Re-conceptualising ‘Heritage Site’ and ‘Protected Area’ in African Perspectives: A Case of Chongoleani Peninsula, Northern Coast of Tanzania
By; Chiku Said
African scholars and practitioners continue to perceive heritage sites based on variables established in the North, notably visibility, scale, permanence, centrality and ubiquity. Consequently, they fail, in most cases, to grasp what really constitute heritage sites in African contexts, hence misinforming the governments which heritage sites need protection for the interest of local communities and the nations at large. This MA study, therefore, seeks to demonstrate such constraint by unravelling cultural sites which the local community at Chongoleani peninsula on the northern coast of Tanzania are strongly attached to, and have declared protected and offer conservation support compared to the government-declared sites nearby.
Unravelling the root of conflicts at heritage sites in Tanzania: The case of Bagamoyo Historic Town
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NOEL FIDELIS (MA HERITAGE MANAGEMENT)
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Heritage professionals working in Africa have been reporting conflicts at several heritage sites. Different perceptions and uses of heritage sites have been reported as source of such conflicts among heritage stakeholders (Chirikure and Pwiti, 2008; Masele 2012; Ichumbaki 2015; Apoh and Gavua 2016). These conflicts centre either among researchers and government officials, government officials and local communities, local communities and investors or a combination of all the groups above. Although several studies report the existence of such conflicts, a handful of such scholarships, if any, have established the contexts within which such conflicts occur. The proposed research intends to unravel the root of conflict at heritage sites using two sites of Kaole ruins and Roman Catholic Church both located in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, as a case study.
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Miza Alex
MA Heritage management
Unless We Value Their Intangibles, Our Tangibles Will Never be Safe! Linking Intangible and Tangible Heritage Locales in Bagamoyo, Tanzania
Management of several heritage sites in Africa, particularly by government establishments such as museums, antiquities and monument commissions has failed (Pikirayi and Schmidt 2016). Although there could be several reasons for the failure, neglecting to recognize the intangible heritage embedded in such sites (which local people value most) is one among several causing factors (Schmidt 2017). Partly, this is because while government officials concentrate on the physical part of the respective heritage, local people value most what they connect these sites with, that is, the intangible part (Ichumbaki 2015). The proposed research seeks to assess the perceptions of local community on the intangible heritage embedded in monumental ruins and the surrounding landscapes against those imposed by the Government and heritage professionals.