TIME METHOD

– IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

PAPERS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR IN KALMAR 28 FEBRUARY 2018
EDITORS: EBBE WESTERGREN, GUSTAV WOLLENTZ
”In the Service of Society and its Development” is quoted from the ICOM (International Council of Museums)
definition of a museum, adopted in 2007.

Editors Ebbe Westergren, Gustav Wollentz

Cover photo Discussion on the reception of refugees. Time Travel event to 1945 at the Bridging Ages
conference in Kalmar 2016. Photo: Stefan Siverud.
Layout Stefan Siverud
Publisher Kalmar läns museum, Sweden 2018
Printed by Lenanders Grafiska AB, Kalmar, Sweden 2018
ISBN 978–91-85926–85-5

The development of the Time Travel method has received support from the Swedish Arts Council.
NMÄRK
NE E
VA
T
S

This print product fulfills the requirements of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.
Miljömärkt trycksak
3041 0145
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

The Time Travel Method

– In the service of Society and Its Development
Papers from the International Seminar in Kalmar 28 February 2018

EDITORS: EBBE WESTERGREN, GUSTAV WOLLENTZ

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

AUTHORS
Ebbe Westergren Honorary Doctor Linnaeus University, Sweden. Senior Curator Kalmar County
Museum, Sweden. Honorary President Bridging Ages.

Agrita Ozola Director Tukums Museum, Latvia. Member of Bridging Ages board.

Anders Högberg Professor in Archaeology, Linnaeus University, Sweden and affiliated researcher,
CfAR, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Emma Angelin-Holmén Department of Culture, Kalmar municipality, Sweden.

Gulshera Pillay Khan Port Shepstone Twinning Association.

Member of Bridging Ages board and Bridging Ages South Africa board.

Henrik Zipsane Director of Jamtli, Östersund, Sweden.

Jonas Ewald Lecturer, Peace and Development, Linnaeus University, Sweden.

Kaari Siemer Head of Education Department, Estonian National Museum, Tartu, Estonia.

Mildred Ayere Director eCampus and Lecturer in Educational Technology, Maseno University,
Kenya. Chairperson Bridging Ages Kenya.

Niklas Ammert Professor in History Education, Deputy Vice Chancellor Linnaeus University,
Sweden.

Radikobo Ntsimane Deputy Director KwaZulu-Natal Museum Service, South Africa.

Member of Bridging Ages South Africa board.

Scott Green Department of Cultural Affairs, State of New Mexico, USA.

Member of Bridging Ages board.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Peter Aronsson & Örjan Molander • Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Ebbe Westergren • The Time Travel method – The Past and the Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Agrita Ozola  •  Communication of “Difficult” Heritage, A Case from Tukums Museum, Latvia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Anders Högberg  •  Heritage Education, the Time Travel Method and Developments in Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Emma Angelin-Holmén  •  Elderly Care – A Current and Future Arena for Heritage Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Gulshera Khan  •  In Service of Society and its Development – A South African Perspective of Time Travels. . . . . . . . 38
Henrik Zipsane  •  Life Time Competences and Time Travelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Jonas Ewald  •  Coffee and Music – Two Positive Examples of Peace Building,
Social Cohesion and Future Challenges, Reflections from Rwanda and Tanzania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Kaari Siemer  •  Time Travel 1918 in Estonia: How to Engage 8400 Students in One Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Mildred Ayere  •  Our Diversity, Our Strength Education, Sports, Culture and Peace Building in Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Niklas Ammert  •  In Search of a Living Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Radikobo Ntsimane  •  Communicating (Difficult) Heritage Through Oral History and Time Travel Method. . . . . . . . . . 84
Scott Green  •  Time Travels in North America – Negotiating the Present by Exploring the Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

