Posted on April 15, 2010
Dear colleagues,
Heritage has really come under the spotlight this month!
In Uganda, the devastating fire that ravaged the Tombs of the Buganda Kings at Kasubi reminds us just how fragile our built heritage is. Heritage sites were in the news at home, too: print media carried reports on the state of the home of Dr John Dube, founding president of the African National Congress. The homestead was declared a provincial heritage site in 1995. In KwaZulu-Natal too, Winnie Mandela, speaking at the funeral of Fatima Meer, said that Meer’s home should be declared a national heritage site. The ongoing threat of mining near Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site and in the Cape Winelands continues to stir debate, though little attention is paid to the question of landscape as archive.
This month’s Archival Platform blog looks at the furore surrounding the singing of a struggle song, which includes the words, Dubul’ ibhunu (shoot the Boers), and the consequent debates on the heritage of hate speech currently raging in the media.
Our guest blogs this month cover a variety of topics. Harriet Deacon asks how South Africa will involve archive users in digitising archival collections. Xolelwa Kashe-Katiya describes the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) model for skills development and the challenges this poses for the heritage sector. Thokozani Mhlambi contemplates the consequences of death for historical memory. Mark Turin and Imogen Gunn discuss the World Oral Literature Project, a global initiative to make endangered oral literature accessible. Kylie Thomas explores the “difficult conversations” that Jane Anderson engages in around the issues of indigenous knowledge, archives and the legacy of colonial power.
Our news section covers the disturbing seizure and subsequent return of photographs from a human rights exhibition in Zimbabwe. We note the exciting discovery of new hominid fossils in the Cradle of Humankind and the good news that the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) has acted to prevent the export of some South African treasures, including a signed copy of the Freedom Charter. We have news, too, of a controversial monument erected in Senegal and of an unusual museum, dedicated to hip hop, which has opened in Cape Town. Finally, we cover two new initiatives aimed at digitising documents in Italian libraries and in the Vatican
There are a number of interesting opportunities, conferences and events listed and our resources section includes several useful, free online publications, as well as information about new databases and websites.
Next month we celebrate International Museum Day, with The International Council of Museums (ICOM) asking museums to consider the theme Museums for Social Harmony. We would welcome contributions on this topic for our next newsletter!
With best wishes
Jo-Anne Duggan
Director, Archival Platform