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Archival Platform March 2011 newsletter
EDITOR’S NOTE
As we celebrate Human Rights Day on 21 March, Xolelwa Kashe Katiya reflects on the remains of our ancestors, especially those housed in our museums and other places of learning, or those used for scientific research, and wonders whether we accord them the same right to dignity as we do the living. Lucy Campbell visits a club in Cape Town and reports that descendants of slaves and indigenous people are treated with disdain. This is especially alarming given the controversial statements about ‘coloured’ identity currently dominating the media.
Thinking about personal identity and the archive, I consider the life – and death – of Sidima Ndeya and ask where we may find the record of his 58 years on earth. In Europe, there is talk of entrenching the right of the individual to privacy, or to be “forgotten”, by allowing for personal information to be erased from the internet. A recent blog on the WITNESS website draws attention to the risks posed to human rights activists who are filmed or photographed participating in protest actions, and thus easily identifiable to authorities or others who may wish to take action against them. In Hungary, historians and others are outraged at the suggestion that Communist-era archives may be opened to those who were spied on, so that records can be removed and/or destroyed.
Affirming the value of records, for us as individuals, communities and nations: Musa Hlatshwayo speaks to Ntombizodwa Sithole who found her parents’ marriage certificate in the Durban Family History Centre; Troy Meyers tells us about a coloured family trying to reclaim their chiefdom and the land they acquired in Shaka’s day; Mbongiseni Buthelezi tells us about a meeting of the Buthelezi family and shares the next episode of his adventures in Timbuktu; in South Sudan, Africa’s newest country, authorities are turning to historical archives to determine the country’s borders; while Harriet Deacon considers an archive of an everyday kind, and explains why food has become a hot new heritage topic.
Mbongiseni Buthelezi and I attended the launch of the Nelson Mandela Foundation exhibition: Remember Africa: Robert Sobukwe (1924-1978). This event coincided with another, which marked a decade since the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) was passed in South Africa and looked at the “hidden” spaces in South African liberation history through the themes of the secret, the taboo and the disavowal, asked what access to information and the representation of our history means within the context of the liberation struggle.
The Military Veterans Bill, which acknowledges the sacrifices made by military veterans and outlines the reparations to which they should be entitled, has been published for comment. Having heard about the work done with military veterans by the Institute for the Healing of Memories, I spent a morning in conversation with Mongezi Mngese learning about the contribution that this organisation is making to healing individuals and communities.
This month we’re inspired by a few initiatives that are expanding access to information, and to the archive. We’ve come across the website of the Windhoek+20 campaign, a continental initiative that focuses on the importance of making information accessible to citizens. We’re also excited to hear that the Google Foundation has made significant grants to support the work of the Nelson Mandela Centre for Memory and the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, and to expand online access to the archives of these icons.
We will be keeping an ongoing eye on the digitisation of heritage resources. This month Roger Layton offers a word of advice for those planning a digitisation project while Grant McNulty considers the democratising power of digitisation.
Reparations offer some form of restitution; but what are apologies worth? This month we’ve seen several people making statements, or taking actions for which they have had to say sorry: in Bloemfontein the Reitz Four, former students of the University of the Free State apologised publicly to the workers whom they humiliated; Kuli Roberts made a sort-of apology for her remarks about coloured people, as did Jimmy Manyi, while the Democratic Alliance reinstated journalist Anna Majavu on its email distribution list. Does saying sorry set the record straight, we wonder?
We offer our condolences to all those who have been affected by recent natural disasters and hold them in our thoughts and, while we celebrate the victories of those who have overthrown harsh dictatorships, we commiserate with those who have suffered for this cause. We also worry about the loss of archival material and the threat to heritage posed by events in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, New Zealand and Japan.
We’ve updated our coverage on the ‘struggle song’ saga, the Protection of Information Bill, WikiLeaks and the crisis around the Uganda Museum.
We’re pleased to see that the annual reports of at least three of our national memory institutions - the Nelson Mandela Museum, the National Film and Video Foundation and Ifa Lethu - have been presented to the parliamentary committee. It’s good to know that the guardians of our democracy are keeping a watchful eye on our heritage. But we are concerned to see that the Nelson Mandela Museum has been without a council since March 2010, compromising its ability to operate efficiently and effectively – and we worry about failure of the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) to appoint councils timeously.
We are deeply concerned about the state of our National Archives. We reported in September 2010 that National Archivist Graham Dominy and a senior colleague had been suspended the month before. They remain under suspension pending the outcomes of a protracted investigation and lengthy disciplinary hearings. We are concerned about the effect of this on the operations and integrity of the National Archive and the morale of its staff, and call on the DAC to resolve this unhappy state of affairs as a matter of urgency.
The resolution of this matter is particularly important given the long-standing crisis of leadership in the archives. There appears to be no progress with the reappointment of a National Archives Advisory Council. As we noted in our letter to then Minister of Arts and Culture, Lulu Xingwana in September 2010, “We are dismayed that the National Archives Advisory Council (NAAC), which is, as the Minister notes, ‘the formal advisory body on archival matters’ has been inactive since the term of office of the then members came to an end in 2007, and that no time-frames appear to have been established for the appointment of the NAAC. The National Archives and Records Services Act of 1996, as amended, spells out the mandate of the NAAC to advise the minister, the director general and the national archivist to advise and consult with the South African Heritage Resources Agency and to consult with the Public Protector. It is inexcusable that the proper functioning of the national archival system has been compromised by the prolonged absence of the NAAC.” Minister Xingwana’s assurance to us that she was “currently consulting with provincial MECs on the reappointment of the NAAC” seems to have come to naught and we implore her successor Minister Mashatile to address this matter with the urgency it deserves.
Best wishes
Jo-Anne Duggan
IN THE NEWS
Google expands online access to the archives of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu
The Google Foundation has made significant grants to support the work of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre.
Institute for the Healing of Memories
Jo-Anne Duggan spends a morning in conversation with Mongezi Mngese and learns about the contribution that this organisation is making to healing individuals and communities.
Military Veterans Bill
This bill acknowledges the sacrifices made by military veterans and outlines reparations to which they should be entitled.
Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) exhibition launch and dialogue forum
A dialogue forum, coinciding with the launch of Remember Africa: Robert Sobukwe (1924-1978), focused on Access to Information and the Making of South African Pasts through the themes, the secret, the taboo and the disavowal.
Communist-era archives under threat in Hungary
Surveillance records from the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security are to be made available to those who were spied upon – who may then remove or destroy them.
Nelson Mandela Museum Annual Report 2009/2010
The Nelson Mandela Museum briefed the parliamentary committee on its Annual Report and audit queries.
National Film and Video Foundation Annual report 2009/2010
The National Film and Video Foundation briefed the parliamentary committee on its Annual Report and audit queries.
Ifa Lethu Foundation Annual Report 2009/2010
Ifa Lethu Foundation briefed the parliamentary committee on its activities and progress in repatriating South African art and developing creative entrepreneurs.
Julian Assange loses extradition case
A British judge has ruled that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may be extradited to Sweden to face questioning on allegations of sexual crimes.
The right to be forgotten?
The European Union wants to enshrine a special form of privacy that allows for information about individuals to be erased from the internet.
Protect your visual identity
A report drafted by the WITNESS team draws attention to the risks posed to human rights activists whose identities are revealed through video documentation of protest actions.
South Sudan turns to historical archives to determine borders
The world’s newest country is making digital copies of government documents dating from the early 19th century to determine its borders.
Preserving historical memory in Egypt
As the revolution unfolds, Egyptians demand the records of the Mubarak regime, previously kept secret, and worry about preserving images of the revolution.
ANC must reconsider stance on media - Pallo Jordan
In the digital age and in an environment where citizens can communicate and disseminate information unmediated by corporations or governments, the challenge is to develop and secure a truly diverse media.
Reports on International Council of Museums (ICOM) activity
Read the chairman’s report on the annual general meeting of ICOM in Shanghai in November 2010, as well as the report delivered at ICOM’s South African national committee’s recent AGM.
The Reitz Four apologise
Former students of the University of the Free State have apologised publicly to the workers humiliated by their participation in a student video.
Opportunities
Jobs
Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
Guilford College invites applications for a two-year full-time position in African History, beginning August 2011.
