Ton van der Lee studied English literature in Amsterdam and has directed more than ten documentaries, all in the field of art and culture. Since 1996 he lives in Africa. He is also a writer and has published four travel novels, all set in Africa
Ton van der Lee studied English literature in Amsterdam and has directed more than ten documentaries, all in the field of art and culture. Since 1996 he lives in Africa. He is also a writer and has published four travel novels, all set in Africa
MALI AND ITS ADOBE ARCHITECTURE
The tradition of adobe architecture in Mali is more than a thousand years old. It has led to the construction of famous mosques in Djenne and Timbuctu and the well known mansions of the ancient city of Djenne.
Over 100 of these buildings have been repaired and reconstructed in Djenne, most with money from the Dutch government.
Dutch writer and filmmaker Ton van der Lee settled in Djenne in 1999. He built a house in the traditonal style on the banks of the Bani river, planned and constructed by master mason Boubakar Kouroumansse. All construction was done in strictly traditional fashion without the use of modern materials.
He wrote a book about it, called ‘The Sandcastle’, and directed a documentary about adobe architecture in 2003 called ‘Heavenly Mud’. The film was shown at festivals the world over and broadcast in more than 10 countries including USA, Sweden, Brazil, Netherlands and Belgium.
Below are short summaries of the contents of the film and book. More information:
www.tonvanderlee.nl
HEAVENLY MUD
A documentary about traditional architecture and magic in Mali
52 mins Digi Beta
First of all this film is a celebration of traditional African architecture, and a confirmation of the power and the dignity of African art and culture. Contrary to common opinion it can also rival the west in the field of architecture.
The documentary takes the form of a journey down the Niger river in Mali (West-Africa) . We visit the ancient mosques and palaces of legendary cities like Timbuktu and Djenne, which are often more than a thousand years old. All of them are built of mud (‘adobe’) in a traditional style which combines ingenuity and great beauty. The film also shows remote regions on the edge of the Sahara with rarely visited mud architecture in the same tradition.
For the first time, a master mason from the holy city of Djenne, where mud architecture has reached its peak with the world famous Grand Mosque, was prepared to speak about the magic practices his guild employs. He explains and shows us some of these millennium old secrets.
The director of the film, who lives in Mali himself, was the first film maker who was allowed to film the interior of the Grand Mosque of Djenne, which is a Unesco World Heritage site.
In the film, this ancient African architecture is linked with organic architecture in the west. It is a movement of which the proponents (Gaudi, Lloyd Wright, Steiner) want to return to our ‘roots’. The famous Dutch organic architect Max van Huut speaks about the way western architecure has created alienation and crime in the big cities, and the way organic architecture is inspired by the mud architecture of Mali. Some of his work is shown.
Directed by Ton van der Lee
Commissioning Editor: Wolter Braamhorst, AVRO Television
Produced by Jokestar Film and AVRO Television
THE SANDCASTLE
In ‘The Sandcastle’, Ton van der recounts his move to the heartland of West Africa. As a student he had stayed with the painter Salvador Dali, who had designed a house for him in the shape of a surrealist castle. In a remote part of Mali, not far from Timbuktu, he found a traditional style of building resembling Dali’s design. He settled there, learned the local language and helped by local masons with millennium old secrets he built his ‘Sandcastle’, which is actually constructed of adobe. During this time (4 years) he develops a relationship with a local woman from a nomadic tribe who is finally and tragically forced into a pre-arranged marriage by her family. The book includes a crossing of the Sahara desert (Mauretania, Morocco), a journey along the historic cities of the Senegal river, and an exploration of the region where the legendary Dogon live, but is chiefly centered around the ancient cities of Timbuktu and Djenne in Mali.
290 pages. 2007: 5th printing
Ed.: Prometheus, Amsterdam. Foreign rights available.
See: www.tonvanderlee.nl
Photographs by Francois Laurei
