WHILE Namibia has a treasure chest of natural and cultural heritage, its ‘ugly history’ needs to be honestly addressed for Namibians to celebrate in a unified heritage.
This was the opinion of Namibian ambassador to France, Albertus Aochamub, who spoke to The Namibian recently regarding World Heritage Treasures Day commemorated annually on 11 January.
“Regarding the issue of dealing with the artifacts that represent an ugly part of Namibian history, the government’s position is clear. We must find a way as a country to deal with that ugly past, while also acknowledging and respecting the pain and suffering of those affected by it. One approach may be to remove these artifacts and confine them to museums with appropriate descriptions of their context in Namibian history. This is a complex and emotive issue that cannot be ignored, and it is important to ensure that future generations understand the pain and suffering of their predecessors,” he said.
Aochamub is also a permanent delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and serves on the executive board of Unesco. He also represents southern Africa on the board of the African World Heritage Fund, a South Africa-based Unesco centre focused on increasing the listing of African heritage sites on the World Heritage Register.
Aochamub said globally, heritage is defined as intangible cultural heritage and tangible natural heritage.
Intangible cultural heritage refers to the facets of life as a human being in a social context, such as food, music, worship, and burial customs. These elements are listed on the Unesco World Intangible Cultural Heritage Register.
On the other hand, tangible natural heritage refers to sites that hold universal and unique cultural value for a country, region, or group of countries.
Genory Cloete, the education and outreach officer of the National Heritage Council of Namibia, emphasised the importance of heritage resources to any country, as they express the objects, places and traditions, and human history that one generation passes on to the next, providing a sense of identity.
“These objects, places, and monuments tell a story not only of national identity but also remind us where we belong,” she noted.
According to the council, heritage significance criteria include historical, social, aesthetic and scientific significance.
Historical significance refers to the age or relationship to the historical era, person or event. Social significance refers to the social, spiritual and other community-oriented values attributed to a place. Aesthetic significance refers to the special sense of importance of a place due to its architecture, scale or designs. Scientific significance refers to the scope or possibility of scientific findings from a site, monument or place.
Cloete said all places and objects the council declares are afforded a national heritage status. The most prominent sites in Namibia include the Twyfelfontein World Heritage Site, the Namib Sand Sea World Heritage Site, Brandberg Mountain National Heritage Site, Christus Kirche in Windhoek and the Hoba meteorite.
“Although Namibians celebrate Namibian Heritage Week annually during the second week of September, days such as Heritage Treasures Day provide an opportunity for people to celebrate and share the beauty of Namibia’s diverse cultures, fostering pride and ownership in the process,” she noted.