Publicomos

Réf.

41874

Type

conference item

Titre

Cultural shifting-sands : changing meanings of Zimbabwe sites in Zimbabwe, South-Africa and Botswana

Langues

English

Auteurs

Sinamai, Ashton

Date

2003

Pages

3 p.

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

historic sites / conservation / intangible heritage / conservation of historic sites / management

Pays mentionnés

Botswana / South Africa

Monuments et sites

Dzata, South Africa / Bomboshaba, Botswana / Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe / Manyanga, Zimbabwe

N° Patrimoine mondial

364

Résumé en anglais

Heritage managers have for long failed to recognise the intangible aspects of immovable cultural heritage. With new developments in archaeology’s expanding disciplines, which have largely been influenced by fourth world politics, many can now identify the intangible values of sites. Heritage managers continue, however, to face problems in the management of sites because of the failure to understand the simultaneous existence of different systems of value overlaying their official meaning. They have also failed to identify the origins of these attachments to a site and why there are constant clashes between other numerous competing values. This paper will examine sites in South Africa (Dzata), Botswana (Domboshaba) and Zimbabwe (Great Zimbabwe and Manyanga) to show that the ‘intangibility’ of a site is in constant movement, as it compromises with other competing values. It will show through the study of these sites that “intangibility” is simply a manifestation of power within a cultural landscape. Power is made visible to the common man or to the state through values that are ascribed to cultural heritage sites. This power may be used to control change within communities, or to effect change within that same community or nation. Thus, for traditional authorities, it is easier to control the community if the religious values of the site are intact, and for the state it might be easier if a site is made to represent the nation in new ways. Managing heritage sites like those mentioned above thus requires an understanding of the origins of values attached to these sites by different sections of the community/nations. This paper will use the aforementioned sites to prove that when one examines the ascription of values to these sites as manifestations of power, managing them becomes easier.

Document joint

C3-7_-_Sinamai.pdf

Licence

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