Abstract
We are experiencing a moment of great fragility and global crisis that is mainly the result of the economic system which most of the world is based on, namely capitalism. Western capitalism that led to settler colonialism drastically changed the course of the history of many countries, including South Africa. In this crisis, institutions such as museums and universities which are a product of Western capitalism are being overwhelmed by current developments and realities. Does it make sense to use these institutions as they were founded and exported by colonists? Isn’t it time to rethink a different role for them, especially in places like South Africa which has suffered strong colonization and where the Indigenous people continue to suffer strong repression? This paper explores a project started in 2017 in Port Elizabeth, by a group of leaders of the First Indigenous Peoples (KhoiSan), staff and students of the Nelson Mandela University, with the support of the National Research Foundation. A project with the scope of documenting heritage, Indigenous places and practising ancient rituals, with the goal to achieve cultural re-appropriation by the KhoiSan. With the imposition of the colonialist narrative, the KhoiSan don’t have the right to their heritage spaces, and their places of memory have been covered under a veil of total forgetfulness. The project facilitated the opportunity to collaborate with two museums that became open spaces, a platform where the KhoiSan could express their identity and values with school children and community members in general.
Presenters
Magda MinguzziSenior Lecturer-researcher, Architecture-and Institute for Coastal and Marine Research (CMR) , Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus - Voices from the Edge: Negotiating the Local in the Global
KEYWORDS
Indigenous Knowledge And Heritage, Practices Of Decolonization, Role Of Museums
