Decolonizing the Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls World Heritage Site: Engaging the Unspoken Truths

Most African, Latin American, and Asian states have experienced waves of protests around public memory. On one hand, protestors demand that statues and monuments illustrating colonial legacies and related exclusionary interpretation of the past be removed from public display. Simultaneously they argue that other narratives, considered important by local communities have been ignored or marginalized. The Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls World Heritage property (Zambia/Zimbabwe) is no different. The monuments at the site commemorate selected past historical events and personalities that feature the processes and outcome of colonial invasion on the land that originally belonged to local communities. On the other hand, there is little recognition for the sacred narratives of Indigenous peoples. These monuments and their symbolism are increasingly being questioned by local communities. The question focuses on the appropriateness of maintaining these statues and monuments while the intangible heritage important to local communities is ignored and marginalized. This paper aims at exploring the discourse of surrounding the reverence given by the colonial past while community cultural values are silenced. The dual naming of the site in local and foreign languages speaks volumes about this heritage debate. The paper shares practical experiences in decolonizing the management of sites with contested heritage values, especially those with colonial monuments juxtaposed against the long-established intangible and social memories of local communities.