EDITORIAL

The African continent is an undisputed major actor of the renewal of heritage safeguarding approaches which has taken place in recent decades at the international level. This double issue of MUSEUM International, which features Africa's successes and challenges, has been prepared by two guest editors, Lorna and Georges Abungu. Both are actively involved through professional networks in national, regional and international programmes. Lorna Abungu, an archaeologist by training, has been the Executive Director of AFRICOM since 2000. Georges Abungu, also an archaeologist, was Director General of the National Museums of Kenya between 1999 and 2002 and is now a Heritage Planning and International Management Consultant. 

Isabelle Vinson

The range and scope of discussion in this issue of Museum International has indeed shown that Africa is a continent of diversity and great wealth on cultural heritage.  From oral history and legal frameworks, to the restructuring of museums, it shows that Africa has undergone major transformations since the concept of a museum – and heritage management as practiced today – were introduced onto the continent.

Africa has not only been confronted with challenges of reconciling inherited institutions in the form of museums and their collections, but also in reconciling the needs and aspirations within the institutions inherited from the colonial past.  In dealing with these challenges, the various countries on the continent have had to grapple with the western notion of a museum as a place for collection, preservation, education and exhibition, often placing more value on the collections they possess rather than the communities they are supposed to serve.

Many of the museums on the continent as well as other cultural institutions have for a long time had to deal with being low on the rung of national/government priorities, as our governments tackle basic services such as education and health, and the quest towards improved infrastructures. Yet the museums must also deal with issues of capacity to manage the heritage, creation of awareness among the communities who own the heritage, and the role of intangible heritage in contemporary society. Equally important, they must address the issues of deterioration and theft in museums, what Sakina Rharib refers to in the case of Morocco as ‘cultural haemorrhage’.

The museum as a contested space is much more obvious in Africa than in any other place.  The history of its development, its colonial background, the eventual experience of ‘letting go’ by the colonial elites who continued to run museums after independence, the lack of capacity building among indigenous populations, and the attitude of being inward looking and refusing to change – have all contributed to the various contestations.  This issue of the journal, through the various articles, has not only succeeded in demonstrating the challenges of museums over time, but also the various and often positive transformations that have made museums in Africa get placed at the centre of the socio-economic and political discourses of their respective countries, and which have set them on a path to recognition.

Going through the contributions, there can be no doubt that African museums have recognized the power of heritage, particularly cultural heritage, in shaping the lives of contemporary society.  From being seen as neutral and non-political grounds, museums have now metamorphosed, breaking down their previously fossilized nature and becoming spaces of great dialogue. Nowhere is this illustrated better than in Ciraj Rassool’s article, ‘Making the District Six Museum in Cape Town’.  In using histories of people and a place, particularly experiences of forced removal, memory and a cultural expression became sources of solidarity and restitution. Through reassembling and restoring the corporate integrity of District Six through memory, a museum called District Six was born and has become the custodian of community interest and rights, fighting for the restitution of land and the right to return to their original spaces.  This is indeed a drastic departure from the traditional museum; yet one that is not only unique but highly appropriate – putting a museum at the centre of human dialogue, and allowing it to become a site of healing and forgiveness. This has also gone a long way in promoting the aspect of a community museum.

The case of the National Museums of Kenya is one of turning national heritage into an important resource for humanity. It demonstrates the role that a museum as a public institution can play in not only protecting heritage but also bringing it alive to the public for enjoyment, education and use. It further disproves the notion that museums, particularly in Africa, are fossilized, non-proactive and, at best, spaces of heritage destruction and theft.  The Kenyan case is an example of a dynamic, proactive institution that is open to change and capable of attracting huge funding for a restructuring process.  It is indeed a case of success and something to emulate. While this article highlights but one museum, it should be noted that other important museums in Africa have undergone similar restructuring processes, although not at this magnitude, for example the National Museum of Mali in Bamako, and the Livingstone Museum in Zambia.

Museums across the continent are beginning to embrace institutional restructuring and development, addressing issues of sustainability while remaining faithful to their mission, now often expanded to go beyond collection management and exhibition to active and creative public participation.

The second chapter of this issue demonstrates the power of orality and traditional knowledge, often shared and passed down for posterity. African traditional knowledge was often maligned and was more often than not disregarded as forming part of a heritage. It now has a new lease of life with the realization that it forms part and parcel of the African being and serves as a source of information crucial to Africa’s identity and heritage protection.

Ranging from Ali Ould Sidi’s discussions on oral knowledge of construction and materials, organization and implementation of conservation and restoration works; to Mapopa Mtonga’s example as the Gulu Wamkulu as an instrument of social control, fostering group identity and protecting traditions; to Elisa Fiorio’s orality and cultural tradition where language as a means of codifying information and the spoken word become a representation of society’s vision of the world; to Odero Aghan’s creative story telling as a means of disseminating knowledge and promoting understanding – This chapter tell a powerful story of oral tradition and the role of intangible heritage in protecting the tangible. Furthermore, the role of heritage institutions such as museums in promoting and using this heritage cannot be over emphasized.

Oral history is a bind that reinforces cultural as well as social relations, serving as a link between the past and the present; a link between generations. With the UNESCO convention on Intangible Heritage there is now a way forward and Africa, with its diversity and richness, should lead the way.

On memory and development, it is clear that Africa has gone a long way not only in recognizing the importance of its cultural heritage but the need to manage it in a sustainable manner. Africa is a unique continent with many challenges yet it is also a pacesetter. Looking at Galia Saouma-Forero’s paper and being conversant with the programme, we cannot but agree when she states that “Africa 2009 has demonstrated that protection of African cultural heritage by Africans consolidates their sense of identity, underlines the richness of its diversity and opens new avenues for development”.

