The Cuomo Foundation is the principal sponsor of the DORA competition, an annual event in which nearly 100 females participate

Ever since members of the Cuomo Foundation first visited Tiebele, the Royal Court of Tiebele has been of great interest as culture has always been at the heart of the Foundations’ priorities. It is due to this commitment that the Foundation through its partnership with the Dizénidani Association supports the Royal Court and its inhabitants in their bid to protect and safeguard this cultural heritage.

Since 2013, the Dizénidani Association has made the conservation and survival of the Kassena architecture of the Royal Court of Tiebele its battle cry. A struggle that led to the creation of the annual DORA competition event with its traditional Kassena mural paintings and restoration projects. The Cuomo Foundation joined them in this action as it has always committed itself to the protection and promotion of cultural values, the proof of civilisation of peoples, in its own agenda. The Foundation has committed itself to supporting and being the principal sponsor of the annual DORA competition and its activities. In 2017, the Foundation financed the “General Restoration Project of the Royal Court of Tiebele” carried out by the Dizenidani Association. This project mobilized more than eight women’s groups, each comprising about fifteen women from the Royal Court and its surrounding villages, who worked for more than a month on decorating the walls to give the houses a different state. This project mobilized more than eight women’s groups, each comprising about fifteen women from the Royal Court and its surrounding villages, who worked for more than a month on decorating the walls to give the houses a different state.

In 2016 the director general of the Cuomo Foundation, Mr Francisco Diaz Lison, while in Burkina Faso held discussions with members of the Dizenidani Association on the state of progress of the file for inscription of the Royal Court for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List .He subsequently met with officials from the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism of Burkina Faso to consider how the Foundation could assist the advancement of this file. The Secretary General of the Ministry, Mr Lassina Simporé stated at the time that he found the Foundations’ approach an opportunity. “In the jargon of heritage managers, we call it an opportunity. What we have just done (Editor’s note: the meeting between the ministry and the members of the Foundation) is an opportunity that we intend to deepen for the good of our ministry as well as for the site of Tiebele,” said Mr Simporé.