Mali's endangered manuscripts digitised in project to preserve them

Google Arts & Culture on Thursday unveiled a project in which it will share digitised endangered manuscripts of up to 40,000 pages and historic contemporary arts and culture from Mali.

The project, known as Mali Magic, was done in collaboration with Malian community leaders and local and international organisations and is aimed at preserving and showcasing Mali’s heritage, arts and culture.

Since 2015, Google Arts & Culture — an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artefacts from partner cultural organisations throughout the world — has been working with Malian and international organisations to digitise, curate and share Mali’s stories and rich heritage.

With the launch of Mali Magic, people from around the world can view an array of manuscripts, music, art and heritage sites.

These include more than 40,000 digitised endangered manuscripts, many of which were smuggled to safety during political unrest in the country.

Chance Coughenour, programme manager and digital archaeologist at Google Arts & Culture, said the Malian city of Timbuktu gave birth to an abundance of learning in human rights, morality, politics, astronomy and literature, which was captured in thousands of  manuscripts.

“When this ancient knowledge was threatened by extremist groups in 2012, local communities raced against time to preserve these treasures. This legacy is available for people across the world to explore,” Coughenour said.

The project contains more than 50 exhibits, including the first online interactive tours of some of Mali’s most significant historic sites, at-risk mausoleums and mosques, including the Sidi Yahiya and Djinguereber Mosques and the Tomb of Askia, all created using Google’s Street View.

Google Arts & Culture worked with artist and musician DJ Spooky (Paul Miller) to create short videos to explore the evolution of storytelling, from West Africa to the American blues.

An album, Maliba, by Malian singer-songwriter Fatoumata Diawara, produced in Mali and written about the country’s cultural legacy, was created specially for the project.

Google said the collection contains a wealth of videos and imagery which capture Mali’s contemporary arts scene and profile some of its artists.

Dr Abdel Kader Haidara, a librarian known for smuggling the manuscripts out of Timbuktu, said they were more than important historical documents.

“Central to the heritage of Mali, they represent the long legacy of written knowledge and academic excellence in Africa, and hold potential to inspire global learning from the actions of the past in confronting modern-day issues.”

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