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5. Image and Commerce: Mauritius16 ‘Ou capave mange patrimoine ou?’17 In a paper on the role of the heritage industry in post-apartheid construction Ian Fairweather (2000) says that ‘without culture there is no future’. In the new millennium one observes varying forms of culture and identity, where some groups emphasise the bounded nature of identity while others celebrate hybridisation . In postcolonial societies such as Mauritius, where the dominant majority perceive bounded identities as necessary for survival and prosperity, there are increasingly concerted efforts to reflect on group history as a means to promoting an authentic and homogeneous account of the past. The following discussion shows that the achievement of these objectives has not been easy because Creole identity is multifaceted and hybrid. However, in recent times, particular segments of Mauritian society have begun to impose their version of blackness on Creole identity so that an ideologically uncomplicated version of Creole culture and identity might be crafted. The Focus on Heritage In field research I found that the recent global and local focus on heritage is providing alternative and politically legitimate means to conquer space for identity purposes. UNESCO’s National Commission in Mauritius is concerned to facilitate heritage initiatives. Mauritius also has a National Heritage Foundation (NHF) that has implemented a series of heritage preservation projects in the last three years. It is financially provided for via the National Heritage Trust Fund. Heritage projects have been coming thick and fast since the setting up of the National Heritage Trust Fund in the Ministry of Arts and Culture. Writing about heritage management in general, Garrod and Fyall suggest that ‘there is a strong emphasis on conservation [in heritage initiatives] ... fundamental task of the heritage sector must be to ensure an appropriate balance between the contemporary use of those assets and their conservation for the future’ (Garrod and Fyall Challenges to the Management of Intangible Cultural Heritage 42 2000: 682). Thus, there is a strong link between heritage tourism and the concept of sustainable development. In the following discussion I ask (with reference to Creoles) what kind of heritage is being preserved and what will it mean for the future of Creole identity. In February 2004 there were international and virtual conferences in Mauritius on resistance, abolition and the importance of memory in slavery. That month the National Commission for UNESCO hosted the organisation’s Director General, Koïchiro Matsuura. Together with the minister of Arts and Culture, Motee Ramdass, the Director General emphasised the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage and made a plea to Mauritius to ratify the Convention on Intangible Heritage. In an interview prior to the visit of the Director General the minister drew attention to Article 1, Clause 17 of the voted (October 2003) National Heritage Fund Bill, which states that ‘Any person who unlawfully alters, damages, destroys, digs up, moves, changes, covers, conceals or any other way disfigures a national heritage shall commit an offence’. My argument is: given that Creoles have not been in a position to publicly and tangibly articulate their history and identity and that for many centuries, the descendants of slaves have crafted their identity through oral tradition, dance and song, how are Creoles to participate in the process of heritage identification if the only means being offered is through the safeguarding of tangible heritage? For example, a maritime monument close to Mahebourg (a town historically associated with slaves on the east coast of Mauritius) commemorates the Dutch presence in and contributions to Mauritius. In the town itself are a few signposts indicating a slave presence on the island but these do not indicate their contributions to the society. Again, at Pointe Canon (also in Mahebourg) there is a monument (erected in 1985 and recently renovated) that commemorates the arrival of slaves in Mauritius. Here, there is a testimony to freedom but no information in the adjacent building about the cultural practices or social life of slaves. A similar lack of detail on slaves and their descendants is apparent at the recently inaugurated Blue Penny Museum at the Port Louis Waterfront. The museum celebrates the philately of Mauritius and provides an overview of the making of Port Louis. Nowhere in the exhibition is there mention of the slaves (or other labourers) that built the port and of the diverse ways in which they contributed to Port Louis society. Instead there is mention of Anglo- and FrancoMauritian contributions including an elaborate exhibition on the story of Paul and Virginie, the Romeo and...

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