FOREWORD
PETER ARONSSON, LINNAEUS UNIVERSITY & ÖRJAN MOLANDER, KALMAR COUNTY MUSEUM, SWEDEN

History is about the future. History can refer to a Scientific history and museum institutions
series of events in the past. To qualify as history, has brought important advances with clear and
they are considered to have a formatting capac- trusted methods of both investigations and com-
ity to explain why we are where we are in con- munication of knowledge. At the same time, they
temporary society. Understanding this sequence have however brought a professional distance to
of events would then give us a clue on how to act the past as something completely cut off from
to change direction of contemporary actions to everyday life which hide the intrinsic connections
avoid some of the threats and get closer to some between history and contemporary issues.
desired goals for societal development. The Time Travel method is one innovative
Insights on the close connections between past way to meet and redress these connections. It has
events, contemporary situations and fears and expanded from a regional collaboration between
hopes for the future are not new. From the first museums and schools dealing with pre-history
Greek historians over Augustinus and Renais- and history, via university collaboration to an in-
sance to the 19th Century an appreciation of the ternational community of shared experience to
vital role of bringing the past into contemporary address some of the most troubling experiences
deliberation to serve the needs of individuals and of recent time. It connects individual experience
communities has been acknowledged. and responsibility with an institutional learning

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

to address both trauma and positive experiences Linnaeus University and Kalmar County
and bring them in contemporary action and de- Museum has been working for several years with
velopments. Applied Heritage and the Time Travel method
Celebrating 35 years of development, and 35 and the connection between theory and practice.
years of restless efforts from Ebbe Westergren and We have tried to merge theoretical research at
his colleagues to advance the method, an inter- universities with practical activities at museums
national seminar was held in Kalmar. The sem- and also do it in a systematic and strategic way.
inar explored how the Time Travel method and Our common focus on societal relevance of cul-
Applied Heritage meet the challenges in today’s tural heritage has led to new priorities that we
society, to contribute to community building and believe contribute to a positive development of
cohesion. society, both locally and internationally.
Three key topics were explored: social cohe- This book summarizes some of the presenta-
sion/integration/peace; education/work; health/ tions and thoughts raised at the international
environment. The focus is as always with this seminar in Kalmar. Hopefully, it will be valuable
method to use the past, to understand the pres- to those who are interested in how cultural herit-
ent and look ahead to make a difference in the age can be used in contemporary society and, in
future: “How can the Time Travel method, Ap- particular to inspire those who want to develop
plied Heritage and Bridging Ages, together with the Time Travel method for the future.
partners, make a difference in the future, be in
the service of society and its development?”

Peter Aronsson
Professor in History, Vice Chancellor Örjan Molander
Linnaeus University Director, Kalmar County Museum

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD

– THE PAST AND THE FUTURE
EBBE WESTERGREN   •  KALMAR COUNTY MUSEUM/BRIDGING AGES, SWEDEN

CHALLENGES AND
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD
There are many challenges in today’s society, ex-
tensive challenges like conflicts, war, illness, pov-
erty, climate change, integration and inequality.
There are also more personal ones like dishar-
mony and meaning of life. The Global Goals for
Sustainable Development, agreed by 193 world
leaders, is a way towards a better world by 2030.
In what way can heritage institutions contribute Climate change is a major challenge. Hundreds of dead
sheep in the draught in Marsabit county, Kenya in 2017.
to reach these goals? Heritage is about life, in
the past and today, including all the experiences,
both good and bad. The Time Travel method is and Force. This article will give a short descrip-
one way to address the challenges of today using tion on the Time Travel method and Bridging
the experiences of the past. The method can cre- Ages and how it has developed, from the Kalmar
ate safe spaces for people to reflect and find a way region in Sweden in mid 1980s to more than 20
forward, to develop future heritage and future countries on four continents. It will indicate what
society. The Time Travel is like Soft Power, using has been achieved in 30 years and finally provide
relations and dialogue, in contrast to Hard Power some thoughts for the future.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

1960’s AND 1970’s

In order to trace the background to the Time Trav-
el method, we have to go back to the 1960s/1970s
which was a world of change in Sweden as well as in
many other parts of the world. There were slogans
like: Power to the people! Education to the people!
Culture to the people! These ideas affected muse-
ums, heritage institutions, universities, schools and
the whole society. Sweden got a new cultural policy,
a new curriculum for schools and new regulations
for universities. Heritage and history was studied
from a bottom-up approach, including community In May 1986 the very first Time Travel event was organ-
ized by Kalmar County Museum and the local school at
research. Local people were increasingly getting in-
this Stone Age site next to the river, in Trekanten, Kalmar,
volved in study circles. Heritage, culture and local Sweden. The students travelled back 5000 years.
society were being tied closer together.

LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY Kalmar County, at primary and secondary level.

OF THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD Kalmar County Museum organized trainings for
The Time Travel method started in the mid-1980s teachers and led the Time Travel events at a his-
in the Kalmar region, Sweden, as a way for Kalmar toric site, close to each school.
County Museum to support the schools in imple- In 1997 the 600 years anniversary of the Kal-
menting the new curriculum. The pupils conduct- mar Union was celebrated with hundreds of his-
ed their own research about a local historic site, torical events and Time Travels in the Kalmar
close to the school, and for one day they travelled region. Schools, museums and local communi-
back to the specific time at the very site, and in a ties were involved. The Time Travel team at Kal-
sense, became the people they had studied. mar County Museum grew bigger and the first
Already at the end of the 1980s, Time Travels university courses on the Time Travel method
became part of the education at many schools in were held in Kalmar. Time Travels became well-

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

known also nationally. In the year 2000 Kalmar

County Museum got a National Commission
for three years from the Swedish government, to
spread the Time Travel method all over Sweden.
In 1999 Kalmar County Museum was invit-
ed to go abroad with the Time Travel method to
Ostro­botnia, Finland and to Minnesota, USA.
This was the start of international cooperation Kalmar County Museum uses buses for transporting props
and costumes to Time Travel sites.
and the spread of the Time Travel method to
many countries: initially to USA, Finland, the
Åland Islands, Estonia, Italy, Latvia and Turkey.
In 2004 representatives from eight countries
involved in Time Travels gathered for three days
in Vimmerby, Kalmar county, Sweden. At the
end of the symposium the participants decided Participants of the first Bridging Ages conference in
to start an international network with the office Vimmerby 2004.
at Kalmar County Museum. The network was
called Bridging Ages. In 2007, at a conference in method change gradually. Contemporary issues
Tukums, Latvia, Bridging Ages was made into a became more and more into focus. Key questions
formal organization. Since then Bridging Ages and safe spaces for reflection were introduced
has grown. Now persons and organizations from (presented later in this text). There is no doubt,
more than 20 countries are involved and national that there was a paradigm shift in the Time Travel
chapters exist in several countries. method from just learning about history to learn-
In 2006, Kalmar County Museum was invited ing something about today’s society, through his-
to South Africa and started collaboration projects tory. In an expert seminar in Pretoria, South Afri-
on the Time Travel method. The realization that ca, in 2016, the Bridging Ages countries agreed on
heritage was very much connected to the socie- the definitions and principles, process and event
ty of today in South Africa made the Time Travel of the Time Travel method.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD DIVERSITY,

is an educational method, using local heritage in REFLECTION
COHESION
a learning process, to create reflection on con-
temporary issues, and provide tools for community
building.
The goal is to promote learning, social cohesion HERITAGE
and contribute to community building. FUTURES

PROCESS AND EVENT

The Time Travel method consists of the Time The Time Travel event is the actual role-play
Travel process and the Time Travel event. at the historical site in the community, located
The Time Travel process is when people, close to a school. It is one story, one event, one site
schools and organizations in the local commu- and one particular day/year.
nity, meet and engage themselves in the devel-
opment of the community and in learning, using
local sites and stories. Most often this process is
the preparation for a Time Travel event at a local
site and includes identifying a site and a topic,
involve stakeholders, conduct research, develop
the story and its key questions and write the sce-
nario for the event. The process requires capacity
building, preparation in school, follow-up after
the event and foreseeing a way forward, using
the new knowledge and experiences. The pro-
cess/preparation takes weeks and months, some- A Time Travel group meets to prepare for an event,
times even up to a year. Clanwilliam, South Africa.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

