The Platform was officially launched at the Cape Town Castle on 12 November. We had excellent attendance, the Bow Heritage Agents created beautiful music and Sello Hatang spoke eloquently of the crisis in the sector. We received strong messages of support from across South Africa and as far afield as India, Papua New Guinea and Panama. People commented that the Archival Platform has, indeed, brought back to the sector some of the democratic excitement of the 1990s.

This month, as we start to celebrate the 16 days of activism against gender violence, Heike Becker continues the discussion about cultural practices and human rights.

Now that we are six shopping weeks away from the January sales, the excitement about 2010 and what it means for the heritage sector is mounting – or is it? What are we actually doing about heritage tourism opportunities in 2010, asks Elizabeth Ouma in her blog.

In 2010 we will not only have a world cup, but – hopefully – a national digitisation policy. What are we doing about this? The process takes place against a backdrop of some concern about camera use in South African archives and digital copyright. We speak to those issues in our blog, “Feeling the pulse of the sector”.

In celebration of 2010, we will be offering students and young professionals prizes of R1 000 for the best blog or meeting report for the Platform, and book prizes for the best book review posted on the Platform. Submissions received up to 15 February 2010 will be posted on the website and the winners will be announced at the end of February.

Dr Harriet Deacon
Director, Archival Platform
Email: director@archivalplatform.org

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Sign up for heritage sector census

Khensani Heritage Consulting has been commissioned by the Department of Arts and Culture to conduct a head count of heritage professionals in South Africa. They’re asking for your help in completing the census form by 16 November 2009.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/census_heritage_sector/

Can we alter the world’s image of Africa?

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been reported as saying that the 2010 FIFA World Cup has “great power” to “present a different story of the African continent, a story of peace, democracy and investment”. But there is also the opposite concern – that the event could intensify the story of Africa as a violent and repressive zone.

However, Guy Berger, Head of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, argues that “living in this part of the world reveals that things are much more complex beneath these two caricatures”.

Read the rest of his column online here.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/shedding_african_stereotypes/

Namibia opens apartheid museum

Namibia’s Walvis Bay municipality has started setting up a Contract Labour and Apartheid Museum that aims to preserve the history of the contract labour system.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/museum_apartheid_history_namibia/

Education in Africa tops new Unesco head’s priority list

On 15 October 2009, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Conference General elected Bulgarian Irina Bokova as the new Director-General of the organisation. Bokova is the first woman and the first representative of Eastern Europe to hold the post. The incoming Director-General reaffirmed Unesco’s commitment to Africa and gender as priorities, emphasising education in both areas.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/unesco_director_general/

Western Cape on the lookout for top cultural contributors

The Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport is looking to recognise outstanding achievements and contributions in the areas of language, library, museum, heritage and archive. The awards are open to any individual, organisation or group whose efforts have made a difference to communities in the Western Cape.

Nominations close on Friday, 20 November 2009.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/western_cape_arts_culture_awards/

Nominate heritage professionals to built environment council

Nominations have been invited for people – this should also include heritage practitioners – to be appointed to serve as members of the Council for the Built Environment.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/built_environment_invitation/

Join the 16 Days of Activism against abuse

Join the campaign against violence against women, which runs from 25 November to 10 December 2009, by wearing a white ribbon to show your support.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/16_days_of_activism/

First-ever African royalty institute opens in Johannesburg

The Institute of African Royalty was launched on 3 November 2009 at the University of Johannesburg’s School of Tourism. The institute, a first of its kind, was established to play a central role in governance, traditional affairs and development in the African continent.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/institute_african_royalty/

Robben Island at risk

World Heritage Site Robben Island is reportedly under threat from thousands of feral rabbits, which are devastating local wildlife and undermining historic buildings. Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has called for urgent action and a meeting with Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana to discuss how to halt the decline of the popular tourist attraction.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/concern_robben_island/

Celebrating the life and times of Nelson Mandela

The Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthata has opened an exhibition that will form the centrepiece of the museum’s celebration of the life and times of the former South African president and Nobel Peace laureate.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/new_exhibition_mandela/

Protection of Information Bill may be problematic for memory work

The Nelson Mandela Foundation and South African History Archive have expressed concerns about the Protection of Information Bill. Though the institutions acknowledge that the Bill is a well-considered, well-crafted document, they have raised concerns about its implications for memory work.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/concerns_about_protection/

Nigeria threatens international legal action

Nigeria’s Edo State government has threatened to take countries like the US, Britain and others to the International Court of Justice at The Hague if they refuse to return relics stolen from the state since 1897.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/nigeria_warns_britain/

Memory of the World inscriptions promote international heritage

Unesco is inviting nomination proposals for inscription on its Memory of the World International Register, a list of library collections and archive holdings of global significance that was established in 1997 to promote documentary heritage of universal value.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/memory_world_int_register/

