DAKAR, Senegal, Apr 22 (IPS) – Gorée Island, off the coast of Dakar, is a somber reminder of the transatlantic slave commerce. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Website, it embodies each the obligation to recollect and the challenges of passing on a painful previous.
However Gorée isn’t caught in historical past; it is an inhabited island, the place heritage preservation, each day life and up to date points coexist.
Positioned about 3 kilometers off Dakar, the capital metropolis of Senegal, Gorée is a small island, solely reachable by ferry. Its small dimension belies its giant place in historical past, its significance within the transatlantic slave commerce, and its persevering with relevance in preserving reminiscence and heritage for the African diaspora worldwide.
“It is a place of reminiscence, you understand?” says Eloi Coly, the Director and curator of the island’s museum. “You’ll be able to’t discuss in regards to the island with out mentioning the slave commerce and the colonial period, as a result of these two durations left their mark on its historical past,” he provides.
The Maison des Esclaves (The Slave Home) and its museum, which Mr. Coly manages, are the primary vacationer points of interest.
There, the echoes of the previous nonetheless resonate.
On a typical sunny December morning, tons of of vacationers who’re ferried throughout the Atlantic channel from Dakar, throng the forecourt of the Maison des Esclaves, ready to be taken by means of the slim alleys and rooms of the museum alongside the final paths as soon as taken by thousands and thousands of Africans violently seized from their lands and houses and later bought into bondage throughout the ocean.
Martine is a customer and alongside together with her colleagues, she was among the many vacationers ready to be taken round by the guides that morning.
“Each time I’m in Dakar, I be certain to go to,” she tells Africa Renewal. She is likely one of the 500,000 annual guests, a lot of them coming from exterior of the continent.
Nonetheless, in current instances, increasingly vacationers come from inside the African continent. Martine, herself hails from Benin and is a part of the rising variety of guests from inside the continent.
“That is our historical past, and I’ll by no means tire visiting some of the iconic locations on the West African shoreline to remind all of us how tragic that historical past of ours was,” she says.
Iconic, certainly, opines Eloi Coly. But, irrespective of how iconic the island is, Gorée’s reminiscence can’t be diminished to a static museum: “The complete island should stay a dynamic and consistently evolving place.”
An estimated 2,000 individuals stay on the Island, the place automobiles usually are not allowed. Its architectural panorama incorporates constructing types representing totally different colonial occupations and eras from the Portuguese, the French, in addition to the Dutch and English.
For Mr. Coly, managing the location –whereas preserving reminiscence and accommodating its present habitat needs– is a each day problem.
A lot of the lands are public, and as a World Heritage website, Gorée is topic to stringent codes that form its city growth.
“Any change that doesn’t conform to the standards that led to its classification as UNESCO World Heritage website dangers jeopardizing its standing,” he explains.
A stringent strategy that generally conflicts with the wants of residents. “We’re on a dwelling island. Folks have aspirations and we should take them into consideration,” he stresses.
The museum itself nonetheless makes use of conventional live-guided excursions for guests.
So, to reconcile preservation and modernization, a venture to make experiencing the Maison des Esclaves higher, is at present underway.
It seeks to reinforce the museum’s expertise utilizing new applied sciences, “We need to supply excursions in a number of languages and supply entry to digital sources, in order that historical past could be accessed wherever on the earth.”
One other main growth is the historic narrative itself. Exhibitions will cease specializing in the arrival of the Europeans on the continent however somewhat emphasize that “life and cultures earlier than the slave commerce was vibrant and should be informed”, explains Mr. Coly.
UNESCO additionally just lately modified its terminology from “Slave Route” to “Enslaved Folks’s Route”. A change which reaffirms that “Nobody is born a slave”, stresses Coly.
Passing on reminiscence: an academic and common problem
The reminiscence of Gorée wouldn’t endure with out being handed on. That is why schooling performs a central position within the website’s strategy.
“In Senegal, the slave commerce and slavery are built-in into the varsity curricula. Faculties should come to the island as a part of their extramural programs”, explains Mr. Coly. However with the huge inflow of holiday makers – as much as 1,500 pupils a day – there’s an pressing want to prepare these visits extra successfully.
Through the years, visits from distinguished figures have additionally helped reinforce Gorée’s common message. When Pope John Paul II visited the island in 1992, he apologized on behalf of Europe and denounced the clerics who had blessed the slave ships, Coly remembers.
Twenty-one years later, then US President Barack Obama additionally visited the island.
Securing the longer term: Remembrance, Heritage and Survival
Preserving the reminiscence of Gorée, Mr. Coly believes, requires a long-term imaginative and prescient. The island’s inclusion within the Worldwide Coalition of Websites of Conscience has helped safe funding, notably from the Ford Basis, for its revitalization venture. However past the funds, a better problem lies forward: guaranteeing the longer term.
“Reminiscence can solely be preserved whether it is handed on,” says Mr. Coly. “We have to guarantee a continuum as a result of nobody is everlasting.” The purpose is to coach new generations of guides and curators able to perpetuating Gorée’s historical past with accuracy and dedication.
“As a result of Gorée is not only about Senegal, he continued, “It is a heritage that belongs to the entire of humanity. Preserving Gorée means preserving a collective reminiscence, elevating consciousness amongst future generations and guaranteeing that the teachings of the previous are by no means forgotten.”
Supply: Africa Renewal, United Nations
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