Future of Mud
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Through the story of a mason in Djenne, Komusa Tenapo, and his family, this documentary examines an African tradition of mud architecture in Mali. The environmental genius of these ancient construction techniques thick walls with tiny windows that keep the interiors cool despite the stifling heat is expressed in strikingly beautiful designs that have won the town of Djenne designation as a World Heritage site.
FUTURE OF MUD reveals Komusa's hand building methods, utilizing sun-dried bricks made of mud from the flood plain which contains decayed fish, and cattle manure that are mixed with organic materials such as straw and rice chaff. The film shows him at work on two building sites, and at the annual repair of the Great Mosque, employing thousand-year-old construction techniques, plus the secret knowledge he inherited from his family of masons, including religious rituals to protect homes and workers from evil spirits.
Komousa, family members and Madame Diallo, a Cultural Heritage official, present information on the history of Malian architecture. The film also shows the annual replastering of Dejenne's Great Mosque, the largest mud brick building in the world, a day-long, boisterous community effort, and a major public celebration observed by local residents and tourists.
'This highly engaging film puts a human face to the construction of Mali's remarkable mud buildings. Against the dramatic portrayal of one mason's life we see an ancient city come alive, culminating in one of the most exciting, high-energy community events captured on film-the annual re-plastering of the Great Mosque in Djenne.'-Marla C. Berns, Director, Fowler Museum at UCLA
'A very believable, instructive and compelling narrative about traditional building practices and how it intertwines a rich, underlying dimension to Djenne's social and urban fabric... One gets a true sense of love and craft combined with a love for the creative and integrative possibilities of earth.'-TreeHugger.com
'This documentary has good cinematography, an excellent soundtrack and a fairly cohesive story line. It provides a current look at West African life today.'-Janis Tyhurst, Educational Media Reviews Online
'This highly engaging film puts a human face to the construction of Mali's remarkable mud buildings... one of the most exciting, high-energy community events captured on film.'-Marla C. Berns, Director, Fowler Museum at UCLA
'Fascinating... an excellent introduction to the building traditions and masons' practices in this part of Africa.'-Geert Mommersteeg, Visual Anthropology
Citation
Main credits
Vogel, Susan Mullin (film director)
Vogel, Susan Mullin (film producer)
Vogel, Susan Mullin (screenwriter)
Sidibe, Samuel (film producer)
Marchand, Trevor Hugh James (film producer)
Camara, Amadou (screenwriter)
Other credits
Edited by Harry Kafka; music, Issa Bagayogo, Afel Bocoum, The Skeptics; camera, Isaac Guba Kpelle, Susan Vogel, Harouna Racine Keita.
Distributor subjects
Africa; African Studies; Architecture; Cultural Anthropology; Environment; Environmental Film Festivals; Green Building; Green Design; Islam; Mali; Natural and Manmade Materials; SustainabilityKeywords
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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The first impression I had of Djenne
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was of the mud houses. For
a person from Bamako,
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they were unbelievable.
Enormous houses made by hand,
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it was hard to believe they were
constructed. They looked as if
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they had just grown there.
So I said to myself,
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\"Madame Diallo, you are here to conserve an extraordinary
thing, you must put your heart and soul into it.\"
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[sil.]
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I know, Komusa and dozens of
other Masons here in Djenne.
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There is an association of Masons
that goes back to the 13 century.
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A mason inherits clients from
his father or his master
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and he becomes responsible
for their buildings.
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Masons also have to make benedictions to protect
the workers and the family in the house.
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[sil.]
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To reach Djenne, it takes one full day
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driving from the capital Bamako.
And, when I arrived here
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in 1996, not one single person in Journey
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had a car in his own name.
There were very few mopeds,
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and TV. There was no TV
in Djenne and no radio.
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And now, there is an F.M. station,
and there are two Internet cafes
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and people have faucets in their
courtyards. Djenne is becoming modern.
