2 Editorial The centerpiece of this issue is a particularly large and in-depth article that sheds light on the possible iconography of certain so-called Djenne terracotta sculptures, which were produced in the Inland Delta region of the Niger River in Mali between roughly the eleventh and seventeenth centuries. While these figures are generally associated with the ancient city of Djenné-Djenno, they were apparently distributed throughout the Inland Delta region. Thermoluminescence testing indicates that some of these may postdate the abandonment of the city in the mid-fifteenth century. These remarkable artworks have been at the center of a vortex of controversy over the years, and while the article alludes to this, given that the debate is now decades old, our readers may find a brief discussion of the situation helpful in understanding why so little is known about this significant aspect of West African history and material culture. Djenne sculptures began to appear in Europe and America in some quantity in the 1960s. This was a time when artworks from Africa were flowing to the West in a largely unregulated environment. Classical African wood sculpture was becoming increasingly difficult to source in the countries of origin, since so much had left the continent by then, and ancient terracottas lying underground became a valuable resource, all the more so when Mali was gripped by famine in the 1970s and desperation drove many of its inhabitants to extreme measures in order to survive. This sparked methodical “mining” for these terracottas, which could be sold for much-needed cash to middlemen, who would send them to the West, where they found places in museum installations and private art collections. Given that Mali and other West African countries had bigger problems at the time, the establishment of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property in 1970 had little effect on the outflow of this cultural heritage. The work was so organized and so extreme that the locations where these objects had been illicitly excavated have been described as resembling “cratered moonscapes.” Formal archaeological work began at Djenné-Djenno in 1977, when Roderick and Susan McIntosh surveyed the site. Their subsequent years of fieldwork there revealed a substantial city, the occupation of which began around 250 BC and was noted as completely abandoned in AD 1468, when the area was overrun by the troops of the Songhai emperor Sonni Ali. By this time, the habitation had shifted three kilometers north to the present-day city of Djenne, today the site of the Great Mosque, an adobe structure with roots in the thirteenth century that is one of the most recognizable landmarks of sub-Saharan Africa. It has been speculated that increased Islamization led to the abandonment of Djenné-Djenno in favor of a site that did not have such strong pre-Islamic associations. The location of the old city (Djenné-Djenno literally means “old Djenné) was never forgotten, however, especially since the site is characterized by large tells, or mounds, that mark nearly two millennia of habitation. These also made it an easy target for looters. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. The McIntoshes and other archaeologists were horrified by the wholesale destruction they encountered in the area. While the figural sculptures, both whole and fragmentary, and other salable items such as terracotta vessels and brass or bronze jewelry, had been preserved and dispersed, the archaeological context in which they had rested was almost completely destroyed. This meant an irreplaceable loss of information about the placement, use, and possible meaning of these objects—to many, information that is far more significant than the objects themselves. Academics and art collectors have long had an uneasy relationship, but the controversy over Djenne terracottas was utterly polarizing, with many museums, art historians, and art collectors expressing fascination over a hitherto unknown civilization and artistic expression, while archaeologists and other academics were calling not only for a complete international ban on the sale of these objects but a total blackout on publishing information on unprovenanced examples, all in an effort to kill their market desirability and, by extension, to stop the motivation for the ongoing looting of the sites. Since precious few examples were excavated in controlled circumstances, this meant that these artworks would become virtually invisible. Others held that, however unfortunate the situation, since these objects were now in circulation, it was essential to understand and treasure them, especially given the vast number of fake examples that accompanied them. Not everyone heeded the demanded embargo, of course, but the threat of academic shaming was sufficient that the field was addressed only by a few who did not fear the blowback. This controversy, though now somewhat less heated, continues to this day. The authors of the present article hold that measures are now in place that can effectively protect the material that remains in the ground, and thus the time has come to lift the veil and discover what meaning can be gleaned from these remarkable artworks. Hundreds of years ago, the artists of the Inland Niger Delta could not have imagined that their works would become so disassociated from their meanings, nor that they would be the subject of a controversy that spans continents. Yet incomplete as they are, these masterful sculptures are virtually all that materially remains to us of this lost African culture and of their aesthetics and beliefs. Understanding them is an essential part of the respect that they are due. Jonathan Fogel Our cover shows a figure representing a disabled person. IND region, Mali. 13th– 17th century. Terracotta with ochre/red slip. H: 48 cm. Ex Baudouin de Grunne. Private collection. © Dr. Marc Ghysels, Brussels. Photo: Frédéric Dehaen, Roger Asselberghs Studio, Brussels.
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