AEGIS ECAS 2007 - View abstract

Panel	13. Memory and Heritage in Post-conflict Societies
Paper ID	447
Author(s)	Scholze, Marko
Paper	No paper submitted
Abstract	The paper focuses on the process of inscribing historical sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The case study deals with the old centre of the town of Agadez in the north of Niger. Agadez was founded in the 11th century and became the residence of the sultan of Agadez in the 14th century. Until today, the sultan represents the political leader of the the different Tuareg groups living in the Aïr-Mountains. Agadez is famous for its Sudanese style architecture, its mosques and palaces all made of banco, a mixture of mud, straw and pebble stones. The genuine historic value together with the endangered structure of many houses has attracted the attention of the UNESCO, seeking to assist the government of Niger to inscribe their first world cultural heritage site on the list. This process started off in the year 2000 and should have been completed in 2004. But until today, the site is still not included in the list. The paper traces the reasons why the process has failed. From an anthropological point of view, it takes at close look at the various actors and institutions involved in the process on the international, national and local level, highlighting their agency, discourses and interactions. Drawing on current debates on the politics of cultural heritage, I will argue, that the UNESCO or the international institutions working for the conservation of african patrimony and the town of Agadez are becoming an important resource in the political struggle on different levels within Niger. One of these conflicts is the ongoing negotiation of power relations between state institutions and the local chieftainship, represented in Agadez by the sultan. Another conflict is the antagonism between the different ethnic groups of the south (associated with Hausa and Djerma culture) and the north (associated with the Tuareg). Their relations have been heavily deteriorated during the Tuareg-Rebellion in the 1990ies. The Djerma and Hausa, who dominate the government in Niamey and consequently the Ministry of Culture, are against Agadez becoming the first cultural heritage site, because it is a symbol for the north. Their advocacy for “their” sites in the south, like the old centre of Zinder, not only highlights their lack of sympathy for the north but also shows the prevailing regionalism dominating agency in Niger in general, where the state has failed to create a national identity.

Arrested Cultural Heritage. Processes of Inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Case of Agadez in Niger.