KEY QUESTIONS AND SAFE SPACES

The Time Travel gives an opportunity to reflect
on an important issue of today, for example on
democracy, equality, education, draught, violence
or integration, whatever is decided. In principle,
it may be anything we find important. In each
Time Travel event the selected issue is expressed
in the key questions. It is an important issue of
The small activity groups in the Time Travel event give a
today and also an important issue in the time of safe space to discuss the key questions. A vivid discussion
the Time Travel event. The whole event is centred in the Time Travel to 1860 in Kigungu village, Uganda on
on these key questions, discussed in groups, while a court case concerning rape.
the participants are carrying out a practical activ-
ity with their hands. These groups are meant to be events every year and also many workshop. A cru-
safe spaces, where everyone is free to listen, argue cial Swedish partner is Linnaeus University, most
and reflect on the issues at hand. Hopefully, it will often from the department of Humanities and its
result in ideas for solutions at the end of the event. Centre for Applied Heritage, but also in Educa-
Here are some examples of key questions in tion, Health, Caring Science, Peace and Develop-
Time Travels: Peace and justice at the prison in ment and Tourism.
Kapenguria, Kenya 1953. Needs and dreams of
the country, at the Freedom Tree, Entebbe, Ugan- RESULTS FROM MORE THAN 30 YEARS
da 1954. How to live together, at an archaeological What has the Time Travel method achieved in those
site in Clanwilliam, South Africa 2000 years ago. 30 plus years in which the method has been used
in Sweden and other countries? It is apparent that
KALMAR COUNTY MUSEUM the Time Travel method has expanded from one re-
Kalmar County Museum has a team at the educa- gion in Sweden to more than 20 countries on four
tional department which focus on the Time Trav- continents. Every year about 20  000 students and
el method, in workshops, trainings and events. adults take part in Time Travel programs in these
The museum does more than 100 Time Travel countries. From the start in 1986 more than 250 000

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Ceremonies are important in Time Travels. A spiritual healing ceremony on the Mamelodi massacre (1985), at the
Isivivane, Freedom Park, Pretoria.

people have taken part in Time Travel events. The There has been a significant degree of success
concept has widened within the last ten years and over the years, but also challenges. The discussion
today it includes many programs, using heritage to from the 1970s on the role of the museum is quite
reflect on contemporary issues. There are many en- similar today. What is the core business of a mu-
gaged people in the Bridging Ages groups all over seum? Is it to show the collections or maybe to
the world and there is excellent team work. It is obvi- engage more in society? What importance has the
ous from the evaluations, that Time Travel programs work in the museum building in developing exhi-
and events make a difference for many people. bitions and programs, in comparison to engaging

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

people in the local community with issues that lie THE FUTURE OF THE
close to their hearts? It is sometimes difficult to TIME TRAVEL METHOD?
promote the Time Travel method as an important It is of course difficult to say anything about the
tool for museums, in developing future heritage future. Will the engagement continue in the same
in local communities. way as before? Will it even increase? In order to
It is not easy to achieve regularity in Time mobilise a group like Bridging Ages and promote
Travels at schools and communities. Time Travels the Time Travel method, I think it is important to
are still often seen as an extracurricular method, have a common vision, an ideology, which sup-
connected to quite a lot of work. Although many ports and directs the work. This would be a vision
organizations are involved in The Time Travel that provides an answer to the question why: what
method, the work is still dependent on individu- is the benefit and for what purpose?
als and engaged persons. It is also important to explore and find the
I asked a few persons involved in Bridging contributions from the heritage sector to meet
Ages on the achievement of the Time Travel the challenges of today and initiate possible solu-
method. Here are two answers: tions. And which are the partners in society that
will increase the chance for a positive result?
”Time Travel is such an empowering method. It To meet the needs of society today it is im-
gives recognition to ordinary people, boosts their portant to listen more and lecture less. The Time
self- esteem and make them realize that they too Travel method will always mean engagement and
can make a huge contribution to democracy in hard work. Three important mottos for the future
South Africa.” are:
Gulshera Khan, Social worker, Port Shepstone Cohesion/together. A cohesive society with
Twinning Association, South Africa respect for diversity is something to strive for.
Peace (of mind). War and serious conflicts are
“You have established a powerful pedagogical the most destructive systems in the world. How to
method that found many followers!” contribute to reduce it substantially? Disharmony
Cornelius Holtorf, Professor in Archaeology, and mental problems affect many people. How to
Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden  help?

