Time to get cultural heritage, tourism right

Culture Matters

Dara E Healy

1939 – The importance of calypsonians to the tourist trade was from the start officially recognised, and the attempt to "lift calypso" was inspired by the need to project an image of decency and respectability to the visitor.

– Gordon Rohlehr, Calypso & Society in Pre-Independence Trinidad

DOES IT matter if the ancestral mask of the moko jumbie is replaced by the sinister smile of Guy Fawkes, who plotted to blow up the British Houses of Parliament on November 5, 1605? Should we be bothered when people parade in traditional Carnival costumes but have little knowledge of the African origins or spiritual significance of their portrayal? As foreign travel to our nation increases and as our Carnival continues to impact the global stage, how can we deepen the conversation about protecting our intangible cultural heritage?

The month of November is important for culture and heritage preservation. Over the coming weeks, we will observe Caribbean Tourism Month, Divali and African History Month. In our multicultural society, these commemorations offer us another opportunity to focus on the elements of our culture that bring us together as a nation.

These aspects of our heritage have the potential to enrich us both spiritually and financially. The question remains: how do we strike a balance between sharing our intangible cultural heritage with the world, and preserving it so that young people will benefit from the wealth of these traditions?

This question is not as far-fetched as you might think. Certainly, culture is living and breathing, always moving, always evolving. For instance, through ancestral memory, many dances from Africa have been reimagined across the diaspora – from stomping to break-dancing or samba.

However, there are still many spiritual and ritualistic aspects of culture that remain unclear to us today, while mispronunciation or misinterpretations of our cultural heritage continue to be passed down through generations. For example, not Ambakila as we sing, but En Bataille La, in the battle.

So, when it comes to cultural heritage and tourism, the example of a Guy Fawkes mask on a moko jumbie is not only irksome, it is problematic. In African culture, the mask is not only about obscuring the features of the person wearing it, but it is also about transformation. Wearers of masks only put them on after completing specific rituals before and after putting them on. That is because the mask is a portal into another realm and the energies must be appeased.

Thus, when thousands of visitors from all over the world are presented with men on stilts with Guy Fawkes masks, there is no learning, no transfer of knowledge about an age-old cultural art form. The experience remains at the surface and our tourism offering is diminished.

As the UN explains, “heritage is passed down through generations, culture refers to values, traditions, and identities. And intangible means impossible to touch.” Today, culture is no longer documented by oral means. Photographs, films or social media collect and transmit messages about culture, heritage and ancestral memory.

The commemoration of Caribbean Tourism Month must serve as a catalyst for policymakers and others at the helm of this critical industry to dig deeper. We need to move beyond activities and festivals as a means of "showcasing our culture." Rather, we must interrogate, how should the creative and cultural sectors inform our tourism narrative?

Further, how should we reconceptualise tourism as an empowering force for nation-building? What should be done to ensure that our citizens and visitors are inspired by the local experience, as opposed to developing "products" based on what we believe tourists want?

Grounding in our culture is essential to answering these questions. When it comes to representing our intangible cultural heritage, the people responsible for tourism and cultural heritage must do the research and inform themselves about ancient rituals. There should also be greater emphasis on partnering with communities to understand their beliefs and practices. And there must be a consideration for profitability so that communities can benefit from sharing our culture in a respectful way.

Thankfully, we no longer need to speak about developing our culture to make it acceptable to visitors. Increasingly, global tourism conversations recognise the importance of preserving culture in its ancestral forms. So, let us begin by removing Guy Fawkes from an African spirit. More than providing visitors with an authentic experience, it will be a step towards reclaiming intangible cultural heritage for ourselves and future generations.

Dara E Healy is a performance artist and founder of the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN