NAHECS memory hubs programme
National Heritage and Cultural Studies Centre is spearheading a research project called Humanities Hubs which is funded by National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS).
The objectives of the Humanities Hubs are; to contribute to understanding and deepening of knowledge in identified hubs, to foster a spirit of collaborative knowledge production and dissemination amongst communities, civil society and different academic disciplines and to stimulate public discourse through collaborative events such as seminars, workshops, artistic performances and residences and conferences. Thus the Humanities Hubs demonstrates potential for transdisciplinary collaboration across institutions be these universities, museums or NGO`s.
The philosophical underpinning of Humanities Hubs is to explore possible epistemological and ontological bridges to connect western epistemes and local ways of knowing. Thus this program seeks to reposition and affirm the local indigenous knowledge whilst deconstructing the dominant and western ways of knowing. (NIHSS). It is said that "amagezi si gomu" easily translated as meaning there is "no one has a monopoly of knowledge". (Nabudere, no date: 14). There are other disciplines that have imposed themselves as thee transmitters and gate-keepers of knowledge and in the process they have relegated other disciplines in particular African indigenous knowledge. It is against this background that NIHSS through NAHECS pursues this program to bring the local and indigenous ways of knowing from the periphery to the centre of knowledge production.
The learners from local schools are viewing the Fort History Exhibition at De Beer`s Centenary Art Gallery. These learners have attended the NAHECS-Memory Hubs workshop that was held at NAHECS focusing on the dissemination of local produced knowledge about local history, heritage and culture. The learners came from the local schools around the Raymond Mhlaba Municipality. The NAHECS-Memory Hubs Programme is an ongoing programme that seeks to promote knowledge about the significance, value and meaning of community’s histories and heritages. NAHECS uses various interactive platforms like exhibitions, seminars, conferences and festivals as a way to disseminate the local ways of knowing.