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Nov/Dec 2004 |
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Keep updated on Matters of Conscience: Become a Member of the Coalition!
Beginning 2005, Matters of Conscience will be changing to a subscription-based service, available at no extra cost to all Members. Don't miss an issue! In order to continue to receive Matters of Conscience and other great benefits, visit www.sitesofconscience.org/eng/about.htm and become a Coalition Member!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!
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CONTENTS:
Exchanging Sites of Conscience Practices: Professional Exchanges and Consultations Launched
Saving Tuol Sleng: Renovations Halted
Slavery, Precedents, and Presidents in the 1790s: Independence National Historical Park
Tourism Minister Declares The Workhouse "Visitor Attraction of the Year"
District Six Museum: A Decade in the Making
West Africa Peace Museum, Freetown, Sierra Leone
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Exchanging Sites of Conscience Practices: Professional Exchanges and Consultations Launched
How can historic sites and museums collectively use their strengths, tackle their weaknesses, and continuously learn from one another in order to serve as effective sites of conscience? With funding received from the Open Society Institute and the Ford Foundation, the Coalition has now embarked upon its first in a series of staff exchanges and consultations among Accredited Member sites. Earlier this year, the Coalition Steering Committee elected to encourage activities and projects which involve equal exchange between sites on common problems. These exchanges allow sites to build their capacity to foster effective dialogue and draw connections between past and present, to gain consultation in areas where they require specific professional expertise, and to strengthen the network overall.
The 2004-2005 exchanges will involve collaborations of at least one week on-site consultations by staff from another Accredited Site of Conscience, or travel to other accredited sites to observe programs and consult with staff.
The following sites participating in this year's exchanges include District Six Museum (South Africa); Liberation War Museum (Bangladesh); Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (US); Memoria Abierta (Argentina); Lower East Side Tenement Museum (US); National Park Service (NPS) Northeast Region(US); and The Workhouse(England).
Researchers Bonita Bennett and Chrischené Julius from the District Six Museum recently completed their week-long exchange to Atlanta, GA, where they worked with staff from the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site to deepen their knowledge of planning, managing and conserving the memory of a cultural heritage precinct which also functions as a residential district. The importance of forming alliances with different community entities and structures to ensure coherent strategy was underscored through meetings with groups and individuals such as the Historic District Development Cooperation, the 1906 Atlanta Race Riots Coalition, as well as REPOhistory and former residents of Buttermilk Bottom, a once-thriving African-American neighbourhood that was displaced to make way for civic development and municipal infrastructure projects in the 1960s.
For their part, District Six Museum staff shared their rich experience with public arts, memorials, and heritage trail programs, which provided staff from Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site with a preview of possibilities for creatively developing meaningful exhibitions and activities for their site and for the upcoming centennial of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riots.
The District Six visit to Atlanta marked the first part of their professional exchange, which will continue in 2004 when staff from Atlanta will visit Cape Town. Read more about the District Six Museum visit to Atlanta in the Atlanta Journal Constitution at
http://www.ajc.com/wednesday/content/epaper/editions/wednesday/atlanta_world_146b26ba809032610062.html
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Saving Tuol Sleng: Renovations Halted
In November 2004, renovations to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum were stopped by order of the Cambodian Ministry of Arts and Culture after facing heavy criticism that the repainting and refurbishing of the former school-turned-Khmer Rouge prison and torture centre only "sanitised" the historical site in the interests of making the museum more tourist-friendly. Although there are annual regular renovations at Tuol Sleng (also known as S-21), roughly 90 per cent of the interior and 10 per cent of the exterior painting of the building has been complete, despite the Museum's previous request for preservation analysis by conservation experts.
It is estimated that Khmer Rouge cadres tortured and condemned an estimated 17,000 people to death at this former interrogation centre. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum plans to develop beyond a memorial site into an educational museum in the future, but presently offers a photo archive on http://www.dccam.org/photo/index.htm as a stark reminder of the individual perpetrators, their families and the legacy of genocide which still remains with Cambodian families.
