Les Manuscrits de Tombouctou

From 16 Mar 2014 to 16 Apr 2014

Part of the celebrations of French language week this exhibition is based on the book The Timbuktu Manuscripts by French journalist Jean-Michel Djian.

The Timbuktu Manuscripts, some dating back to the 12th century, are documents that were preserved for centuries in private houses and libraries in Timbuktu in Mali but were slowly disintegrating.

In order to preserve a vital part of Sahelian written history, often mistakenly thought to be exclusively oral, UNESCO has now exhumed and cataloged about 15,000 documents in Timbuktu.

The city was once a crossroads for gold and salt trade and a meeting place for scholars from across the northern part of the continent.