2024 UPDATES
CHI Update: Uniting to Protect Local Cemeteries in Mali
Death and memory are commonalities across human societies. In August, ASOR’s partner AESPAT developed and led a three-day event to clean and restore two cemeteries in the village of Nafégué in Mali. Events like this offer a powerful way for people to unite around the shared experience of loss and remembrance, to learn more about each other, and to build the relationships needed to achieve common goals.
CHI Update: Strengthening Networks to Protect Heritage in Burkina Faso
Heritage protection is most effective and rewarding as a collaborative pursuit. To help build connections between heritage advocates in Burkina Faso, ASOR and its partners organized a one-day workshop in the capital of Ouagadougou where attendees could discuss the past, present, and future of cultural and religious heritage protection in the country.
CHI Update: Promoting Awareness of Local Textile Production Techniques in Mali
Textile production in Mali’s Dogon Country has deep roots, but the craft is under pressure from industrial manufacture and the disruption of knowledge transfer between generations. ASOR and Association Dogon Initiatives (ADI) hosted a heritage event to raise awareness about the shared history of textile production among the inhabitants of the Dogon region and to promote its revival through wider participation in its practice. At the event, attendees learned how to process cotton and spin thread while listening to the music of a local dance group.
CHI Update: Collaborative Heritage Education to Overcome Community Stigmatization in Burkina Faso
Blacksmiths in Burkina Faso play an important role in their communities but are also feared due to their special knowledge and associations with witchcraft. Collaborative heritage education programs help to counter this stigma, as demonstrated by the three-day event that brought together local minority communities in the town of Bouria. Through ASOR’s collaboration with its local partner in the region, attendees were able to learn more about each other’s traditions and counter misconceptions.
ASOR CHI Symposium | Cultural Heritage Initiatives in Africa Today
On April 11-13, ASOR CHI hosted a three-day symposium, Cultural Heritages Initiatives in Africa Today, which highlighted the work of local heritage professionals, academics, and civil society organizations to protect, preserve, and promote cultural heritage in North Africa and the Sahel. ASOR welcomes you to view the symposium recordings.
ASOR and CAH Propel Cultural Heritage Advancements in Niger
Following the successful cultural heritage project in the Maghreb region of North Africa, ASOR implemented a mirror project in the Sahel region of West Africa. The current project supports local populations in documenting, preserving, and raising awareness of the cultural heritage of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. Actions implemented in these three countries, with the assistance of local partners, helped document dozens of sites at risk, while also bringing awareness to an endangered cultural heritage in a region constantly plagued by political instability and unrest.In this article, Maki Garba | President of Culture, Art et Humanité (a non-profit organization established in Niger), describes his organization’s efforts to document heritage in Niger
CHI Update: Campfire Circle Activities: A New Approach to Cultural Heritage Awareness in Niger
Oralité Plus is a non-profit organization that aims to promote and safeguard the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Niger. Given recent events in Niger, namely the July 2023 coup d’état, Oralité Plus organized an outreach event called, “Citizen debates around campfires,” a new concept in the cultural heritage outreach toolbox, which is designed to bring awareness to the heritage of under-represented communities through uplifting discussions.