Announcement >> Thematic Seminar

9th Thematic Seminar: Intangible Aspects of Sacred Heritage Sites

Background

Africa 2009 is a ten-year capacity building programme launched in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in 1998. It is the result of a survey and needs assessment carried out in 1996. The programme is a joint effort of African cultural heritage organizations, EPA, CHDA, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICCROM, and CRATerre-ENSAG. It is rooted in the notion that the problems facing conservation in Africa must be addressed not only through technical solutions, but also through a better understanding of the relationship between the immovable cultural heritage and its social-economic and environmental aspects. The programme which closes at the end of 2009, has during its various phases continuously contributed to the improvement of national capacities in the management and conservation of immovable cultural heritage in sub Saharan Africa.
During its programme of activities, Africa 2009 has emphasised the importance of the linkage between tangible heritage and its intangible aspects. Indeed, the intangible aspects of immovable heritage are crucial to the understanding of its value and significance and are a vital consideration in the competent management and conservation of a heritage site. Sacred heritage sites, as designated and defined by individual communities, play a key role in the lives of such communities. The understanding of the link between the tangible and intangible aspects of sacred sites is fundamental to the development of relevant and all-inclusive approaches to their management and conservation. It is undeniably ineffectual to disregard the importance of the rites, rituals, traditions and other forms of intangible cultural heritage which contribute to the reality and meaning of such sacred places. It is in an effort to draw attention to this rich heritage that ICOMOS devoted the 2008 ICOMOS International Day for Monuments and Sites to “Religious Heritage and Sacred Places”.

Objective

The seminar aims at giving an opportunity to African heritage and allied professionals to explore the relationship between the tangible and intangible aspects of sacred heritage sites in order to facilitate the development of relevant and all-inclusive approaches to their management, conservation and promotion.

Programme

The seminar programme will allow for the sharing of information, experiences and ideas on:

1. The typologies and characteristics of African sacred heritage sites;
2. The “sacredness” of sacred heritage sites, i.e. what makes identified sacred sites sacred?
3. The relationship between the tangible and intangible in African sacred heritage sites;
4. The experiences and challenges of conserving and managing sacred sites in Africa;
5. Proposals for approaches best suited for the management and conservation of sacred heritage sites.

The seminar will start off with presentations (case studies, reflections) by seminar participants on approaches to the management and conservation of sacred sites in their own countries. The presentations are expected to cover all or some of the issues in 1 to 5 above. These presentations will then be followed by group work to identify the key issues arising from allocated topic (s) as well as suggest possible solutions and strategies. The seminar will end with a plenary session that will discuss proposals and strategies for the better management and conservation of both the tangible and intangible aspects of African sacred heritage sites. A visit will be made to a sacred site in Ghana as a case study for the seminar.

Language: English

Participants

18 to 20 heritage professionals from sub Saharan Africa will be selected for the seminar.
Applications from qualified women are encouraged.

The Africa 2009 programme will offer successful candidates sponsorship to cover travel, accommodation and modest living
expenses in Ghana. However each participant is required to pay a registration fee of $25 (US dollars).

Application

Applicants should submit:

1. Duly completed application forms: including a letter of endorsement from the national Director in charge of immovable cultural heritage in the applicant’s country;
2. A summary of the key points of the applicant’s proposed presentation.

Completed application documentation should be sent to the following addresses:

9th Africa 2009 Thematic Seminar on intangible aspects of sacred sites
Centre for Heritage Development in Africa
Fort Jesus, Old Law Court Building, Nkrumah Road
PO Box 90010
Mombasa, Kenya
Tel: (254) 41 2225 114 / 224 846
Fax: (254) 41 2227 985
Email: with copies to

Please send copies of all documentation to the two email addresses.

Deadline

Applications should be sent to the addresses above by 30 June 2008.