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Iziko advertising for CEO

Iziko Museums of Cape Town is looking to appoint a chief executive officer to take office in April 2010. The closing date for applications is 7 December 2009.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/job_iziko_director-designate/

Intercultural dialogue and conflict resolution research fellowships

The Unesco/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowship Programme offers co-sponsored research fellowships for work that focuses on intercultural dialogue, conflict resolution, information and communication technologies, and the environment.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/conflict_resolution/

Residential fellowships on power and place

The Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Texas in Austin, in the US, welcomes applicants at all levels for residential fellowships for 2010-11. The theme for the year will be “power and place”.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/university_of_texas_fellowships/

Nordic World Heritage Foundation internship on offer

The African World Heritage Fund, in collaboration with the Nordic World Heritage Foundation and support of Fredskorpset, is offering a one-year internship position at the Nordic World Heritage Foundation in Oslo, Norway, beginning in May 2010.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/internship_awhf/

Content call for Archives News

The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa’s outreach and publications section is calling for articles for publication in its quarterly publication, Archives News.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/narsa_quarterly_publication/

Arts project funding on offer

ArtAction, a foundation established by Singapore-based investment group Orient Global, accepts applications to support arts projects in developing countries in the following sectors: health, education, social harmony, designs for life, urban regeneration and freedom to create.

www.archivalplatform.org/news/entry/artaction_funding/

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Bridging Two Oceans: Slavery in Indian and Atlantic Worlds
19-22 November 2009
Cape Town

This international conference, organised by the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull, will take place at the Iziko Slave Lodge in Cape Town. The conference is open to the public.

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/bridging_two_oceans/

Managing Public Records: Towards Protecting our Memory and Heritage
25-26 November 2009
White River, Mpumalanga

This conference aims to talk about records management policy and implementation, conscientising stakeholders about the importance of archives and records management, and different methods of records keeping. It will also examine sharing best practices on records management and discuss the status of records keeping and records managers in South Africa.

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/managing_public_records/

Icom-SA Annual General Meeting and Ethics Workshop
27 November 2009
Johannesburg

The International Council of Museums South Africa’s Annual General Meeting and Ethics Workshop will be held at the University of the Witwatersrand on Friday 27 November 2009. Members and non-members are welcome.

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/icom-sa_agm_ethics_workshop/

Application for travel grants: Icom Conference 2010
7-12 November 2010
Shanghai, China

Applications for travel grants are now open to members from developing countries who wish to participate in the 22nd International Council of Museums General Conference in Shanghai next year.

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/icom_travel_grants/

Call for papers: Tuning in to African Cities
6-8 May 2010
Birmingham, UK
Deadline for abstracts: 1 February 2010

Applications are invited to contribute to a conference that will focus on popular culture in contemporary urban Africa. The central questions for the conference include: how do music and broadcasting media, in their material, embodied and symbolic forms, participate in the constitution of African urban experience? How do urban public spaces and infrastructure in Africa generate specific kinds of practices, discourses and expressions in urban popular culture?

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/tuning_in_to_african_cities/

Call for papers: Representations/Re-presentations – Changing Cultural Landscapes
8-9 April 2010
Grenoble, France
Deadline for abstracts: 15 January 2010

The conference will broach the question of representation, applied notably to the domain of rewriting. The need to revisit and re-present the cultural landscapes of the past in order to rediscover their creative potential is undoubtedly one of the major characteristics of the postmodern period. This “crisis of representation” will be considered in three of its multiple expressions – theatrical, post-colonial and new gothic.

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/representations_re-presentations/

Call for papers: Revisiting the Art and Craft Divide
20 March 2010
Sacramento, California, US
Proposal deadline: 30 November 2009

This symposium returns to the ideological space between art and craft to see where the lines have shifted after post-structuralism and decades of looking at visual culture in terms of hybrid identities, flexible hierarchies and deterritorialisations. Are such theoretical assumptions evident in recent arts and crafts historiography or in the institutional practices of colleges, galleries, museums and publications? Where the divide is clear between art and craft, what values are protected on each side?

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/art_and_craft_divide/

Call for papers: Colloquium – Public and Private Support of the Arts and Culture
25 February 2010
Brussels, Belgium
Deadline for abstracts: 30 November 2009

An international master class organised by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel’s Doctoral School of Human Sciences and Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (Cemeso) addresses the research on public and private support of the arts and culture in a variety of academic disciplines. Doctoral students are invited to present their research.

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/colloqium_public_private/

Call for papers: Museums and Restitution
8-9 July 2010
Manchester, UK
Deadline for abstracts: 11 December 2009

The conference, organised by the Centre for Museology and the Manchester Museum at the University of Manchester, examines the issue of restitution in relation to the changing role and authority of the museum, focusing on new ways in which these institutions are addressing the subject.

www.archivalplatform.org/conferences/entry/museums_and_restitution/

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