The Alternative Museum: Revisiting Authenticity Through the Preservation of the Traditional Longhouse and the Conservation/transmission of Heritage Beyond the Walls in the Cameroonian Grassfields

This chapter offers a critical and contextualised reinterpretation of the concept of heritage authenticity through the preservation of the traditional longhouse and the study of the ‘alternative museum’ in the Grassfield region of Cameroon (West and North-West and part of the South-West - Lebialem), a centuries-old system for the conservation, transmission and perpetuation of knowledge, assets and memories. It observes universal definitions of authenticity from an endogenous perspective, drawing on a situated, community-based and performative approach to tangible and intangible cultural heritage. By integrating the traditional longhouse sacred spaces, ritual practices and intangible heritage (songs, dances, gastronomy, etc.), this research highlights the endogenous dynamics of conservation that combine historical continuity, cultural actualisation and intergenerational transmission. Based on a multidisciplinary approach combining historical criticism, ethnology, critical museum and heritage studies, this reflection opens up new perspectives for shared governance and heritage self-determination, thus contributing to the renewal of scientific paradigms on authenticity and heritage promotion in Africa. It invites us to rethink museum policies and heritage validation by adopting inclusive/contextualised, plural and living models, where authenticity is no longer reduced to a simple material artefact or its age, but unfolds as a dynamic process embodied and activated by the communities themselves.