The processes of decolonization that took place on the African continent from the second half of the 20th century onwards, in addition to involving the political and economic self-determination of the newly independent states, entailed the ideological and emotional need to create new identities and representations that would symbolize the total and complete liberation of the territories from the former colonial powers. It was, in short, about complementing (and completing) political freedom with a “decolonization of the mind” (Marschall 2008: 347).
Under these premises, a generalized process of removal and destruction of colonial iconography and its replacement by new elements of representation and national vindication took place. Thus, as independence multiplied, statues were removed, streets, cities and even the countries themselves were renamed. However, despite their association with painful memories of the former regime, some colonial infrastructure and artifacts were too valuable a functional asset to be dismantled. They were therefore reappropriated for the purposes of the new political order (Marschall 2008: 351).
Recognition of this (post)colonial heritage is of growing interest today, more than 75 years after the beginning of the process of widespread decolonization in Africa. However, although the issue is beginning to be consciously addressed by the different States, initiatives rarely transcend the sphere of intention (Sinou 2005: 17). This is due, to a large extent, to the fact that there is still a difficulty in recognizing and exalting those objects and buildings that have long represented the exploitation and oppression of a “foreign” power over another territory. The history of the colonists and the material traces of their presence and culture are not, even today, peacefully assumed as an endogenous heritage to be preserved and conserved. More specifically, for some postcolonial citizens, safeguarding this heritage constitutes a form of rehabilitation of colonialism (Sinou 2005: 14-15); a sharp reminder “of the old world order based on superiority and human stratification” (Ben-Hamouche 2020: 58). For this reason, their conservation is seen as unnecessary because they symbolize a reality that is intended to be left behind (Carrilho 2010).
Added to this perception is that of the externality of this legacy, often considered as the heritage of “others”. A belief instilled by the colonial propaganda itself, which insisted in such a way to make it clear to the local communities that what they had built there did not belong to them that, now, the populations continue to believe that these objects belong to other people they do not know (Pwiti and Ndoro 1999: 153).
Within this framework, the question that arises here is how to promote the heritage recognition of those assets whose genealogy is linked to the processes of European colonial occupation in Africa? Given this question, another key question arises: how does African (post)colonial heritage fit into what Laurajane Smith calls the “authoritative heritage discourse” that has been internationalized by world heritage organizations such as UNESCO, ICCROM and ICOMOS? A discourse that, from the idea of the “universal” and the “exceptional”, privileges western standards by focusing on the artistic and the historical, the monumental and the tangible (Smith 2006).
As observed at the Africa Shared Heritage Encounter, in the case of the continent’s built legacy, its artistic and antiquity values take on lesser importance relative to the social and cultural meanings expressed beyond its physical and material presence (Enders 2016: 51). This is due to the intense processes of negotiation and socio-cultural renegotiation involved in the transition from colonialism to independence. These are processes in which, paradoxically, and as Bernard Toulier refers, the former “colonized” populations have been forced to appropriate an “exogenous” culture, that of the “colonizers” (Toulier 2005: 23) and, in doing so, have adapted, transformed and exchanged the semantic content of many of these artifacts in accordance with the evolution of their own sociocultural circumstances (Marschall 2008: 350). This is the case, for example, of the Hotêl de Ville, today Hotêl du District, in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), which, from symbolizing the expansion of French colonial imperialism, changed its meaning when it served as a backdrop for the country’s declaration of independence in 1960 (Herz et al. 2015: 310).
Thus, the identification of (post)colonial cultural heritage on the African continent raises two fundamental questions. First, the need for a global theoretical reflection on heritage discourse in order to broaden the definitions formed in the Western world and to determine the types of values that are projected onto Africa’s cultural heritage or, in other words, the need to “Africanize” the notion of cultural heritage. On the other hand, the convenience of discussing the sense of belonging of this legacy in order to delimit the management and preservation devices most suitable to its specificities. In short, the heritage recognition of those assets whose genealogy is linked to the processes of colonization – that uncomfortable, external and conflictive legacy – involves answering two key questions: what is or what does this heritage mean and to whom does it belong?
Based on this reflection, the present session aims to discuss new approaches to the (post)colonial heritage of Africa. The aim is to reveal decolonial alternatives to the “authoritative heritage discourse” through values and narratives specific to the African socio-cultural context and by focusing on new actors, epistemologies, narratives and phenomenologies. In this framework, papers that question the universal character of heritage and its intrinsic material qualities are particularly welcome, addressing, among others, the following topics:
– New conceptual and methodological approaches to the study of (post)colonial cultural heritage in sub-Saharan Africa, challenging the dominance of Western paradigms in international and local heritage practices and policies.
– The role of (post)colonial cultural heritage for the sustainable and fair development of the African continent, highlighting initiatives and projects aimed at promoting sustainable development through culture and heritage and by involving local communities.
– The renewed meanings of objects, buildings and sites linked to the processes of European colonization on the African continent, highlighting the memories and testimonies forged by local populations and groups and their daily experiences.
– Alternative ways of presenting and preserving African (post)colonial heritage within local communities and cultural institutions, including the recovery of traditional preservation and transmission experiences and the interweaving with contemporary artistic practices.
