Senegal: the extraordinary story of clichés by Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, founder of Mouridism
Plate presenting the 6 shots of Cheikh Amadou Bamba taken in March 1918 in Diourbel.
© Maison De Baecque.
Text by: Guillaume Thibault
5 mins
It is a part of the history of Senegal which has just re-emerged from the past.
Six photos, yellowed by time and on which we can see Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, the founder of the important Mouride community, who died in 1927. The discovery is important, because only one image of the religious leader was so far known and reproduced from elsewhere all over the country.
These photos were bought in Lyon at the beginning of March during an auction, after many adventures, by a collective of the Mouride community.
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Format 7 by 4 centimeters. In the bottom margin, it is written in ink “
Le Serigne Amadou Bamba
”.
The religious leader, often called Sérigne Touba, stands with his hands behind his back.
His turban, the "
kaala
" in Wolof, only shows his eyes, but we guess a smile.
In another image, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, trowel in hand, is sealing a stone.
This second shot is crucial, because it has made it possible to reconstruct the history of these shots, to confirm that it is indeed the founder of the Mouride brotherhood who appears in these photos.
The investigation opened in 2020 was also organized and carried out by the collective which bought the photos.
This shot of Cheikh Amadou Bamba, standing, wearing a turban, is reminiscent of the only known photo of him for years.
© House of Baecque
A big survey
April 16, 2020. The photos are on sale on a site renowned for the sale of old postcards.
The seller, a French merchant, Matthieu Robelin, is respected in the field.
But at first, he has no idea of the value of these shots.
“
I bought this photo album from a second-hand dealer who was in the south of France,
he explains to RFI.
They weren't valued
."
Each print is therefore auctioned with a starting price of five euros.
These prices will soar when members of the Mouride community discover the sale.
“
The photo of the religious leader standing facing went up to 46,000 euros.
The others around 500 euros
“, adds the seller.
After three weeks, the website prefers to cancel any transaction.
A controversy then ensues, because some believe that these photos do not represent Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba.
A collective is formed, named the research platform on Mouridism, “Dîwânul Mahaârif” in Wolof.
In all, nearly fifty people: professors, researchers, specialists in religious sciences, the history of Islam and Mouridism, sociologists decide to carry out the investigation.
They discover that the photos of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba come from a larger album in which they discover photos of Dakar and Diourbel.
They also learn that this album belonged to a certain Jean Geoffre.
The latter lived in 1915 in Dakar and was an architect.
It is he who would also be at the origin of the plans for the Diourbel mosque.
The photos in his album are dated March 11, 1918, the date indicated by the architect for the laying of the first stone of the mosque.
After analysis,
►To listen also: The march of the world - In Senegal, sharing archives, building memory
On March 11, 1918, Cheikh Amadou Bamba came to lay the first stone of the Diourbel mosque.
At his side, the architect Jean Geoffre who designed the building and had the pictures taken.
© House of Baecque
"It puts Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba at the heart of history and things to transmit"
For the professor of the University of Dakar, Massamba Guèye, the discovery of his pictures brings a notion of the extraordinary: “
In the oral accounts of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, the part of extraordinary was more important than the part of humanity.
In the photo, the part of humanity comes to install an extraordinary base of Serigne Touba.
So that puts him back at the heart of the story and of the things to be transmitted.
»
After the failure of the online sale, a major auction house is contacted.
The De Baecque
house
, based in Paris and Lyon, organizes important sales of period photos every year.
To avoid any complications, potential buyers must post a deposit of 5,000 euros to participate.
LOT 93 is entitled: “
Exceptional and extremely rare set of six vintage albumen prints, showing the Serigne Amadou Bamba.
Before the discovery of this set, a single and unique photograph of the great man, father of Mouridism, was deemed known.
»
Hammer in hand, on March 8, auctioneer Etienne de Baecque led the sale.
In three minutes, the auction reached 48,000 euros and it was the collective of the Mouride community that won the lot.
For Etienne de Baecque, “
it's rare and very special.
These are documents that are of major importance for this brotherhood.
These photos go back to Senegal, it makes sense.
It's a beautiful story
”.
The collective of Mouride leaders also bought the complete album of the architect Jean Geoffre, because it allows to contextualize the photos of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba.
These unpublished photos of the religious leader will be officially presented soon and then bequeathed to the Mouride brotherhood.
"History of a photo - Analysis of the authenticity of the supposed photographs of Cheikh A. Bamba"
►See also: July 19, 1927, death of Ahmadou Bamba, founder of Mouridism
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