GREAT MOSQUE OF DJENNÉ, MALI

Hundreds of people work together to restore the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali during the annual ‘Mud Festival’. Located on the flood plain of the Bani River, the impressive mosque is the largest mud brick building in the world, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in 1907, it is restored every year before the start of the rainy season.

The entire community takes part in the rebuilding effort, which is known as the crépissage. To keep the structure sound, locals shore up the walls with mud, and repair erosion from the annual rains and cracks caused by temperature changes. The walls are rendered with banco (mud blended with rice bran, shea butter and baobab powder to make it resistant to cracking). In the days leading up to the festival, people use trucks and carts to carry mud to the mosque from the river. The banco is then prepared in pits. It requires several days to cure but needs to be periodically stirred – a task that usually falls to the young boys who play in the mixture, agitating the contents.

Men and boys then climb up ladders made of palm wood onto the mosque’s built-in scaffolding, and cover the walls of the mosque in the banco. Meanwhile, young women are tasked with bringing water from the river to keep the banco pliable. Members of Djenné’s guild of masons are on hand to direct the work.

The repair workers are divided into neighbourhoods, and they compete to see who can plaster their section of the mosque fastest. The neighbourhood that wins is awarded 50,000 West African CFA francs (about A$120).