On Monday, January 23rd, Steven Brandt and Justin Dunnavant gave a Social Change & Development Working Group talk titled, “Cultural Heritage as an Agent of African Social Change & Development.” Dr. Steve Brandt is Associate Professor of Anthropology at UF and Justin Dunnavant is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at UF. They both conduct fieldwork in Ethiopia, among other places.
Dr. Brandt opened the talk with a discussion of the meaning of tradition (i.e. heritage), defined as anything (e.g., a belief, behavior, object, etc.) with symbolic meaning or special significance handed down from the past by and to an individual, group or society, maintained in the present, and made available for a future individual, group or society. African intangible heritage is expressed as language and oral literature, performing arts (i.e. music and dance), culinary arts, visual arts (i.e., paintings, films, videos, and games), beliefs (i.e. religion, rituals and customs), and indigenous knowledge. Brandt and Dunnavant are both interested in the effect heritage has on social change, as well as the impact international organizations have on cultural heritage.
Dunnavant’s doctoral research analyzes (1) the representation of heritage in museums, including private and local museums, (2) how local protected or historical sites are being used as depictions of cultural heritage and (3) an archeological project looking for the palace of King Tona of the Wolaita Kingdom. The tourism industry which directs foreign and domestic travelers to these sites, are relevant both in terms of heritage protection and local funds for development. Tourism accounts for 4.5% of Ethiopia’s GDP and increasing tourism (prior to the recent political disturbances in the country) has been a major target of the government. This goal recently received support from the World Bank via a $35 million Tourism Development Project for Ethiopia (2009-2015), however Dunnavant and Brandt argue that these top-down development structures have largely been ineffective. Recognizing this issue, the US embassy has begun to provide small grant projects, with bottom-up organizational structures, to support development and sustainable tourism. The presentation also touched upon the politics of heritage sites including whether they are regulated by the state (including private vs. public museums), the simultaneous designation of sites as both archeological and heritage sites, issues of local perceptions about the appropriateness of Western researchers at heritage sites, and the strength of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s land holdings as a determining factor in whether sites become protected.