Claudia Jürgens (Berlin): Iconic Coherence of an Initiation Rite in Senegambia. Visualized Historicities of an Invisible and Intangible Cultural Heritage

In 2005 (2008) the Kankurang, an initiation rite of the Mandinka ethnic group, has been safeguarded by Senegal and The Gambia as an intangible cultural heritage of the UNESCO. The former invisible mask and spirit central to the rite had to be materialized, visualized and musealized. Though the Kankurang is viewed and articulated differently in the two nation states, they both found a way respectively to deal with the secrecy of the manding mask and make its secrets part of the visualizations.
I claim in my research that not only is a variety of historicities adapted for the discourses about this heritage, but also that the iconic coherence is used to stabilize identity constructions (and ergo destabilize ‘the other’). The variety of historicities shows multifaceted ways to historize the Kankurang. Further this variety is challenging to Eurocentric constructions of memory and history in Africa, which long served as a contrast to complex memories in the West. Visualizations made by locals in African museums are underrepresented in the discourses about the globalization of heritage. Thus, it is essential to broaden the perspective on knowledge production through visualizations in local museums in Senegal and The Gambia. I argue, that the visuals and displays and their specific interplay contribute to a stable and coherent mode of self-identification.