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The whole city was declared UNESCO,
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world heritage monument that means,
that you’re not supposed to change
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the facade for a house. Uh… But you
know, in a city of 10,000 people,
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not everybody agrees. Cements is forbidden
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and so is paint. You can do what you like in
the inside, but the outside should not change.
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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As you can imagine these mugs
buildings have to be repaired before
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every rainy season. If the surface
is smooth, it can resist, but
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if there are cracks water will get in
and the whole house can fall in ruins.
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Every family has a mason, every single one.
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Even, if it starts raining in the middle of the
night, the mason will come and check a wall.
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When you want to repair or sell your
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own house in Djenne, you can do it without
the permission of the family mason.
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And when a client dies, it is the
mason, who will dig the grave.
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[sil.]
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The courtyard is the main living space
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for the women and children. You
could say that the house was like
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a ring of rooms wrapped
around the open air.
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[sil.]
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[music]
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During the dry season, the city
is surrounded by flood plain,
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where cattle graze and during the
rainy season, the river rises
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and Djenne becomes an island.
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[sil.]
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Mud in Djenne is unique, because
it has the decayed fish
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and also manure left by the cattle that
graze here, when the river recedes.
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[sil.]
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For centuries, people
made oval bricks by hand.
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Now they use uh… moulds to make rectangular
bricks and so the houses look different,
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with straight walls and sharp corners.
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The bricks are sun dried
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and they’re made of the most ordinary type
of mud. One that has a lot of straw in it.
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[sil.]
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The most expensive mud is very fine
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and has been mixed with rice
chaff, and left to soak for weeks.
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It’s used for finishing.
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[music]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
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[sil.]
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I’ve been here in
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Djenne’s cultural heritage office for a
long time, and we’ve done a lot to preserve
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the old houses in Djenne. On a
typical house, you see what we call
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\"The Aserah(ph) fire at the top.\"
The two on the end look like
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a man wearing a hat or the male sex.
That is the power of man,
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the women are in the middle above the wood,
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you’ll see the round navels of the
children will be born in the house.
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[sil.]
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The architecture of Djenne is massive
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and very bulky, with very
few openings in the wall.
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Some doorways even stick out onto the
streets, and it makes the tall houses
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squeeze the narrow streets.
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[music]
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[non-English narration]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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The Great Mosque of Djenne
is a fantastic building
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made entirely of mud brick. It
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is a world heritage monument and it is the
largest mud building in the whole world.
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And this original style of building
was developed in the region
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about 1000 years ago. And I believe,
\"Our mosque is the finest example of
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this style of architecture.\"
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It stands on a gigantic crest’s platform.
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And has almost a hundred columns.
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[sil.]
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The roof has many small vents
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to let the hot air out.
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[sil.]
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Only Muslims are allowed inside the
mosque now. But tourists come from
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all over the world to see it, especially
on Monday which is market day.
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People from all the small
villages come to town.
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[music]
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Every year in the dry season,
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all the people of Djenne joined to
replaster the whole mosque in one day,
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people who have gone away to
find work, come home for this.
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It’s our biggest public celebration.
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[music]
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From the first tiles put on the mud houses,
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we saw that the mud is eaten
away by acid in the cement.
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
When the wall collapses, you find that
the straw and all the organic matter
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are just gone. So cement and mud houses
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are like a marriage that can’t last.
Nobody has seen
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a tile building that lasted even for
10 ten years. They don’t exist.
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Tiles are poison for the
buildings of Djenne.
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And tiles and straws
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produce very sharp lines, which is really
changing the appearance of the city.
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Plus, people want more lights
now, that means bigger windows
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and metal shutters. The
architecture of Djenne
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has always been massive. Think walls with
almost no windows. That’s how, it shuts out
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the hot air. Now, they
want air conditioning.
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[music]
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[music]
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[non-English narration]
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[non-English narration]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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The day of replastering the mosque,
everybody works as hard as they can.
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The whole town will be watching. If your
work is well done, everybody will remember.
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The neighborhoods compete with each other.
The young men rushed to bring muds(ph)
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to the masons, working high up on the wall.
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[music]
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[music]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
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[sil.]
