Musicalizing heritage and heritagizing music for enhancing community awareness of preserving world heritage sites in Africa

ABSTRACT

For the past two centuries or so, education systems in Africa have changed from parental- to school-based training. With this pedagogical shift, children and young people are mentored using school curricula that say very little about the cultural heritage sites in the community in which they were born and raised. Heritage research outputs, such as books and articles in international journals, cannot be accessed by local people. If they do manage to access these publications, the content is too technical for them to understand the central arguments. Consequently, local people, especially teenagers and young adults, have little awareness of the scientific interpretation of heritage sites and their associated value. The question remains as to what methods could be used to make young people appreciate cultural heritage sites and hence collectively engage in heritage preservation projects. Using Tanzania’s ‘Bongo Flava’ (BF) music as a case study, this paper provides empirical evidence of how music could be used to make people aware of the value of heritage sites in Africa. We report that BF music at Kilwa Kisiwani World Heritage Site in Tanzania is continuing to motivate young people to develop an interest in preserving monuments and to participate in conservation initiatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Musicalizing
• heritagizing
• Kilwa Kisiwani
• community awareness
• public archaeology

Acknowledgments

Funding for Elgididus Ichumbaki’s projects under the umbrella of Urithi Wetu came from different sources and we would wish to acknowledge them in this paper. We appreciate the support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, National Geographic Society, University of Dar es Salaam and Tanzania Media Foundation (TMF). Without the financial resources given by these institutions, producing the song and this paper would not have been possible. Likewise, many people helped us in the process of writing this paper. First are EI’s former students, Steven Mfupe and Rose Marley, who willingly spent their time recording and producing the first song, and we appreciate them for laying the foundation for the production of further songs. Second are the members of the Urithi Wetu project at the University of Dar es Salaam. Dr Thomas Biginagwa, Dr Elinaza Mjema and Dr Noel Lwoga as well as the project students, Neema Munisi, Noel Lasway, Chiku Said, Miza Alex, Hassan Juma, and Antonita Agapiti, participated in producing the song. We appreciate their support. We are grateful to Claudia Lubao’s co-singer, Innocent Omary (Centano), as well as the cameraman, Thobias Mimz, for not charging us for their services. A draft of this paper was presented to the School of Archaeological and Forensic Science, University of Bradford (December 2018) and the seminar series of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar es Salaam (February 2019). Participants in the seminars are particularly appreciated because their comments greatly improved this paper. Last but not least, we would like to thank the Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, for giving us a permit to record the video at a site under their jurisdiction.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. While staying in the community, one of us (EI) participated in daily activities including spiritual practices and initiation ceremonies. For nearly four years, EI’s workstation has been in different locations in the community so as to gain a full understanding of the activities taking place at heritage sites, how they are conducted, by whom and for what purpose.

2. Interview with Abdallah Salum, a bajaji driver in Kilwa Masoko, 1 April 2018.

3. Interview with Shaibu Amanzi Nassoro, a Masoko – Kisiwani – Masoko boat captain, 2 April 2018.

4. This request was made to EI by a boat captain called Haji Abdalla Said while on the way from Kilwa Kisiwani to Kilwa Masoko on 2 April 2018.

5. Interview with Said Bakari, a resident of Kilwa Kisiwani, 8 November 2018.

6. Interview with Mwaipopo, head of programmes at Mashujaa FM Radio, interviewed on 9 November 2018.

7. Public buses travelling long distances in Tanzania have televisions installed in them. During trips the driver and crew show various movies and music videos, in most cases, Tanzanian movies, gospel music and BF music.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation [AZ 10/BE/17];National Geographic Society [HJ-144C-17].