Towards Sustainable Cultural Institutions for a New Nation: Creating a National Museum and Archives for South Sudan

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Notes

1 This was also to ensure continuity with the work that the RVI had started in 2008: https://riftvalley.net/ projects/national-archive-south-sudan [Accessed 27 July 2023].

2 The collection had been in the tent since shortly after the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. For more on the history of the archives, see Lijnders n. date.

3 Part of these consultations took place during a visit by the London-based exhibition designers from Metaphor, funded through the British Council.

4 Additional information was provided by Ellen Lekka and Tom Hardwick, who both worked with UNESCO in Juba during the time of the travelling exhibition, and by Elfatih Atem, who was hired to accompany the travelling exhibition through all participating states.

5 There are a few short online reports on the transfer, e.g. http:// catholicradionetwork.org/2015/12/23/ unesco-displays-south-sudan-culturalheritage-worldwide/; Egyptian media also refers to the contribution from South Sudan, e.g. https://en.wataninet. com/culture/museums/aswans-nilemuseum-prepares-for-role-as-africanculture-centre/31040/ and https://www.albawabhnews.com/1695868 [All accessed 27 July 2023].

6 Information obtained in discussion with two government officials who were involved in the transfer, and who wished to remain anonymous. The authors did not have access to the agreement under which the objects were brought to Egypt and any information therein on the conditions under which the collections could be brought back to South Sudan.

7 See: https://southsudanmuseumnetwork.com/ [Accessed 26 July 2023].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elke Selter

Elke Selter is Programs Director for ALIPH – the International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas, and is a former research fellow with the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). This article was developed as part of the BIICL’s ‘Beyond Restitution’ project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust (2021-2023). Elke has worked many years with UNESCO, UNDP and UNOPS in contexts of (post-)conflict and disaster. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from SOAS in London and has been conducting research on the international community’s post-conflict engagement with heritage and the return of collections. Between 2012 and 2015 she was based in South Sudan.

Jok Madut Jok

Jok Madut Jok is a Professor of Anthropology at Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He was educated in South Sudan, Egypt and the US, and holds a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has conducted extensive research into political violence and its impact on culture and heritage. He was South Sudan’s Undersecretary for Culture and Heritage between 2011 and 2013.