Heritage and Peacebuilding by Diana Walters Daniel Laven Peter Davis

Author:Diana Walters, Daniel Laven, Peter Davis [Diana Walters, Daniel Laven, Peter Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, World History, Reference & Language, Reference, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
ISBN: 9781782049968
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Published: 2017-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

11

Transforming Conflict Through Peace Cultures

TIMOTHY GACHANGA

Cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, is an invaluable resource that can be mobilised as assets for ‘livelihoods, democratization, truth telling, peacebuilding, nationhood and identity’ (Hughes 2011). Throughout the colonial and post-colonial era in Kenya communities have continued to use heritage for peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Nonetheless, this heritage continues to suffer from a lack of acceptance by the majority of the Kenyan population, especially the educated and those who have embraced modern faiths. This has contributed to suppression, erasure and a loss of peace heritage. Globalisation has not spared this heritage either. It has led to a rising demand for land, iron ore and wood for fuel, construction and carving materials. As a consequence, many sacred sites have been sold or turned into commercial sites, hence denying the rest of the community an opportunity to benefit from this heritage. However, there is a renaissance aimed at reclaiming and preserving this heritage in Kenya and community peace museums are among the organisations spearheading this initiative. The museums aim to give exposure to African peace heritage and to facilitate community access to this heritage and its management.

This chapter looks at the development of community peace museums in Kenya. First, the development of the peace museums is outlined. Then the peace museums’ definition of peace is discussed and how the museums make this abstract philosophical concept materialise into a tangible peace museum is described. This is followed by an illustration of how the peace museums use this heritage in conflict transformation. A discussion of how this heritage is being eroded and suppressed follows. The chapter concludes by looking at hopes and promises in heritage management in Kenya.

COMMUNITY PEACE MUSEUMS, KENYA

Community peace museums are a recent phenomenon in Kenya. They are privately funded and were initiated in the mid-1990s by Kenyan ethnographer Dr Sultan Somjee as a material culture project sponsored by the Mennonite Central Committee of Kenya.1 There are two main objectives of the community peace museums. These are to give exposure to African peace heritage and to facilitate community access to resources and management of traditional peace materials.2 The museums have become important repositories of knowledge on peace cultures in Kenya.

MUSEUMS’ DEFINITON OF PEACE

The peace museums’ definition of peace is well captured by Somjee (2010). He defines peace in terms of a Swahili word utu,3 which stands for a set of humanistic values that are ingrained in the fabric of oral traditions and material culture. It is also read in peace symbols in nature, such as peace trees and animals such as the tortoise, and cultural objects and artefacts.

To make this abstract philosophical concept of utu into a tangible peace museum, community peace museums collect, research, document and display material culture, environmental symbols and oral histories that are closely connected with peace cultures. There are hundreds of artefacts and environmental symbols from local communities on display at peace museums.4 These objects and environmental symbols are embedded with peace narratives that the museums aim to preserve and use for conflict transformation.

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