Working Papers - a graduate publication of the UPenn Department of Romance Languages

Julia Winckler Photo by John Fung

Julia Winckler is a German-Canadian artist based in the UK where she works as a photographer, community arts practitioner and senior lecturer at the University of Brighton. Her art projects have resulted in solo exhibitions including: Two Sisters at the Manx Museum (Douglas, Isle of Man, 2004) and the Médiathèque Francois Mitterrand (Poitiers, 2004); Leaving Atlantis (Taipei, Taiwan, 2004) and Retracing Heinrich Barth at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS (London,2008). Her recent publications include the essay ‘Acts of Embodiment: Explorations in Collaborative Phototherapy’ co-written with Stephanie Conway, which was published in Wild Fire: Art as Activism, Sumach Press, 2006. Her book His Majesty’s Loyal Internee: Fred Uhlman in Captivity, co-authored with Charmian Brinson and Anna Müller-Härlin, has just been published by Valentine Mitchell.

Tintellust Map

The 19th century German explorer Heinrich Barth was one of the first Europeans to recognise the significance and richness of African history and culture. Traveling under the Arabic name Abd el Kerim, he crossed the Sahara desert, over the Aïr Mountains and into Central Africa. He recorded his journey in the five-volume Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa; being a Journal of an Expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.’s government in the years 1849-1855.

Arriving in Agadez in 1850, Barth recorded in his journal “I would advise any traveller, who should hereafter visit this country, to make a long stay in this place.” Since the 15th century, Agadez had been a significant trading center for caravans traversing some of the oldest trading routes in the world. The expedition sponsors in the British Foreign Office envisaged a commercial outcome and the promotion of trade and trade agreements with African sultanates. In addition, Barth had asked for a principal task of the expedition to be the “exploration of Central Africa.”

Today Agadez (the Tuareg name for family) is the largest city in Northern Niger as well as the capital of the Aïr region. It is a city of some 150,000. It has become an important transit point for migrants wanting to travel to Europe on unsafe routes through the Sahara desert; many migrants become stranded there.

Inspired by Barth’s account and fired by tales of a mysterious room containing a trove of ancient artifacts connected to Barth’s expedition, Julia Winckler, artist and senior lecturer in photography at the University of Brighton, journeyed to Niger in 2005.

Retracing Barth’s footsteps and drawing on her combined interests in African studies, anthropology, a
nd photography, she has interwoven a narrative based on her encounters and impressions. Her artistic response features shifting viewpoints and addresses questions of identity and memory.

Heinrich Barth

In 1850, Heinrich Barth visited Agadez and stayed in one of the homes that belonged to the Tuareg prince Annur (En-Noor), then one of the most influential leaders of the Kel Ewey Tuareg confederation. A small room has been preserved in memory of Barth’s visit by the extended family that now lives there. The room is part of a larger compound of one-story buildings with a shared courtyard, situated in the old quarters of the city.

Barth Agadez Town Drawing

The Aïr region north of Agadez is a fascinating landscape of volcanic rock, granite, marble, slate, gravel, ridges, parched soil, valleys, and the Ténéré desert, one of the largest sand seas of the Sahara. Arlit to the north is a major base for uranium mining. It is also the regional home of Tuareg confederations and about 100,000 semi-nomadic desert Tuareg.

Tintellust Landscape

Niger has a strong oral tradition and it is common that anecdotes get passed on from one generation to the next. There is a local anecdote about Heinrich Barth’s stay in the Aïr Mountains. It is widely believed that Barth buried a treasure chest in Tintellust (also called Tchintoulous), a village in the Aïr, approximately 350 kilometers north of Agadez, when he resided there for three months in 1850. Fascinated by this legend, Julia Winckler traveled from Agadez to Tintellust with Sarhid Efes Hamadalher and Ahmed Mouta, two Tuareg men from Iferouane, to follow the threads of the story. In 1850 Barth had apparently shared the location of a buried treasure with the village chief, En-Noor Wandara, but had sworn him to secrecy. The chief never revealed the location, taking the secret to his grave.

Ibrahim Manzo Diallo, journalist and director of Aïr Info (a newspaper based in Agadez), shared the most beautiful version of this anecdote: “When I was a child growing up in the Aïr Mountains, my father told me about Barth’s treasure chest. One day, the elders told the village youth of Tintellust, who were a bit lazy, about this hidden treasure, and encouraged them to look for it. They were sent out with shovels and started digging. ‘While you are at work, you may as well sow a few seeds here and there,’ said the village elders. The youth continued digging for many days. Unfortunately, no treasure was found. The following year however, little plants started pushing through the arid soil, and over time, a small oasis containing fruit trees developed. ‘You found the treasure in the end,’ the elders said to the youth.”

Stories from Agadez: Life as it is now is a community photography project Julia Winckler facilitated in 2005. It captures the experiences and images of eight African non-professional photographers, most of whom recorded their own lives for the first time through photography. The resulting images document the hardships and achievements of a local community. Heinrich Barth’s approach to recording everyday experiences was discussed and the group then responded by taking photographs of their families, communities, work and pastimes. Their stories anchor Retracing Heinrich Barth in local experience.

Guardien Outside

Myriam

Two Girls

Boy in Blue

Musicians

Iferouane

Agadez 1

Woman

One of the photographers, Sarhid Hamadalher explains: “I have taken pictures of the life that people live here. I hope that these photos will make you discover the beauty of this country and the fantastic potential it holds. I like photography because it allows us to relive the past and it is also a great passion of life.”