The trainings so far carried out in Africa in the field of heritage management are focused and are meant to solve existing problems and plan for future. Work done through ICCROM’s PREMA  course – which led to the development of PMDA (now CHDA) and EPA, as well as the efforts of AFRICOM , WAMP  and Samp , are symbolic of a commitment by Africa to safeguard its heritage. Even AFRICOM’s internship programme, though not traditional in its approach to training, has gone a long way in addressing these challenges.

There is no doubt that Africa has come a long way from a continent of problems and under achievements, to one that is totally focused on safeguarding and utilizing its most precious resource: heritage.

The journey through this special double issue demonstrates a commitment by both Africa and its partners, and the long road to the various successes. This is not to say that Africa no longer has problems. To the contrary, we need to continue to build human capacity, develop and improve legal frameworks, include communities in all matters of heritage management, tap the traditional knowledge systems and other intangible heritage that support sustainability, and work with the rest of the world in safeguarding humanity’s heritage. The common thread through the contributions in this issue is clear: Africa is a contributor rather than a receiver.

Lorna Abungu and George Abungu

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Making the District Six Museum in Cape Town, Ciraj Rassool

Through its exhibitions, programmes and forums, and in its internal processes of negotiation, the District Six Museum is constantly involved in redefining and reframing its notions of community. It continues to be a site where post-apartheid identities are being self-fashioned and contested, and not simply imbibed passively by those that apartheid produced.  TOP

The National Museums of Kenya, Idle Farah

Idle Farah, Director General of the National Museums of Kenya, offers a state-of-the-art of the achievements made so far by the NMK and the process of its current restructuring. The institution’s aim is to face the challenges of today to effectively serve its communities, both locally and internationally.  TOP

Managing Intangible Heritage at Tsodilo, Phillip Segadika

Criterion 6 of the World Heritage List stipulates that sites may be inscribed when directly associated with living traditions or beliefs. This is one of the reasons why the Tsodilo Hills in Botswana is considered of ‘outstanding universal value’. The paper analyses the nomination dossier and current management plan of Tsodilo undertaken by the Botswana National Museum in terms of the intangible cultural heritage.  TOP

Cultural Laws and Museums in Africa, Vincent Négri

Museum law in Africa is the result of texts derived from the colonial period and new legislation which struggles to find an institutional structure in direct contact with the cultural, social and economic realities of the continent. Museums are nonetheless being launched, questioning public and political authorities as to the requirements to ensure the safeguard of their heritage, and the development and dissemination of cultures. Vincent Negri analyses how the role of law remains to be determined in Africa.  TOP

Monuments and Traditional Know-How: The Example of Mosques in Timbuktu, Ali Ould Sidi

The article studies the traditional system of restoration of mosques in Timbuktu. However, even if the rebuilding of the mosques is one of the important social realities of Mali’s cultural heritage, the article demonstrates that it is nonetheless not sufficient for ensuring the perpetuation of world heritage and the elimination of all threats.  TOP

Gule Wamkulu as a Multi-state Enterprise, Mapopa Mtonga

Gule Wamkulu, proclaimed as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005 by UNESCO, is both a secret cult and ritual dance practiced among the Chewa people living in Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique. The article focuses on the three most important stages of development of the Gule Wamkulu masquerade, its survival as intangible cultural heritage and the steps that are now required to safeguard it as a multi-state enterprise.  TOP

Orality and Cultural Identity: The Oral Tradition in Tupuri (Chad), Elisa Fiorio

The text analyses the evolution which affects the Tupuri community in Chad where strong external pressures are beginning to undermine the determination of younger generations to preserve their oral tradition and to threaten their historical continuity and awareness of group identity.  TOP

Storytelling as a Means of Disseminating Knowledge in Museums: The Example of Sigana Moto Moto, Aghan Odero Agan

The article contextualizes the importance of Storytelling as an oral cultural art-form. It presents a joint initiative undertaken by the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) and Zamaleo ACT known as Sigana Moto Moto programme whereby storytelling is used for cultural education.  TOP

Africa 2009:  a Story of African Empowerment, Galia Saouma Forero

Africa 2009 is a joint UNESCO, ICCROM and CRATerre-EAG programme. It is rooted in the notion that the problems facing conservation in Africa must be addressed not only through technical solutions, but also through better taking into account the relationship between the immovable heritage and its relevant communities and overall environment. The article retraces the history of the programme, its challenges and outcomes.  TOP

Taking Stock of Moroccan Museums, Sakina Rharib

The text proposes a state-of-the-art of heritage and museums in Morocco. It explains that the museum as institution was recently introduced in the country; it analyzes the origin of the museum, its colonial heritage and its national appropriation.  TOP

Genesis and Structure of ‘Djenné as a Work of Art: Stakes and Risks in the Realm of World Heritage, Roberto Christian Gatti

Djenné is a reference for sub-Saharan Islamic spirituality and, in the rural context, constitutes a base for the general education system of Mali. On the other hand, because of its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, it also represents a heritage city that attracts visitors from all over the world. The article studies the dynamics of the inhabitants’ perception and reception of Djenné as “patrimonialized space’.  This question is addressed through the work of Pierre Bourdieu. TOP

Fort Jesus Museum in Mombassa: Its experience regarding Social networks in urban and rural environment, Mwadime Wazwa

The author explains how the Fort Jesus Museum in Mombassa has been transformed from a military garrison to an institution with developed public programmes that are going beyond the traditional model of merely housing and interpreting objects. It can now be seen as an active participant, providing leadership in heritage preservation activities with its communities, in the urban and rural environment. He explains how this transformation has occured and the challenges the Museum still needs to face in order to ensure that the heritage is conserved sustainably for the benefit of all.  TOP