The otherwise large-scale annual celebration of an African identity, mentionable achievements and common challenges of the people of the continent in the month of May passed by almost unnoticed this year, as a more pressing global issue has been demanding attention.
Amiss are the festivities, the discussion panels, the savouring of writing from the pens of talented minds, the photo exhibitions, the food tastings and the vibrant wax prints hung out for all to bask in. The drums are quiet this year, save for the ominous beating when bringing more bad tidings.
Aptly Timbuktu Book Club, a Polokwane-based entity which celebrates six anniversaries of existence this year along with a string of victories, presented a piece trailing a continental trajectory into territory that holds its secrets in the intricately woven baskets on sale by the roadside and the vessels purposed for collecting water.
Sello Mabotja, who is content creator of the book club, provokes thoughts with the compelling questions he poses in his writing printed below.
“What is in a name? TiImbuktu where art thou?
Ex Africa semper aliquid novi (from Africa always something new) – Pliny, The Elder, Roman General, author and philosopher.
Was Timbuktu a Potemkin village? Not so. Neither is the place a terra incognita - a territory unknown and only heard of in movies and cartoons, a faraway place made up.
Legendary back in its day, the city is located in the north of Mali. Known as the ‘Golden City’, it was not really about mineral wealth and gold in particular. However, for a long time most of its residents were wealthy individuals.
Ruined by wars, plunder and pillage over the centuries, it still stands today. The city may not exist in its pristine state now but it is not a mythical place. Neither is it a figment of a fertile fiction.
Even today, its fields of knowledge are fascinating and continue to be explored. Being one of the celebrated wonders of the African continent, the legendary splendour of its knowledge treasure troves are not fantasy but fact.
A place reputed for its pioneering innovation and many firsts - the world’s first university - Timbuktu was a prosperous city with magnificent architecture but has since been grossly misrepresented in the annals of history. Also, this ‘Golden City in Africa’ was a haven of African and Moslem scholars who harnessed a tradition of extraordinary scholarship in fields including mathematics, the arts and sciences.
In his seminal book entitled Africa: A Biography of a Continent, writer and photojournalist, John Reader traces the history of Timbuktu as a pioneer in international trade. “Timbuktu was already a trading centre of notable size in the eighth century AD. Its origins probably lay in a cluster of farming, herding and fishing communities such as the distinguished inland Niger delta at the time, but its subsequent growth and status is almost entirely attributable to the salt that the Taureg camel caravans brought to its markets. From the backs of camels the salt was transhipped to canoes for distribution through hundreds of kilometres of navigable waters on the Niger river system.”
This ample testimony about Timbuktu’s existence is indeed incontrovertible evidence that Africa, our continent, is the Cradle of Humankind. This rich and wonderful history is not only limited to the golden wonders of Mali but other places have made immense contributions to African civilisation.
Among these are the glorious Pharaohs of Egypt exemplified by their sophistication in constructing the splendid pyramids, the ancient towers and stone walls of Zimbabwe, the cosmology of the Yoruba in Nigeria and the art treasures of the Bushongo in what is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
While the riches and wonders of the “Dark Continent” have continued to fascinate multitudes worldwide, the place has by and large remained a miserable backwater amid breakthroughs in the current Knowledge and Information Age. Africa is now a continent of contrasts.
On the one hand it is blessed (or should we say ‘cursed’) with massive wealth and on the other hunger, rampant misrule, raging civil wars fought along ethnic lines, Big Man dictatorships and other inhibiting factors are commonplace.
It is in this context that the endeavour to imprint the name Timbuktu on our collective memory is motivated by the need to preserve its glorious history and heritage. There is a project underway to restore and preserve manuscripts from the city and extract valuable and useful information from these source documents. This was initiated by Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, the former President of South Africa.
Then, which better name is more fitting for a book club with a Pan African focus in the province dubbed The Gateway to Africa, than Timbuktu? This is what happened six years ago when Thapelo Matlala and Molebatsi Masedi resolved to create a platform to nurture a culture of reading in Limpopo. The rest is history.
Without telling lies and claiming easy victories, the Timbuktu Book Club has notched some impressive milestones. Amongst these are hosting former Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena focusing on his vast literary oeuvre, prolific novelists Nthikeng Mohlele and Shafinaaz Hassim as well as sessions exploring the works of Nobel Prize laureate Tony Morrison, poet laureate Dr Mongane Wally Serote and a discussion on the Sophiatown Renaissance and its rare breed, known as the Drum writers.
Happy Afrika Day, all!”
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