Embracing indigenous narratives and fostering global cultural cooperation: An interview with Samba Yonga

As the co-founder of the Women’s History Museum of Zambia and the strategic communications firm Ku-Atenga Media, Samba has dedicated her career to bridging gaps in international and regional cooperation, particularly in the creative and cultural sectors. In this interview, Samba discusses her work in restoring African indigenous narratives, the challenges and successes in promoting intercultural understanding, and her vision for the future of cultural exchange and cooperation between Africa and the global community.

• Can you start by introducing yourself? How has your unique professional background as well as your personal journey shaped your approach to cultural curation and work in culture?

I trained as a journalist. My name is Samba Yonga. I then moved into communications for development, advancing to the point where we managed both international and regional territories in Africa and globally. This led me to question how cooperation is conducted in communications, creative, and cultural spaces, and I then went on to start researching and curating how to work and produce knowledge better in these sectors. Being a journalist, I have had years of training in being observant and listening carefully. Between the words that are spoken or the events that happen. This has meant that I have experienced the status quo of various socio-political situations. Having had the opportunity to travel internationally and work with international development organisations, you start to draw parallels between how international and cultural cooperation is conducted across different territories and institutions. This also allows us to see where there are gaps and imbalances in how cooperation is done, and to work to resolve them. Being a part of the Deconfining project allows us the space to further critically analyse the space of cultural cooperation and collectively come up with a way to address the bottlenecks.

• You are the co-founder of the Women's History Museum of Zambia, dedicated to restoring African indigenous narratives, particularly emphasising women's stories. Can you describe a specific project or initiative within the Women's History Museum that stands out to you and has significantly impacted the promotion of these narratives?

Setting up the museum was also a way to address the gaps in the narrative of women’s stories. Women who have contributed to the process of social, economic, and political development but have not been given the platform to share their voices in Zambia and other territories in Africa. Through this journey, we have dug deeper to understand that on a whole the indigenous knowledge systems of Zambians and Africans in general are largely obscured and undermined by Eurocentric epistemologies that delegitimize African knowledge systems. This is now the focus of our initiatives, which are focused on working with indigenous source communities and Western museums to examine how to better manage the care and display of indigenous objects and their meaning in the communities.

• Your work involves collaborations with international museums and cultural organizations. Could you share a notable collaborative project that effectively amplified indigenous African voices, especially those of women, on a global scale? What made this collaboration successful, and what lessons can others learn from it?

One of the specific projects that we have worked on is called “Shared Histories”, a digital platform that has created digital replacements of original artefacts that were taken from Zambia to Sweden over 100 years ago. Creating the digital surrogates involved a process of tracing and identifying objects and taking photographs, which were then uploaded on a digital platform to match the objects that were in the museum. Alongside these efforts, a provenance research project was also launched that collected empirical research on the actual objects through visiting source communities from where the objects originated. The project also included an art residency initiative that saw young artists being introduced to the objects and creating new meanings and new artworks that breathed new life into the objects and the knowledge they encountered. This was significant on various levels because it allowed the young artists to understand for the first time the indigenous knowledge systems of their own culture that were previously unknown, and the provenance research added new metadata for objects about which there was no information in the museum before. This was important because it provided an important framework and methodology for how to engage with artefacts involving source communities that Western museums can use in their own museums.

• Your work with Ku-Atenga Media focuses on strategic communications for African landscapes. How do you see strategic communications contributing to promoting intercultural understanding and cooperation within Africa and globally? Are there specific challenges or successes you've encountered, particularly considering the increasing interest in the African continent?

After years of encountering stereotypes of Africa and what African-ness is, I decided to set up Ku-Atenga Media as a way of strategically contributing to the way people interacted and understood Africa. In this case, strategic communication plays a crucial role in positioning Africa’s development in intercultural relations. It enables the effective dissemination of Africa’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, promoting understanding and appreciation globally. By crafting compelling narratives that highlight Africa’s contributions to art, music, literature, and other cultural expressions, strategic communication can challenge prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions. Additionally, it facilitates intercultural dialogue and exchange, fostering a sense of shared identity and mutual respect among different cultures. Furthermore, this allows Africans to be at the centre of the conversation about what Africa is and what it can offer. This can help in fostering discussions around investment, tourism, and other forms of international engagement, contributing to Africa’s economic growth and development. This is what Ku-Atenga aims to do and through our client lists, we have managed to show how territorial expertise and knowledge of Africa can benefit and help how people interact with Africa.

