TARA Newsletter 16 June 2015
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Issue JUNE 2015 Issue 16 In cooperation with NIO M O UN IM D R T IA A L • P • W L O A I R D L D N H O E M R I E T IN AG O E • PATRIM United Nations World Heritage Educational, Scientific and Centre Cultural Organization TRUST FOR AFRICAN ROCK Art NEWSLETTER June 2015 EXECUTIVE BOARD George Abungu, David Coulson (Chairman), Janette Deacon, Thomas Hill (Treasurer), Audax Mabulla Sada Mire, Susannah Rouse, 1 Letter from the Chairman Victoria Waldock 2 Reflections SECRETARY Michael Legamaro 4 Northern Kenya ADVISORY COMMITTEE Neville Agnew, Megan Biesele 6 Lake Turkana Festival 2014 Jean Clottes, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Robert Hitchcock, Annette Lanjouw, 7 Kalacha Cultural Festival 2014 John Parkington, Heinz Rüther, Abdellah Salih Roberta Simonis, Nigel Winser 8 Ethiopia FOUNDING PATRONS Dr. Mary Leakey, Sir Laurens van der Post 10 Ancient Art Becomes Contemporary FOUNDING TRUSTEES 16 British Museum African Rock Art Image Alec Campbell, Bruce Ludwig, Thomas Hill Project Launch KTARA Trustees Fredrick Anderson, David Coulson 18 Partnerships Rupert Watson KENYA 22 Exploring Eastern Egypt Warai South Road, Karen P.O. Box 24122, Nairobi 00502 25 Niger Tel: +254-20-3884467/3883735 Fax: +254-20-3883674 31 Social Media Snapshots Email: [email protected] www.africanrockart.org USA Cover: 203 North La Salle Street #1900 Detail showing a negative/stencil handprint (rock painting) Chicago, IL 60601-1293 in a cave in Egypt’s White Desert. Tel: +1-312-368-3410 ABOUT TARA TARA, the Trust for African Rock Art, was founded in 1996 by photographer David Coulson under the patronage of renowned archaeologist, Mary Leakey, and author/ conservationist, Laurens van der Post. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, TARA is committed to recording the rich rock art heritage of the entire African continent, to making this information widely available and accessible and, to the extent possible, safeguarding those sites most threatened by both humans and nature, no matter how remote. TARA achieves this through survey and conservation work, documentation, exhibitions, publications and community projects. TARA has documented rock art in 20 African Published by: TARA countries and digitised over 20,000 images, many of which ISSN 1996-8191 (print) / ISSN 1996-8205 (online) are available online. It is estimated that over one million Designed by: Richard Wachara people have visited TARA’s exhibitions. The organisation also works closely with communities in areas where rock art Edited by: Diana Loubser is found, in order to raise awareness of rock art as a fragile heritage resource, and to improve the lives of people in Photos © TARA/David Coulson, unless otherwise credited those communities. TARA is registered in the United States as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation. MISSION TARA is a member of the International Federation of Rock Art Organisations. Create greater global awareness of the importance and endangered state of African rock art; survey sites; monitor “like” us on: status; be an information resource and archive; and Trust for African Rock Art promote and support rock art conservation measures. TARA Newsletter – June 2015 www.africanrockart.org David Coulson © Deborah Coulson Executive Chairman The high point of 2014 was the launchFrom of the African Rock the Art Image Chairman Project at the British Museum on October 6th. This took the form of a public lecture by BM Project Curator, Lisa Galvin, and me followed by a glittering reception in the Ancient Egypt Gallery with the Rosetta Stone as the backdrop. Deputy Director, Jonathan Williams, welcomed over 200 guests and I had the opportunity to talk about origins of TARA’s archive. The launch generated considerable press coverage starting with a 3,000 word article on TARA and me in the London Telegraph magazine. Other coverage included a long, illustrated article in the UK magazine, Business Destinations and an article which I wrote for the London Independent, published the day before the October launch. A five-page article appeared soon afterwards in the London Financial Times written by travel writer, Lucia van der Post. This year’s survey expeditions were mainly focused on Ethiopia and Kenya. We made three trips to eastern and southern Ethiopia and four trips to northern Kenya. In Ethiopia, we concentrated on recording new sites in the Hararghe Massif near the Somali border as well as parts of the south where we had not yet worked. In northern Kenya we were able to record new sites near Lake Turkana and in the north-eastern Chalbi Desert area. In the process we found rock paintings near the shores of Lake Turkana, the first “paintings” to be recorded in this part of Kenya. We also recorded rock gongs at some Chalbi sites. In October/November Terry Little and I travelled to Egypt with three friends of TARA. One of the purposes of this trip was to view little known pre-Pharaonic engraving sites in the Eastern