Three sites to UNESCO’s Tentative List for World Heritage

From UNESCO: “On 3 October 2017, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Republic of South Sudan submitted three heritage sites to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to be included on its first ever Tentative List of potential World Heritage sites: Sudd Wetlands (Mixed Natural/Cultural site); Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape (Natural site); and Deim Zubeir Slave Route Site (Cultural site).”

Photograph of Deim Zubeir by R. Buchta (1879)

Likikiri Collective’s Elfatih Atem, Director for Culture in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, participated in several UNESCO-sponsored workshops on UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention, and assisted in preparing the application for Deim Zubeir as a cultural heritage site. He recently appeared on Radio Miraya with UNESCO-Juba’s Culture Specialist Ellen Lekka and the Ministry of Wildlife’s Khamis to discuss South Sudan’s first submission to UNESCO’s Tentative List.

As soon as the tentative list was announced, scholars affirmed the significance of Deim Zubier as a historical and cultural site. In her blog post, “The transnational heritage of Deim Zubier,” Zoe Cormack writes,

Deim Zubeir highlights the potential for research on museum collections to be put into a productive dialogue with heritage initiatives in South Sudan. Photographs and objects in museum collections could help to build a more detailed picture of the site in the nineteenth century. At the same time, understanding the heritage of slavery in South Sudan could contribute to a fuller appreciation of the provenance and history of museum collections in Europe.

As the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports continues the work and paves the way for the nomination of Deim Zubeir for full World Heritage status, we look forward to further exploration of these sites and their contemporary meaning.