and Fenfushi, Ari Atoll). Professor Pralines’ latest book Historic Mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa, from Timbuktu to Zanzibar, by Brill Publishers, is due this summer.
Date and Time
23 and 30 May 2022, 13:30 – 16:30 ( London Time).
Tickets and Booking
£75 professionals | £45 students, AKU alumni, AKU and AKDN staff. Book your ticket soon. For African professionals and institutions, please enquire for further information by contacting: ismc.marketing@aku.edu.
*The course will be delivered via Zoom. Readings and further details will be provided later upon registration.
*This course will not be recorded.
Image credit:
Mopti Mosque, Mali, by Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
Parution: le Sahara précolonial, des sociétés en archipel
4e congrès des études sur le Moyen-Orient et les mondes musulmans
28 juin – 2 juillet 2021
ATELIER 55. Le Sahara médiéval, espaces d’échanges et de circulations
jeudi 1er juillet, 16h-18h
Les travaux sur le Sahara médiéval, en tant qu’objet d’étude, sont, depuis quelques années, relativement dynamiques, malgré les difficultés d’accès au terrain de recherche. Le programme Emergence “Repenser le Sahara médiéval (XIIIe-XVIe siècles) : documents connus, lectures inédites “ a pour objet de décloisonner les recherches sur cette zone encore mal connue car souvent abordée de façon ponctuelle ou par le biais de la géographie contemporaine qui ne recouvre aucune réalité historique. Longtemps considéré comme une barrière infranchissable, le Sahara est aujourd’hui envisagé comme un espace de connectivité. Plus qu’une simple zone de passage, cet atelier se propose d’envisager le Sahara comme un espace de circulation dynamique. Plusieurs axes de réflexion y seront développés : la diversité des acteurs (marchands, lettrés, berbères) ; la structuration de cet espace de circulation autour de pôles (commerciaux, religieux) et des réseaux qui traversent le Sahara et l’intègrent au dār al-Islam ; ou encore, les représentations dont il est l’objet (dans les sources arabes mais également dans les sources latines).
Commerce, pèlerinage, linguistique ou point de vue de géographes seront ainsi pris en compte pour tenter d’éclairer l’histoire du Sahara médiéval.
Programme de l’atelier à télécharger ci-dessous.
La dynamique et la perpétuité des métiers et savoir-faire dans les régions sahariennes, de la préhistoire à nos jours
Université de Tamanrasset (Algérie)
Département des sciences humaines
Dr. Messaouda Benmessaoud


La collection islamique du Musée de Tlemcen (Algérie) : une référence pour l’étude de l’art de l’Islam d’Occident ?
145e Congrès national du Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques, Nantes, 4-7 mai 2021
Collecter, collectionner, conserver.
Communication d’Agnès Charpentier, CNRS UMR 8167
Le Musée de Tlemcen, fondé en 1857 par Charles Brosselard, accueille, dès l’origine, les pièces issues de fouilles, de découvertes fortuites ou de travaux. En 1901, il s’accroit avec le fond provenant du dépôt des Monuments historiques. Cette collection fondée sur des pièces archéologiques, caractérise le Musée de Tlemcen qui devient, pour ses pièces islamiques, le témoin privilégié de « l’art musulman », développé à Tlemcen entre les XIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Ainsi, le Musée de Tlemcen peut être vu comme un musée local à vocation didactique et comme un dépôt archéologique.
Cette communication montre comment la collection illustre la place de la ville dans l’art médiéval de l’Islam d’Occident et nous renseigne sur les échanges artistiques au Maghreb. L’origine et l’histoire de la collection sont rappelées pour ce qu’elles caractérisent, aujourd’hui encore, le développement et l’objectif même du Musée. Un parallèle avec le musée d’Oran montrera l’originalité de cette collection.
Mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa – Short Course
May 21-28, 2021
London
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
This short course provides the basis for understanding and critically examining the development of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. It approaches architecture through building materials and African construction techniques, from earthen monuments to coral stone buildings. Two important themes will be developed: first, the diffusion of ideas, people and material cultures across the Sahara Desert; second, the role of Islam in the building of maritime regional identities, international trading networks and urbanisation of the Swahili coast.
This two-day online course introduces participants to Muslim architecture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Following an introduction on Islamic architecture and mosques, the first session will explore mosques in West Africa, from the Sahara to the tropical forests. The second session will look at the mosques in East Africa, from the Nile valleys to the Swahili coast. This day will be based on Professor Stephane Pradines’ extensive knowledge and fieldwork in Egypt, Ethiopia and the Swahili coast.
Learning Outcomes
This course presents Muslim architecture in a very specific context: Sub-Saharan Africa during the Medieval and Modern Ages. Following this short course, participants will be able to:
• Differentiate between mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa from their counterparts in North Africa and the Middle East.
• Recognise the different types of African mosques by geographical areas and by chronological phases.
• Learn about the importance of cultural exchanges across the Sahara Desert and the Indian Ocean.
• Receive a methodological background on archaeology, history, and the history of architecture in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Distinguish between different types of building materials and natural resources in Africa.
• Study the impact of the past to understand the political tensions in West Africa today.
Course Convenor
Stephane Pradines is an archaeologist and Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London. Professor Pradines was the Director of the excavations of the Walls of Cairo (Egypt) and many other excavations in the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Currently, his main excavation project is at Lahore Fort in Pakistan. He is a specialist of Islamic archaeology in Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean medieval trade and Muslim material culture of war. Professor Pradines is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW). He has published many articles and books on Swahili architecture, urbanism, and mosques. Professor Pradines is a mosque expert on the Indian Ocean region for UNESCO and the WMF. He has excavated several mosques in Ethiopia (Nora), Kenya (Gede), Tanzania (Songo Mnara, Sanje ya Kati and Kua) and the Maldives (Fandiyaaru and Bodha Miskiy, Koagannu, Hulhumeedhoo, Addu Atoll and Fenfushi, Ari Atoll). Professor Pralines’ latest book Historic Mosques in Sub-Saharan Africa, from Timbuktu to Zanzibar, by Brill Publishers, is due this summer.
Date and Time
21 and 28 May 2021, 13:30 – 16:30 ( London Time).
Tickets and Booking
Tickets: £75 professionals | £45 students, AKU alumni and AKU and AKDN staff. Book as soon as possible.
For African professionals and institutions, please enquire for further information by contacting: ismc.marketing@aku.edu.
*The course will be delivered via Zoom. Readings and further details will be provided later upon registration.
*This course will not be recorded.
Image credit:
Mopti Mosque, Mali, by Aga Khan Trust for Culture.