Harar (Ethiopia) (AFP) - Hyenas
howl and feast on flesh every night outside the ancient walls of Harar
-- one of Islam's holiest cities that is holding out against the
pressures of the modern world.
But change is
coming, and campaigners are working hard to preserve the gated Ethiopian
city's unique history, cultural and religious traditions.
Inside
the thick stone walls modern influences abound: beer signs propped on
crumbling old buildings, Chinese electronics in shop windows and shiny
trucks on the main road alongside ageing Peugeot sedans.
But
despite the encroachments from the outside world, a generation of
cultural campaigners are determined to preserve ancient customs -- from
clothing to bookbinding, to dance and song.
"Because
of globalisation, you can't prevent all changes, but the culture, the
religion, still survives," said Abdela Sherif, owner of a museum housing
the largest collection of Harari cultural relics in the world.
"We
are going to keep our culture, our customs, our old civilisation, we
are going to keep it by revitalisation," Sherif adds, speaking inside
his museum in Harar packed with old coins, yellowed Korans, vintage silk
dresses and rusting daggers.
He runs bookbinding workshops, and makes digital copies of old books and songs as part of his preservation campaign.
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