Peul herders, Bambara and Dogan farmers, itinerant traders and a colourful multiethnic host of other buyers and sellers converge at this vibrant weekly market every Monday in front of Djenné's ancient grand mosque.
They come from the surrounding regions and fertile flood plains of the Niger inland river delta in the Mopti region of central Mali, part of the semi-arid Sahel zone that stretches across northern Africa just south of the Sahara.
The iconic calabash bowls on prominent display are used to carry goods, store grains or prepare fresh fermented cow’s milk traditionally popular among Mali's pastoral Peul communities.
Access to the mosque's interior and rooftop was forbidden to non-Muslims in 1996 after an intrusive display of disrespect by a
Vogue magazine fashion shoot inside the grand mosque.
Digital film scan, Asahi Pentax Spotmatic (SMC Pentax Zoom 45~125mm f/4), mosque rooftop pov, circa 1976.
~~~
Postrscript - The enchanting Arabian Nights imagery emanating out of this ancient marketplace at the time if this photo shoot (1976) is reminiscent of a seemingly bygone Sahelian era devoid of smartphones, credit cards, and packaged safari tours.
Nowadays, nascent tourism is on hold and easy access to markets, pastures, and farmlands is hampered as ethnic strife and inter-communal violence continue to erupt under a fragile Malian state.
In 2018,
Human Rights Watch reported that the Mopti region of central Mali has become an epicentre of interethnic conflict, fuelled by a steady escalation of violence by armed Islamist groups largely allied with Al Qaeda’s advance from the north since 2015.
Recruitment to the militant Islamist movement from Peul pastoral herding communities has inflamed tensions within sedentary agrarian communities (Bambara, Dogon, Tellem, Bozo and others) who rely on access to agricultural lands for their livelihood.
Predominantly Muslim but opposing ethnic self-defence militias on both sides were formed for the protection of their own respective communities. This has contributed to a continuous cycle of violent attacks and reprisals touching villages and hamlets, pastures and farmlands, and some marketplaces.
While communal tensions are profoundly connected to a larger ethnopolitical conflict unfolding in northern Mali, chronic insecurities around the ancient town of Djenné and the broader central regions of Mali are exacerbated by longstanding indigenous concerns over the struggle for access to scarce natural resources - agricultural land for settled farmers versus water and grazing land for semi-nomadic Peul herdsmen.
Efforts at mediation in the area around Djenné and the grand mosque include a
Humanitarian Agreement specifically among Bambara and Bozo farmers, Dogan "hunters" protecting farmers' interests, and Peul herders - all committed to guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods and livestock in the "Circle of Djenné" situated in the Mopti region of central Mali.
© All rights to these photos and descriptions are reserved. expl#84
Social Documentary | Documentary Portraiture | Lonely Planet | National Geographic