Desert, between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea. This was followed by a visit to some extraordinary sites in the Nile Valley between Luxor and Aswan. Perhaps the most exciting site was our visit to Qurta where Dr Dirk Huyge of the Royal Museums of Brussels accompanied us to see auroch engravings which he has dated to around 18,000 years, thereby placing them in the Late Paleolithic era. I have chosen a photo from Egypt’s White Desert for the cover of this issue; a hand-stencil. In line with our awareness mandate, we carried out several outreach visits in northern Kenya including talking to hundreds of school children in the towns we went through and taking young people to see rock art sites. We also attended two cultural festivals, the Lake Turkana Festival in June and the Kalacha Cultural Festival in December where we spoke to local community leaders and young people as well as the Marsabit County Governor and administrators. Finally, I am happy to announce that TARA, for the 7th time in 13 years, is once again the recipient of a grant award from the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation. In December, Terry Little went to Niger to launch the project in Niger’s Aïr Mountains (Sahara Desert) and he and I will be returning in January. This visit marks the first time TARA has been back to Niger following the Tuareg rebellions between 2008 and 2010. In addition to this new North Africa project, we are also planning a rock art conservation workshop in Morocco in 2015 and plan to continue our work in northern Kenya and Ethiopia with the support of The Christensen Fund. I welcome you to read more about all of these activities and thank you most sincerely for your interest and support of TARA. www.africanrockart.org TARA Newsletter – June 2015 1 Reflections Citizen Participation By Josue Cardenas and Diana Loubser Over a Decade of Reflection For rock art communities, the benefits are twofold. Firstly, the intangible benefits such as education, increased self- esteem plus a sense of belonging to an ancient culture is of great value. It strengthens unique identity and attempts to preserve evolutionary tribal traditions. Secondly, direct and indirect economic benefits are linked to the archaeological heritage upon which cultural tourism is based, namely; African craft making, traditional cuisine, revitalisation of rituals and © Josue Cardenas storytelling that may take place in a natural setting within a conservation area. Members of a local youth group visiting the Afgaba rock art site near Kalacha. The creation of community museums, tourism initiatives, educational programs and heritage protection projects require tailor-made work plans and a community mandate. Their success also depends on the setting of realistic and achievable goals, aims and objectives. Fair distribution of benefits is critical to the success of any rock art site, eco- tourism initiatives and its surrounding community. TARA achieves this mandate through engagement with local communities and identifying criteria in which African rock art and its associated cultural heritage are able to generate benefits through responsible tourism. A modular, step-by-step approach to community projects ensures survival of each project and its sustainability. TARA encourages independent community-driven projects that are able to generate both economic and social benefits which in turn empower its people with a sense of pride, custodianship, as well as, a better understanding and hence appreciation of ancestral rock Wanjiku Mwangi talks to young people at Kalacha about their rock art heritage. Without citizen participation, our community art heritage in the context of Kenya’s cultural heritage. projects would not have been as successful as they have. Outreach and Education Programs By Josiah Kabiru Community outreach is an important aspect of cultural heritage conservation. TARA works with local communities so that rock art heritage can be preserved. The first steps towards achieving sustainability in the conservation of rock art are community awareness and developing a feeling of community ownership. In 2014, TARA carried out two major outreach programs in northern Kenya courtesy of sponsorship from The Christensen Fund and Lundin Foundation. The main objective of the trip undertaken in June was to increase awareness of rock art in the northern Kenya region. Community talks were held in Marsabit County where publications and banners were used for local community engagement. A secondary objective was to establish links with other stakeholder organisations operating in northern Kenya. TARA held meetings with the local communities Special guests at the Kalacha festival included former Miss Tourism around the rock art heritage sites and emphasized the need Marsabit County, Qabale Duba, pictured here at Afgaba rock art site. 2 TARA Newsletter – June 2015 www.africanrockart.org to conserve the sites. Our findings are that it is the herders who are the scouts whilst the elders provide mythologies, stories of origin and history.