South Africa marks the 2015 Heritage Month under the theme “Our indigenous knowledge, our heritage: Towards the identification, promotion and preservation of South African’s living heritage.”
Heritage Day will be celebrated nationally on 24 September 2015 in Vleifontein, Makhado, Limpopo Province.
The aim of this year’s celebrations is to create awareness through educational programmes, dialogues, and other public activities on the importance of collective heritage as a vehicle to foster social cohesion, nation building, economic development and inclusive citizenship.
The pinnacle of the Heritage Month celebrations will be the hosting of various commemorative events and cultural fairs in various parts of the country.
The theme reminds and reconnects the nation with its rich and diverse collective heritage which is tangible and intangible heritage. The tangible heritage is both what one can see and touch for example the commemorative structures. The tangible heritage infrastructure can be observed and celebrated through heritage sites which some form part of our liberation heritage.
The intangible or living heritage includes but not limited to cultural expressions and tradition, oral history, performance, ritual and social relationships. The tangible and intangible heritage of the South African landscape is an expression of the collective history of the South African nation.
Diverse communities in South Africa will be encouraged on this month to use aspects of their collective heritage as a focal point to promote and embrace cultural diversity and unity.
Heritage Day on 24 September recognises and celebrates the cultural wealth of our nation. South Africans celebrate the day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Various events are staged throughout the country to commemorate this day.
Living heritage is the foundation of all communities and an essential source of identity and continuity. Aspects of living heritage include: cultural tradition, oral history, performance, ritual, popular memory, skills and techniques, indigenous knowledge system and the holistic approach to nature, society and social relationships. In South Africa the term “intangible cultural heritage” is used interchangeably with the term “living heritage”.
Living heritage plays an important role in promoting cultural diversity, social cohesion, reconciliation, peace and economic development.
In every community there are living human treasures who possess a high degree of knowledge, skills and history pertaining to different aspects of diverse living heritage. It is therefore important for South Africans to reclaim, restore and preserve these various aspects of living heritage to accelerate the use of living heritage to address challenges communities are facing today.
The Department of Arts and Culture developed a draft policy on the South African living heritage.
This policy, once adopted, will set the tone for the South African Agenda and highlight the following roles: safeguarding living heritage as a valuable resource for future generations and
Heritage Day is a public holiday in South Africa.
– By DAC
