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Mali: Mali Magic - Google Platform Updated With Documents, Artifacts and Music From Timbuktu
TechCrunch, 10 March 2022
Google, working with historians from West Africa, has been working to digitize contemporary art, cultural and historic sites about Mali, and the digital library went live on Google… Read more »
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Mali: ICC - Timbuktu Destruction to Cost Islamist Rebel $3.2 Million
DW, 17 August 2017
ICC judges have made legal history by ruling that a former Islamist rebel is liable to pay compensation for the destruction of ancient shrines in Mali's Timbuktu. The historic… Read more »
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Mali: Ancient Timbuktu Manuscripts Shine
RFI, 6 January 2015
In 2012 Tuareg and Islamic separatists took over northern Mali, imposing draconian-style Islam on an already devout people. The invaders destroyed crucial works of Malian heritage… Read more »
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Mali: Timbuktu's Priceless Manuscripts Torched
RFI, 28 January 2013
Islamists torched a building where priceless ancient manuscripts were stored, as they fled Mali's famous desert city of Timbuktu, which French-led troops were surrounding on… Read more »
Magically, Mali's Ancient Timbuktu Manuscripts Are Now Online!
A virtual gallery to showcase Mali's cultural history has been launched, featuring tens of thousands of Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts. The collection was put together by search engine Google, along with local and international partners.
The project known as Mali Magic, has created a gallery containing up to 40,000 pages now available online, covering topics from maths, astrological charts, biology to music.
The manuscripts were smuggled to safety from Timbuktu after Islamist militant groups took control of the city in northern Mali in 2012. In 2016 an alleged member of an Islamist group, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, was found guilty by the International Criminal Court, for intentionally ordering attacks on religious and historic buildings in Timbuktu. He was sentenced to nine years in jail and apologised for his actions.
The ancient manuscripts of Timbuktu represent the long legacy of written knowledge and academic excellence in Africa and hold the potential to inspire global learning from the actions of the past in confronting modern-day issues.
InFocus
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Questions have been raised about the location of ancient manuscripts reportedly burned by Islamists as they were fleeing Timbuktu. Read more »
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Human rights tracts and Korans are among 16 ancient texts from northern Mali on display in a new "Timbuktu Renaissance" exhibition at the Center for Fine Arts in Brussels. Read more »
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Organised crime, terrorism and international crime are an unholy trinity of offences taking place in Mali. The illegal trade in artefacts occurs in the context of severe insecurity ... Read more »
