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Ministry of culture of Mali

Regional seminar on Mali's cultural banks

Location: Sevaré, Fombori and Bandiagara (Mali)

Date: 10 – 14 March 2008

Context:
The looting and illicit trade of cultural heritage objects -with the consequence that there is a great loss of historical and cultural data, is a recurrent problem enhanced by the fact that it is linked to and aggravated by the poverty of local populations. Actions have been carried out to reduce or even stop this phenomenon and its effects on local cultures. Cultural banks which are local cultural structures, aim at the conservation and protection in situ of historic artefacts belonging to the local communities. They play an important role in the development of these communities through financial, educational and technical activities.

This innovative experiment meets to a great extent the philosophy of the "Museums in the service of development" programme carried out by the Ecole du Patrimoine Africain - EPA for the 2007 - 2010 period. The finality of this programme is to reinforce the role of culture in the human and economic development of sub-Saharan Africa. In view of their results, cultural banks which first appeared in Mali deserve to be better studied and analysed in order to see how they can be reproduced in other contexts in sub-Saharan Africa. It is the objective of the present regional seminar.

Visit to the community museum of Endé

Objective:
In order to help promote and develop innovative actions in the area of management of sub-Saharan African cultural heritage the objectives of the seminar are:
- help promote towards African heritage professionals this innovative experiment,
- encourage the creation of cultural banks, of village museums or ecomuseums in a perspective of touristic and social development,
- encourage local communities to get involved in the management of their cultural heritage as a means of stopping its scattering and illicit trade.

Participants:
About twenty directors, managers and promoters of public and private museums, and project holders for the creation of cultural banks from West and Central Africa.

Expected outcomes:
- knowledge of cultural banks by participants
- multiplication of this Malian concept in other countries
- setting up of mechanisms and modalities for their reproduction
- a follow-up plan discussed and adopted.

Financing and partners:
- Fonds de Solidarité Prioritaire (FSP) / Ministère français des Affaires étrangères
- Government of Mali
- Musée du Quai Branly (MQB)
- Ecole du Patrimoine Africain - EPA

Contacts:
1- Ecole du Patrimoine Africain – EPA, 01 BP 2205 Porto-Novo - BENIN
Tel.: +229-20 21 48 38/ 20 21 28 16 ; Fax : +229-20 21 21 09 ; E-mail :
2- Direction Nationale du Patrimoine Culturel, Bamako, Mali
Tel.: +223 673 47 77