IEM is pleased to inform that the next IEM Conference entitled “The Masks and the Mosque: The Kingdom of Mâli (13th-14th c.)”, by Professor François-Xavier Fauvelle, will take place on February 17th, at 5:00 PM. 

Abstract: 

On certain Fridays, according to the testimony of Arab authors, two very different types of rituals took place in front of the palace of the Mâlian rulers in the 14th century: the Muslim prayer and the mask dances. The careful analysis of the arrangement of these rituals in time and space highlights the dual religious affiliation of the power of the Mâlian rulers. This dual religious affiliation is only one aspect of the duality of Sahelian powers in the Middle Ages: ‘dual’ cities, economic brokerage, etc. In turn, taking this duality into account allows to propose a new hypothesis for the location of the imperial capital of Mâli. For the paradox is that this capital, although globally famous and visited by merchants and travellers, has not yet been identified. 

Biography: 

François-Xavier Fauvelle is the Professor of African History and Archaeology at the Collège de France, Paris. He is the author of around 150 academic articles, and the author or editor of around 20 books, including The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages (Princeton University Press, 2018) which was originally published in French in 2013 and received the main French award for academic history books. His latest book is Les Masques et la mosquée: l’empire du Mâli (XIIIe-XIVe siècle) (2022). 

The conference will take place at  Colégio Almada Negreiros (NOVA FCSH), room SE1.