Kaya African Furnace Museum

Kaya, Burkina Faso

This open-air museum’s ambition is to exhibit the existing variety of African furnaces used to reduce iron, which do not involve European technology. The use of such devices has progressively disappeared during the 20th century but the museum aims to preserve the ancestral knowledge and know-how of African iron craftsmen. The fourteen furnaces were built using traditional techniques and materials, such as "banco", a mixture made of earth and hay. Prone to weather damage, they have to be activated on a regular basis during dry season such as to guaranty their longevity. 

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture