Français English À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières ann... more Français English À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières années dans la zone Nzema (sud-ouest du Ghana), qui aboutit en 2010 à l'inauguration du Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History, cet article vise à réfléchir au processus de patrimonialisation de la médecine traditionnelle nzema, qui trouve son expression concrète dans une salle du musée consacrée aux connaissances et aux pratiques thérapeutiques locales. La muséalisation du système médical local a été inspirée par une tradition d'études anthropologiques liées aux recherches de la Mission italienne ethnologique au Ghana (MEIG), présente dans la région depuis 1954 et activement engagée dans la construction du musée avec d’autres partenaires institutionnels ghanéens, les organisations non gouvernementales et des représentants des associations des guérisseurs traditionnels nzema. En raison de la longue permanence sur le terrain des anthropologues italiens et du vaste réseau de relations mises en place entre ces chercheurs et les acteurs locaux, le projet ainsi que la réalisation des installations ont été caractérisés par des pratiques dialogiques et collaboratives, ce qui a permis la valorisation de la médecine traditionnelle comme processus de patrimonialisation partagée. Starting from the valorization of local culture launched over the last few years in the Nzema area (South-western Ghana) — that culminated in 2010 with the inauguration of the Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History —, the paper aims to shed light upon the original heritage-making process of Nzema traditional medicine, which has produced, as its major outcome, an exhibition entirely dedicated to the local medical knowledge and therapeutic practices within the Museum itself. The local medical system has been at the core of a long-lasting tradition of anthropological studies deeply linked to the research carried out by the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana present in the area since 1954 and actively involved in setting up the Apollonia Museum together with other Ghanaian institutional partners, NGOs and representatives of Nzema traditional healers’ associations. The familiarity of Nzemas with Italian anthropologists has constituted a key factor and shaped the whole museum. The valorization of the relations between two different cultures and perspectives took place, especially in the traditional medicine room exhibition, through the enhancement of dialogical and collaborative practices both in the design and in the practical realization of the exhibition, insomuch as the traditional medicine room in Fort Apollonia is an example of a shared heritage-making process.
The article deals with the political and institutional settings that recently led to the identifi... more The article deals with the political and institutional settings that recently led to the identification of chieftaincy archives as a cultural heritage worth to be preserved in Ghana. More in detail, it stresses the synergy that enlivened the valorization practices jointly promoted by anthropologists and chiefs in the framework of a heritage-making process specifically aimed at preserving and digitizing archival records produced by the Traditional Councils of the Nzema area (South-West Ghana), which has been funded by transnational cultural institutions and locally implemented by the Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History. Within the current nzema context, valorizing the Traditional Councils’ records means acquiring unprecedented sources for the history and the ethnography of the area, as well as generating a potential instrument to be used for legitimating/contesting the local historical discourse.
The paper deals with an on-going project aimed at safeguarding audio and visual materials produce... more The paper deals with an on-going project aimed at safeguarding audio and visual materials produced by the scholars of the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana over the last sixty years, as well as making such documents available to a wider public and scientific usage through digital means. The paper draws attention on the roots of such a heritage-making process, tracking back its origin in a basic preservation intervention implemented in the Nineties and in the new scenario set by the creation of an ethnographic museum in the premises of Fort Apollonia, in the Nzema area (South-West Ghana). As a reflexive representation of the long-time relation among Italian anthropologists and the Nzemas was a major stake in the making of museum exhibits, the valorization of the IEMG materials has recently arisen as an undelayable task, becoming part of an overall program of ethnographic restitution. The article offers a comprehensive assessment of the preservation and cataloguing interventions undertaken on the materials over the last twenty years, and closes with some proposals for the fine-tuning of a description system able to drive the layered complexity of the Archive.
Museum, Heritage, and International Development, London, Routledge, pp. 150-169, 2014
The paper explores the complex and dynamic relations characterizing heritage-making and cultural ... more The paper explores the complex and dynamic relations characterizing heritage-making and cultural development processes ongoing in recent years in Ghana, by analysing from an ethnographic perspective the transformation of Fort Apollonia, a coastal stronghold, into the Museum of the Nzema Culture and History. The museum was created thanks to the efforts of the Nzemas (an Akan population of South-West Ghana), Italian anthropologists and a variety of Italian and Ghanaian institutions, ranging from NGOs to Universities and central and local government bodies. These actors commonly carried out a process of reinterpretation and negotiation of the colonial past, in the course of which the Fort itself was re-defined as a space of encounter for Africans and Europeans, after long being an emblem of exploitation and dominion. In this sense, the transformation of Fort Apollonia into a museum can be seen as an example of shared heritage-making, meaning an action of cultural enhancement which does not reinforce identity entrenchment but rather promotes, through a method of constant negotiation, the establishment of relations and the flow of representations and practices between Africa and the West. The protagonists of this process can be defined as passeurs culturels – their ability in recomposing deep-rooted conflicts making them skilled mediators between different European and African representations and symbolic worlds. Placing the emphasis on cultural relations, the notions of shared heritage-making and passeurs culturels can help deepening the dialogue between the sphere of anthropology of development and the most recent studies on cultural heritage and ethnographic museography.
Imagining cultures of cooperation: Universities networking to face the new development challenges. Proceedings of the III CUCS Congress (Turin, 19-21 Sept. 2013), pp. 747-753 , 2014
In the last fifteen years, the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana (IEMG), established in 1956,... more In the last fifteen years, the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana (IEMG), established in 1956, has been supporting cultural cooperation projects aiming to the valorisation of natural and cultural heritage of the Nzema area (South-West Ghana). The long-term relationships between IEMG anthropologists and local actors have led representatives of Ghanaian communities and institutions to ask for a restitution of knowledge gathered throughout the years by researchers. In order to meet these requests, in mid-1990s IEMG opened the way to the international cooperation in the area, and promoted development projects focused on micro-credit. However, the restitution of ethnographic knowledge has mostly been achieved through the cultural cooperation project Fort Apollonia and the Nzemas. Community-based Management of Natural and Cultural Heritage, Western Region (2008-2011). Managed by COSPE NGO (Cooperation for the Development of Emerging Countries) in collaboration with IEMG and many Ghanaian institutional actors, this project culminated in in 2010 in the establishment of a museum-cultural centre. Today, the Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History plays a leading role in the safeguarding and valorisation of local heritage, as it is testified by its recent participation to a project – founded by the British Library and Sapienza University of Rome – concerning the conservation and digitization of archival documents belonging to Nzema traditional authorities. This project is part of a wider program aiming to the establishment of a digital archive including the documents related to Nzema chieftaincy as well as the research materials produced by IEMG scholars, currently being catalogued and digitized at Sapienza University of Rome. This paper will illustrate the main features of the ongoing ethnographic restitution process, focusing on synergetic interactions among anthropologists, local actors and NGOs. Thus, the authors will discuss how an academic Mission, within a specific area, can trigger development processes and then contribute to the shifting of development cooperation into cultural cooperation. Finally, they will point out the results of this multifaceted relation among academia, Ghanaian interlocutors and development operators, in terms of local empowerment.
À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières années dans la zone ... more À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières années dans la zone Nzema (sud-ouest du Ghana), qui aboutit en 2010 à l'inauguration du Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History, cet article vise à réfléchir au processus de patrimonialisation de la médecine traditionnelle nzema, qui trouve son expression concrète dans une salle du musée consacrée aux connaissances et aux pratiques thérapeutiques locales. La muséalisation du système médical local a été inspirée par une tradition d'études anthropologiques liées aux recherches de la Mission italienne ethnologique au Ghana (MEIG), présente dans la région depuis 1954 et activement engagée dans la construction du musée avec d'autres partenaires institutionnels ghanéens, les organisations non gouvernementales et des représentants des associations des guérisseurs traditionnels nzema. En raison de la longue permanence sur le terrain des anthropologues italiens et du vaste réseau de relations mises en place entre ces chercheurs et les acteurs locaux, le projet ainsi que la réalisation des installations ont été caractérisés par des pratiques dialogiques et collaboratives, ce qui a permis la valorisation de la médecine traditionnelle comme processus de patrimonialisation partagée.
Français English À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières ann... more Français English À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières années dans la zone Nzema (sud-ouest du Ghana), qui aboutit en 2010 à l'inauguration du Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History, cet article vise à réfléchir au processus de patrimonialisation de la médecine traditionnelle nzema, qui trouve son expression concrète dans une salle du musée consacrée aux connaissances et aux pratiques thérapeutiques locales. La muséalisation du système médical local a été inspirée par une tradition d'études anthropologiques liées aux recherches de la Mission italienne ethnologique au Ghana (MEIG), présente dans la région depuis 1954 et activement engagée dans la construction du musée avec d’autres partenaires institutionnels ghanéens, les organisations non gouvernementales et des représentants des associations des guérisseurs traditionnels nzema. En raison de la longue permanence sur le terrain des anthropologues italiens et du vaste réseau de relations mises en place entre ces chercheurs et les acteurs locaux, le projet ainsi que la réalisation des installations ont été caractérisés par des pratiques dialogiques et collaboratives, ce qui a permis la valorisation de la médecine traditionnelle comme processus de patrimonialisation partagée. Starting from the valorization of local culture launched over the last few years in the Nzema area (South-western Ghana) — that culminated in 2010 with the inauguration of the Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History —, the paper aims to shed light upon the original heritage-making process of Nzema traditional medicine, which has produced, as its major outcome, an exhibition entirely dedicated to the local medical knowledge and therapeutic practices within the Museum itself. The local medical system has been at the core of a long-lasting tradition of anthropological studies deeply linked to the research carried out by the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana present in the area since 1954 and actively involved in setting up the Apollonia Museum together with other Ghanaian institutional partners, NGOs and representatives of Nzema traditional healers’ associations. The familiarity of Nzemas with Italian anthropologists has constituted a key factor and shaped the whole museum. The valorization of the relations between two different cultures and perspectives took place, especially in the traditional medicine room exhibition, through the enhancement of dialogical and collaborative practices both in the design and in the practical realization of the exhibition, insomuch as the traditional medicine room in Fort Apollonia is an example of a shared heritage-making process.
The article deals with the political and institutional settings that recently led to the identifi... more The article deals with the political and institutional settings that recently led to the identification of chieftaincy archives as a cultural heritage worth to be preserved in Ghana. More in detail, it stresses the synergy that enlivened the valorization practices jointly promoted by anthropologists and chiefs in the framework of a heritage-making process specifically aimed at preserving and digitizing archival records produced by the Traditional Councils of the Nzema area (South-West Ghana), which has been funded by transnational cultural institutions and locally implemented by the Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History. Within the current nzema context, valorizing the Traditional Councils’ records means acquiring unprecedented sources for the history and the ethnography of the area, as well as generating a potential instrument to be used for legitimating/contesting the local historical discourse.
The paper deals with an on-going project aimed at safeguarding audio and visual materials produce... more The paper deals with an on-going project aimed at safeguarding audio and visual materials produced by the scholars of the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana over the last sixty years, as well as making such documents available to a wider public and scientific usage through digital means. The paper draws attention on the roots of such a heritage-making process, tracking back its origin in a basic preservation intervention implemented in the Nineties and in the new scenario set by the creation of an ethnographic museum in the premises of Fort Apollonia, in the Nzema area (South-West Ghana). As a reflexive representation of the long-time relation among Italian anthropologists and the Nzemas was a major stake in the making of museum exhibits, the valorization of the IEMG materials has recently arisen as an undelayable task, becoming part of an overall program of ethnographic restitution. The article offers a comprehensive assessment of the preservation and cataloguing interventions undertaken on the materials over the last twenty years, and closes with some proposals for the fine-tuning of a description system able to drive the layered complexity of the Archive.
Museum, Heritage, and International Development, London, Routledge, pp. 150-169, 2014
The paper explores the complex and dynamic relations characterizing heritage-making and cultural ... more The paper explores the complex and dynamic relations characterizing heritage-making and cultural development processes ongoing in recent years in Ghana, by analysing from an ethnographic perspective the transformation of Fort Apollonia, a coastal stronghold, into the Museum of the Nzema Culture and History. The museum was created thanks to the efforts of the Nzemas (an Akan population of South-West Ghana), Italian anthropologists and a variety of Italian and Ghanaian institutions, ranging from NGOs to Universities and central and local government bodies. These actors commonly carried out a process of reinterpretation and negotiation of the colonial past, in the course of which the Fort itself was re-defined as a space of encounter for Africans and Europeans, after long being an emblem of exploitation and dominion. In this sense, the transformation of Fort Apollonia into a museum can be seen as an example of shared heritage-making, meaning an action of cultural enhancement which does not reinforce identity entrenchment but rather promotes, through a method of constant negotiation, the establishment of relations and the flow of representations and practices between Africa and the West. The protagonists of this process can be defined as passeurs culturels – their ability in recomposing deep-rooted conflicts making them skilled mediators between different European and African representations and symbolic worlds. Placing the emphasis on cultural relations, the notions of shared heritage-making and passeurs culturels can help deepening the dialogue between the sphere of anthropology of development and the most recent studies on cultural heritage and ethnographic museography.
Imagining cultures of cooperation: Universities networking to face the new development challenges. Proceedings of the III CUCS Congress (Turin, 19-21 Sept. 2013), pp. 747-753 , 2014
In the last fifteen years, the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana (IEMG), established in 1956,... more In the last fifteen years, the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana (IEMG), established in 1956, has been supporting cultural cooperation projects aiming to the valorisation of natural and cultural heritage of the Nzema area (South-West Ghana). The long-term relationships between IEMG anthropologists and local actors have led representatives of Ghanaian communities and institutions to ask for a restitution of knowledge gathered throughout the years by researchers. In order to meet these requests, in mid-1990s IEMG opened the way to the international cooperation in the area, and promoted development projects focused on micro-credit. However, the restitution of ethnographic knowledge has mostly been achieved through the cultural cooperation project Fort Apollonia and the Nzemas. Community-based Management of Natural and Cultural Heritage, Western Region (2008-2011). Managed by COSPE NGO (Cooperation for the Development of Emerging Countries) in collaboration with IEMG and many Ghanaian institutional actors, this project culminated in in 2010 in the establishment of a museum-cultural centre. Today, the Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History plays a leading role in the safeguarding and valorisation of local heritage, as it is testified by its recent participation to a project – founded by the British Library and Sapienza University of Rome – concerning the conservation and digitization of archival documents belonging to Nzema traditional authorities. This project is part of a wider program aiming to the establishment of a digital archive including the documents related to Nzema chieftaincy as well as the research materials produced by IEMG scholars, currently being catalogued and digitized at Sapienza University of Rome. This paper will illustrate the main features of the ongoing ethnographic restitution process, focusing on synergetic interactions among anthropologists, local actors and NGOs. Thus, the authors will discuss how an academic Mission, within a specific area, can trigger development processes and then contribute to the shifting of development cooperation into cultural cooperation. Finally, they will point out the results of this multifaceted relation among academia, Ghanaian interlocutors and development operators, in terms of local empowerment.
À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières années dans la zone ... more À partir de la valorisation de la culture locale mise en place ces dernières années dans la zone Nzema (sud-ouest du Ghana), qui aboutit en 2010 à l'inauguration du Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History, cet article vise à réfléchir au processus de patrimonialisation de la médecine traditionnelle nzema, qui trouve son expression concrète dans une salle du musée consacrée aux connaissances et aux pratiques thérapeutiques locales. La muséalisation du système médical local a été inspirée par une tradition d'études anthropologiques liées aux recherches de la Mission italienne ethnologique au Ghana (MEIG), présente dans la région depuis 1954 et activement engagée dans la construction du musée avec d'autres partenaires institutionnels ghanéens, les organisations non gouvernementales et des représentants des associations des guérisseurs traditionnels nzema. En raison de la longue permanence sur le terrain des anthropologues italiens et du vaste réseau de relations mises en place entre ces chercheurs et les acteurs locaux, le projet ainsi que la réalisation des installations ont été caractérisés par des pratiques dialogiques et collaboratives, ce qui a permis la valorisation de la médecine traditionnelle comme processus de patrimonialisation partagée.
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This paper will illustrate the main features of the ongoing ethnographic restitution process, focusing on synergetic interactions among anthropologists, local actors and NGOs. Thus, the authors will discuss how an academic Mission, within a specific area, can trigger development processes and then contribute to the shifting of development cooperation into cultural cooperation. Finally, they will point out the results of this multifaceted relation among academia, Ghanaian interlocutors and development operators, in terms of local empowerment.
This paper will illustrate the main features of the ongoing ethnographic restitution process, focusing on synergetic interactions among anthropologists, local actors and NGOs. Thus, the authors will discuss how an academic Mission, within a specific area, can trigger development processes and then contribute to the shifting of development cooperation into cultural cooperation. Finally, they will point out the results of this multifaceted relation among academia, Ghanaian interlocutors and development operators, in terms of local empowerment.