Slavery, Precedents, and Presidents in the 1790s: Independence National Historical Park
How can ordinary citizens participate in shaping a site of conscience? During their terms in office in Philadelphia, US, former American presidents George Washington and John Adams occupied a mansion now known as the President's House. This mansion also housed African slaves who served in the mansion at the time of Washington's presidency, and is the centre of great debate between scholars, activists and community leaders on the future of the site. Sponsored by the National Park Service Northeast Region's Civic Engagement Program,
a public forum was recently held with scholars, activist, community leaders and the public to review fundamental concerns, such as how to honour and interpret the co-existence of slavery and freedom in early America through specific stories of the two presidents, the enslaved people held on the sites by the Washingtons and the impact of urban Philadelphia on the lives of all residents of the house.
For a list of the program and transcripts of the meeting, visit http://www.nps.gov/inde/NPS/103004.htm.
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Tourism Minister Declares The Workhouse "Visitor Attraction of the Year"
The National Trust property, The Workhouse, an 1824 building dedicated to dedicated interpreting the history of 19th century poverty in Britain, recently beat out stiff competition from visitor attractions throughout the East Midlands area of England to be named "Visitor Attraction of the Year" f or a site hosting under 100,000 visitors at the East Midlands Tourism Excellence in England Awards.
In July 1997, the National Trust rescued this derelict building from being converted into luxury flats. Three years later, The Workhouse opened as a visitor attraction and educational resource, allowing visitors to glimpse into the lives of the 19th and 20th century poor and connect their stories with today's reality of poverty. As a popular tourist destination to over 100,000 visitors and 10,000 school pupils from across the nation, the site continues to inject money into the local economy through increased visitor spending and has stimulated much community involvement. To find out more about The Workhouse's latest activities and programs, visit their website.
District Six Museum: A Decade in the Making
On December 10, 2004, the District Six Museum celebrated the 10th anniversary of its exhibition Streets with reunion, music, tea and special displays. The Museum was established to memorialise the forced removal of an entire Cape Town neighbourhood to make way for a whites-only area. However, it did not open in its permanent space at the Methodist Church until the wildly successful Streets exhibit in 1994, when ex-residents insisted it be kept running in the church, and managed to do so with the assistance of numerous volunteers. Now having attracted many supporters and prestigious awards such as the Prince Claus Award, the Khula Arts Awards for Community Development, and the South African Institute of Architects Award, the District Six Museum has recently received a grant to expand the museum space into a neighbouring building on Buitenkant Street. We congratulate the District Six Museum and wish them continued success in the years to come.
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West Africa Peace Museum, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Declared one of Sierra Leone's National Monuments, the old Fourah Bay College building in Cline Town, Freetown was erected in 1845 to house what was the first university established in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, the four-storey building remains an important symbol for the nation and the wider region: situated on the grounds of a slave factory and partially constructed from the timber of condemned slave ships, the building was occupied by the college until 1939, when it was requisitioned by the British military and later housed various state transportation offices. During the 1991-2002 civil war, it was used as an asylum for internally displaced people, but was set on fire in the aftermath of the rebel invasion of Freetown in January 1999.
Although this dilapidated structure is presently occupied by squatters, a proposal is being developed suggesting the skeletal remains of this edifice be restored and converted into a museum complete with exhibition and performance rooms, archival and media resources, a study centre and modern visitor facilities dedicated to sustained peace building in West Africa, and a living monument to all those affected by conflict in the region. Plans for the site also identify the establishment of community outreach projects to both collect and to disseminate information relating to history, causes and resolution of warfare in West Africa. This could include an ongoing oral history project, touring exhibitions, and using theatre groups and other media to engage communities, all of which are significant platforms for civic dialogue on themes of conflict and conflict resolution, including principles of good governance and responsible citizenship.
The West Africa Peace Museum project builds on the continued implementation of several existing initiatives. For more information on this proposal, please contact Dr. Paul Basu at P.Basu@sussex.ac.uk .
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