University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States
The African American Studies Program at the University of Houston is soliciting applications for its Visiting Scholars Initiative for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Training
Oral History Training
Gambier, Ohio, United States, 7 - 9 June 2011
International Course on Scientific Museography
Barcelona, Spain, 16 - 20 May 2011
International Arts Professionals Summer School
University of Kent, Brussels, Belgium, 17 - 22 July 2011
Fellowships and funding
The African Leadership Centre Peace and Security Fellowship for African Women
Deadline for applications: 31 March 2011
Research Grants musée du quai Branly 2011-2012
Deadline for applications: 2 May 2011
Calls for contributions
The International Council of Museums Committee for Education and Cultural Action (ICOM CECA) Annual Conference 2011
Deadline for submissions: 15 April 2011
The International Committee of Musical Instrument Museums and Collections (CIMCIM) conference
Deadline for submissions: 1 April 2011
African Studies Association Conference Panel Proposal
Deadline for submission of proposals still to be announced
The Politics of Heritage in Africa
Deadline for submissions: 20 June 2011
International Committee for Museums and Collections of Archaeology and History (ICMAH) Annual Conference 2011
Deadline for submissions: 22 April 2011
Narratives, Nostalgia, Nationhoods: 3rd Apartheid Archive Conference
Deadline for submissions: 31 March 2011
International Scientific Conference on Shared Built Heritage in Africa.
Deadline for submissions: 01 April 2011
Sites of Popular Music Heritage Symposium
Deadline for submissions: 30 April 2011
Other opportunities
AFRICOM 2011 directory project
Ernest Cole Annual Photography Award
Closing date for submissions: 17 June 2011
Conferences and Resources
Conferences
Conference on Cultural Diversity
Venue to be announced, South Africa, 30 - 31 March 2011
South African Museums Association (SAMA) Gauteng North Museum Security Seminar
Pretoria, South Africa, 25 May 2011
The History of Health Care in Africa
Basel, Switzerland, 12 - 14 September 2011
Understanding Heritage: Challenges and Perspectives for the 21st Century – PhD Workshop
Cottbus, Germany, 14 -16 June 2011
Resources
Website: African Studies research/information Twitter feed
Book: Social Design in Museums - The Psychology of Visitor Studies
Dissertation: Historians on Slaves. An Analytical Historiography of Dutch Slavery at the Cape, 1652-1795.
Book: Memory: Histories, Theories, Debates. Edited by Susannah Radstone, and Bill Schwarz, Fordham University Press, 2010
Podcasts
Episode 49 of Africa Past and Present
Exhibitions
Tangible Things
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, 24 January - 29 May 2011
Ernest Cole, photographer
IZIKO Museums of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa , 25 February - 30 April 2011
Jeanette Unite, Paradox of Plenty
Michaelis Galleries, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa , 29 March – 7 April 2011
Opinions
Archival Platform
Traces of a humble life: the archival fragment
Jo-Anne Duggan reflects on the death of a humble man and asks, where is the record of this man’s 58 years on earth?
Human rights for the dead?
As we celebrate Human Rights Day, Xolelwa Kashe-Katiya wonders whether the remains of our ancestors are treated with dignity and respect.
Identity, heritage and food: Why food is a hot new heritage topic
Harriet Deacon finds that food is rapidly becoming a topic of great interest, not just for historians and archivists, but for heritage and museum professionals too.
Digital repositories: What, how, where?
Roger Layton offers a word of advice for those planning a digitisation project: before you get started, ask where you will house your digital objects and how they will be managed.
From Timbuktu to Cape Town: Reflections of a novice traveller, Part 2
Mbongiseni Buthelezi shares the next episode of his adventures in Timbuktu with us.
Ancestral Stories
Descendants of the founders of Durban: The Fynns Today
Troy Meyers tells us about a coloured family trying to reclaim their chiefdom and land they acquired in Shaka’s day.
Doing family history: Ntombizodwa Albertina Sithole finds her parents’ marriage certificate
Musa Hlatshwayo talks to Ntombizodwa Sithole, who has found information on her parents at the Durban Family History Centre.
The Buthelezis organise themselves into a Bloc
Mbongiseni Buthelezi recounts his participation in a meeting of a Buthelezi group arranged via Facebook.
Guest posts
White washed
Lucy Campbell visits a Cape Town club and reports that descendants of slaves and indigenous people are treated with disdain.
Digitisation and democracy
Grant McNulty considers the potential of new digital technologies for democratising heritage practice.
Windhoek+20
Established in September 2009 in Windhoek, Namibia, this campaign is a continental initiative that focuses on the importance of making information accessible to citizens.
