The European Union (EU) has pledged to pump in euros10m for the development and promotion of Tanzania's culture, arts and traditional heritages, an EU official said on Sunday.
Alexa du Plessis, Programme Officer at European Commission in Tanzania, disclosed this when speaking at the official launch of a state-of-the-art Cultural Arts Centre (CAC) at the Tumaini University Makumira (TUMA) in Arusha.
The EU official said that the World Bank predicts a surge of foreign tourists visiting the country to reach record high by 2025 when Tanzania is expected to start receiving over 8 million visitors every year.
"Tanzania's rich cultural heritage is one of the attractive features that will be sending the entire world to Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar to get a piece of the experience," Du Plessis said.
She said that the EU through the European Development Fund (EDF) will pump in euros10m for the development of the country's cultural and historical heritages.
The Cultural Arts Centre, according to TUMA Vice-Chancellor Joseph Parsalaw, is aimed at identifying, preserving and promoting the unique cultural heritage of music, dance and traditional instruments in northern Tanzania.
Historical heritages are all the objects and buildings remaining from the past which are valued for the knowledge they provide about societies living before the present one.
Archeological heritage and architectural heritage are two components of historical heritage.
Archeological heritage is all the objects that can be studied using archeological methods such as bones, old coins, pottery, tools etc. An important archeological site in Tanzania is Olduvai Gorge where the remains of humans who lived on the site some two million years ago have been excavated and are being studied.
Architectural heritage on the other hand is all buildings and structures that have value because of their historical, archaeological, artistic, scientific, social or technical interests.
For example Swahili architecture along the Tanzanian coast tells much about the Arabic or Islamic influences on local customs.
Culture is the behaviours of people in an area and the way they relate to each other. It is also a reflection of the way a group of people see and represent the world. Besides, it has a material component, made up of physical artifacts that are made by a group of people.
Cultural heritage is therefore what remains of physical objects and other qualities that informs about a certain group or society.
Examples are manners of dress, song and dance inherited from past generations, and maintained in the present, likely to be passed on to future generations.
For example in Tanzania, some Maasai wear distinctive traditional clothing and jewelry, and maintain traditional roles in their society determined by their age group.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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