Publicomos

Notice (permalien)

Réf.

41869

Type

conference item

Titre

The dilemma of preserving intangible heritage in Zimbabwe

Langues

English

Auteurs

Katsamudanga, Seke

Lieu de publication

Paris

Pays de publication

France

Maison d'édition

ICOMOS

Date

2005

Pages

6 p.

Addenda

Handwritten page numbers 337-342 on the printed collected papers.

Titre de conférence

14th ICOMOS General Assembly and International Symposium: ‘Place, memory, meaning: preserving intangible values in monuments and sites’

Lieu de conférence

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Date de conférence

27 – 31 oct 2003

Mots-clés

conservation / legal protection / definitions / cultural values / ethics / colonialism / social aspects / social changes / recommendations / intangible cultural heritage

Pays mentionnés

Zimbabwe

Résumé en anglais

The incompleteness of cultural heritage without the inclusion of intangible heritage cannot be overemphasised. The norms (behaviours, rules etc) and values (ideas and/or belief systems) a society ascribes to its cultural heritage determine its importance. Preserving intangible heritage is crucial for communities still practising their traditions, but might be an elusive undertaking as only the intangible heritage connected to visible physical remains can be identified. The Zimbabwean government recently gave more powers to chiefs, and consequently we have been seeing a series of documentaries on traditional practices on the national television station. Each chiefdom wants to show its identity, and most call for being accorded rights to practise traditional ceremonies even at sites that are now national monuments. This is quite proper and is in line with the concept of African renaissance. From a heritage management point of view, however, the problem comes when nomination for monument status has to be considered. Which shrine or place should be nominated and what is the significance of that for the nation? What cultural perception does the nominator has over the invisible significance? This paper intends to look at the dilemmas of preserving intangible heritage in the face of changing cultural perceptions in Zimbabwe. It is quite unfortunate that major historical developments have been antithetical to the preservation of traditional cultural values in Africa. The kind of education and the historical legacy left by colonial dogma is still affecting the preservation of intangible itineraries. The struggle in the management of intangible heritage in Zimbabwe is also a mirror of the struggles between the old and the young. It is also a struggle between the idealism of the past and the materialism of the present.

Document joint

C3-1_-_Katsamudanga.pdf

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (BY-NC-ND)

Document source

26567 - English #26567

N° d'entrée et cote

14852