By Sarah Murray
Embedded within the walls of a 19th-century mansion in an ancient harbour town on the east African island of Zanzibar are bricks bearing an unlikely stamp: “Made in Glasgow.” The bricks – once ballast in an empty ship returning from a trading voyage – reveal the long-standing global connections of the world’s great Islamic cities, many of which have fallen into disrepair.
Rebuilding the vibrancy of some of these cities is the mission of an initiative called the “Historic Cities Programme”. But while the programme falls under the auspices of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, its work extends far beyond architectural restoration.
“If you are just dealing with individual monuments, you may not be affecting the lives of the people living around them,” says Luis Monreal, director-general of the trust. “And in Islamic cities, the highest monument concentration is always in the poorest areas.”
More: FT.com / Special Reports – Saving the soul of Islam’s ancient cities.
Ismailimail 