• As a co-organizer of the second DECONFINING Partner forum, where the importance of Africans embracing their indigenous knowledge was highlighted, how do you perceive the role of international cooperation, especially in culture and education, in supporting the preservation and promotion of indigenous African knowledge?

Part of the main aims of changing the perception of the African landscape and what it has to offer is to ensure that Africans can play a huge part in how decisions are made for its development, which historically was not always the case and the consequences of this are still felt on the continent. Part of this effort I believe is through the revival of our indigenous knowledge, something that connects us Africans to who we are and our inherent value systems.

International cooperation can play a pivotal role in supporting the revival and preservation of African indigenous knowledge systems, particularly in cultural education and the promotion of African knowledge. By fostering collaborations between African nations, international organisations, and cultural institutions, a supportive environment can be created for the documentation, research, and dissemination of indigenous knowledge. Through initiatives such as capacity-building programs, knowledge-sharing platforms, and intercultural exchange opportunities, international cooperation can contribute to the revitalization of African languages, traditional arts, and cultural practices. Moreover, it can facilitate the integration of indigenous knowledge into educational curriculum, ensuring that future generations have a deep understanding and appreciation of their cultural heritage. Additionally, international cooperation can support the establishment of sustainable mechanisms for the safeguarding and management of cultural artefacts and heritage sites, promoting cultural diversity and fostering a greater sense of global interconnectedness.

• How do you think people in Africa can work together to coordinate key aspects to build a stronger foundation and structures when engaging in international collaborations? What steps might facilitate this collaboration effectively?

I primarily work in the creative and cultural sector and the last decade it has been one of the fastest-growing industries on the continent which has largely contributed to the creation of jobs and revenue generation particularly for a continent that has at least 70% of its population is young. The mentioned Partner forum was an opportunity to present these ideas and bridge the gaps in knowledge with international institutions that did not have this information about how to collaborate or facilitate engagement in the sector.

The idea is that Africans must foster international collaborations in cultural and creative systems by embracing a spirit of Pan-Africanism and understanding the interconnectedness of their shared heritage. Establishing continental platforms for dialogue and knowledge sharing has facilitated cross-border partnerships, allowing artists, creatives, and cultural practitioners to engage, learn from each other, and develop joint projects. By leveraging technology and digital tools, Africans can create virtual spaces for collaboration, exhibitions, and performances, transcending geographical barriers. Additionally, advocating for supportive policies and creating enabling environments at the national and regional levels can attract international partners and investors, fostering a conducive ecosystem for cultural and creative industries to thrive. By working together, Africans can amplify their voices, showcase their rich cultural diversity, and contribute to a more inclusive and vibrant global cultural landscape.

• Given the range of topics covered at the second DECONFINING Partner forum, how do you imagine that the insights gathered at such conferences will influence and shape future international cultural cooperation? Are there any concrete outcomes or changes that you hope to see in the years to come as a result of these discussions?

Exchange is always an important part of creating meaningful dialogue that can foster change. Topics discussed at the forum included bottlenecks and misconceptions around better cooperation and bringing the difficult topics in an open space allowed for finding creative suggestions and solutions to the problem and examining both sides of the coin.

• Considering your extensive experience and contributions to cultural curation and international cooperation, what is your vision for the future regarding the impact of your work on fostering inclusive cultural exchange and cooperation between Africa and the global community?

I think this question has already been partly answered in some of the answers above. At the end of the day, people want a status quo in which everyone involved in the process of international cultural cooperation gets equal value from the exchange, with fair play and benefits that contribute to the collective progress of all.