African Heritage Isn't ‘Dead'

Abstract

Memory institutions collect, arrange, describe and preserve collections for the benefit of the community. While the drive is hinged on the desire to promote accessibility and use of heritage assets, memory institutions' approach to heritage management may condition institutions to be responsible for the erasure of some aspects of the heritage. Studies have demonstrated that memory institutions, preserve as well as give access and usage of the collected heritage to the world. It is argued that without strategies of having the heritage consumed, memory institutions risk being redundant. Using some lessons from the BaTonga of Zimbabwe, this chapter outlines the lived and performed heritage in the context of discourses of advocacy, outreach and public programming strategies. It is argued that promotion and funding of memory institutions should be very conscious of the lived heritage which plays a very significant role in defining and promoting the heritage as well as institutions themselves.