The Ethnic Days Programme was conceived to address the key problem of ethnicity which many African countries are now experiencing. The aim of the programme is to maintain unity among many ethnic groups in a given country. Tanzania, for instance, has more than 120 ethnic groups. This large number of ethnic groups is a hotbed for potential conflict between groups with different cultural values.

When groups do not understand each other it often erupts in violent conflicts (e.g. wars), which can lead to the destruction of human life, cultural and natural heritage. In such unstable countries even heritage management programmes are often doomed to failure. I concede that poverty levels have been singled out as a major factor in illicit trafficking of a people's cultural and natural heritage. But I maintain that a properly informed public is capable of resisting the wholesale looting of the African cultural and natural heritage. As such, the Ethnic Days Programme, held at the Village Museum, is geared towards heightening awareness and involving the public in the management of their cultural heritage.

First, I would like to emphasize that in Africa ethnicity is a sensitive subject, especially among bureaucrats and politicians. Some people in power don't wish to discuss it at all. I''m not certain whether this polarized attitude of people in power towards ethnicity is fuelled by a genuine or just an imaginary fear. Whatever the reason, it has lead to ethnicity being deliberately suppressed on the pretext of consolidating unity. Attempts at open debate are systematically stifled. Ironically, ordinary people talk quite freely about ethnicity to whom it's not a big issue at all. They recognize and acknowledge the existence of "tribes".

Research findings have shown that unity cannot be forced upon a people. Instead, unity can be maintained among different ethnic groups by openly discussing the subject of ethnicity. One way is to provide a forum where one's culture can be presented to others without undue restrictions. This is the essence of the programme of ethnic days that was started in July 1994 at the Village Museum, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Since the inception of this programme three ethnic groups of the Wagogo, Wazaramo and Wangoni tribes have had the opportunity to present their cultures at the museum. On such occasions dances and ritual performances are documented on video - a technology that helps contextualize exhibits. In addition, deliberate efforts have been made to win over and actively involve leading politicians so as to garner public support for this programme.
At present, contributions from the public make up about 75 % of the programme's total budget.

The initial museological question the programme set out to solve was to increase the small number of Africans who visit the museum. A study of this problem revealed that potential visitors to the Museum were not satisfied with the conventional static exhibits of traditional houses and objects. These people were looking for a more lively atmosphere, especially performances of traditional dances.

Indeed, traditional dances not only entertain, but also contextualize the exhibits. The message conveyed by the songs and mood of the performers invariably strike a chord with an audience. Something, unfortunately, that the bare museum exhibits, on their own, cannot give.

This is because an African dance is the established method of communication.
Through dance one can comment on anything relevant to the community. Dance can be properly understood within the broader term of 'performance'. The basic ingredients of any performance are: a troupe of performers, an audience, people's body movements and props. It may be meant simply as entertainment or as a ritual. To contextualize what actually happens in a perfor-mance or dance requires modern techniques of video recording. Conventional methods of documentation, such as photographs and tape recordings are inadequate to log all the facets that make up a performance. A record of the event on video is not only fast and compact, it also registers the sounds, people's moods, emotion and body movement, the language and how the different museum objects function. Likewise, video recordings can be readily retrieved.

Which brings us to the subject of ritual documentation. One can partly fathom what happens in a ritual on the basis of orally communicated traditions or from the accounts of anthropologists who witnessed them. But, because of the large number of performers involved in a ritual, there are bound to be some individual actions that don't feature in a narrative account. In addition, African rituals are usually 'off limits' to outsiders. It is forbidden to talk about rituals in public except among the initiates. There is a sense of individual responsibility not to divulge information about a ritual. This is one of the main reasons why few anthropologists have managed to participate in a ritual and deliver a first hand account. But, even when one participates in a ritual there are many things one can inadvertently miss due to the large number of performers involved.

As part of the Ethnic Days programme at the Village Museum we have been lucky enough to have record a few informative rituals. These have been recreated, performed and commented upon by the audience. Ritual performances, thus far, have been performed by the Bagamoyo College of Arts and also by old men the museum engaged to rebuild traditional houses and to exhibit objects in these houses. Establishing a new site for a house is often preceded by libation. Spirits of ancestors are often invoked because through them the house and its occupants are protected.

From the foregoing it is possible, in a public performance, to document cultural aspects, something which is impossible under normal conditions. A group performance tends to conceal and protect individuals from being ostracized by the rest of the community. Hence, in Africa's fast-changing social and economic climate, video documentation is an ideal way to permanently catalogue a people's heritage. With the peace of mind that gives the indigenous population will be able to handle change more confidently. The objects involved are fast being looted, and songs and rituals are fast disappearing due to the adoption of new extraneous lifestyles.

Dr. Paul Msemwa
Village Museum
Bagamoyo Road
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania

Tel.: 225 051 72850 Fax: 225 051 112752