press releases
Ambassador's Fund For Cultural Preservation Awards Grant to Moto Moto Museum
American CenterSeptember 08, 2005
Through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, the United
States government has provided $20,048 to Moto Moto Museum of Mbala to
identify, document, and preserve slave route sites, places of memory,
and monuments in the northern and central parts of Zambia.
The
project will be conducted in five of Zambia’s nine provinces and will
trace slave trade routes by identifying sites and places that have
historical association to the slave trade. Using library research,
fieldwork, photography, and video filming, Moto Moto Museum will
collect information on names, location and history of sites as well as
models/sketches of sites. Collected data will be presented in the form
of an inventory register of slave trade sites, booklet photographs, and
video on the identified sites.
A signing ceremony to formalize
the project was held today at the American Center in Lusaka. U.S.
Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, Andrew Passen, signed on behalf of the U.S.
government, while Acting Director of Moto Moto Museum, Evaristo Nkole
Sosala, signed on behalf of his institution. Chairman of the National
Museums Board, Mwimanji Chellah, was also present.
“Cultural
heritage must be cherished and protected for future generations to
remain connected to the past and to maintain a steady sense of national
identity and of national pride,” Mr. Passen said. “It gives me great
pleasure that on this occasion, America can show our respect for
Zambian culture by providing assistance to preserve a key part of the
heritage and history of this country.”
The Ambassador’s Fund
for Cultural Preservation was established by the United States Congress
in 2001 to assist less developed countries in preserving their cultural
heritage. This is the first year that Zambia has won funding through
the prestigious program. Previous grants worldwide have provided
assistance for museum collections, ancient and historic sites and
various traditional forms of expression. This year’s awards will
support 87 cultural preservation projects in 76 countries. Since its
inception, the program has awarded 292 grants in 106 countries. This
year, the funding level was raised to $2.5 million.
More…
The
fund is administered by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs. Through a range of cultural preservation
activities, the Bureau promotes cooperation with other countries to
reduce the threat of pillage of irreplaceable cultural heritage, and to
develop long-term strategies for preserving cultural property.
For
more information on the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, as
well as a complete list of funded projects for 2005, please visit:
http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/afcp/.