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

FURTHER READING
Holtorf, C. Gustafsson, B. and Westergren, E.
eds. 2011. The Social Benefits of Heritage. Mu-
seum International 63 (1–2), no. 249/250.
Petersson, B. & Holtorf, C. ed. 2017. The Archae-
ology of Time Travel. Oxford: Archeopress.
Phelago, J. Westergren, E. Ylikoski, A ed. 2017.
Use the Past, Create the Future. Public Time
Travel event on the Freedom Charter 1955–
2015. Pretoria.
Sites and Stories. The Time Travel method in
Entebbe, Uganda. 2015
Time Travel is a way of reflecting on contemporary is- Westergren, E. 2017. Use the Past, Create the
sues using the past. A Time Travel to 1986 in Ikageng, Future. The Time Travel Method, a Tool for
Potchefstroom, focusing on grievances and actions in the Learning, Social Cohesion and Community
township. Dancing and singing is one way to express the Building. Pp 89–111. In: Archaeology of Time
feelings.
Travel, ed: Peterson & Holtorf.
Westergren, E. et al. 2018. Guidelines for Time
Serve. This is our task, to serve people and the Travels with Schools
society with our skills and commitment. Westergren, E. et al 2010. This place has meaning.
The ICOM definition of a museums is: “a Case Studies of Time Travels and Historic En-
non-profit, permanent institution in the service vironment Education, South Africa 2006–2010.
of society and its development”. This is precisely Web
what Bridging Ages and the Time Travel method YouTube, A Legacy of Wisdom, a Time Travel
aim to be: in the service of society and its devel- to 1986 in Ikageng: www.youtube.com/
opment. watch?v=0kPV14QSlV0&t=52s
Our time is now! Bridging Ages: www.bridgingages.com

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION OF “DIFFICULT” HERITAGE,

A CASE FROM TUKUMS MUSEUM, LATVIA
AGRITA OZOLA  •  TUKUMS MUSEUM, LATVIA

INTRODUCTION able to give meaning and significance to the past

Swedish museum educator Ebbe Westergren pi- in the present: “Each can explain the other two,
oneered an educational approach to time travel- but to some extent they can also be combined
ling which is now implemented in many coun- with each other.” (Ibid)
tries through the organization Bridging Ages. Tukums Museum in Latvia, one of Latvia’s re-
Professor at the Linnaeus University Cornelius gional museums, represented by myself, is famil-
Holtorf argues that „this method uses the power iar with all the three approaches. The Time Trav-
of bringing the past to life in order to address el method is used since 2004. Tukums Museum
‘key questions’ in contemporary society such as particularly focuses on expanding its collection,
gender roles, democracy and social cohesion, developing research, providing education and
illustrating the large potential for improving cultural programs and organising dialogues
society by bodily representing the past in the about publicly important topics. Similar to Kal-
present.” (Holtorf 2017:9) He mentions three mar County Museum, Tukums Museum chooses
perspectives: the evolutionary one, which pro- important key questions in society, looking for
vides long-term history, the politics of the past, answers by seeking a comparable situation in the
which is investigating representations and alter- past. Unlike the Kalmar County Museum, which
ations of past, and Time Travel, which is directly has developed historical environment education
linked to the lives and bodies of individuals in methods mainly outside of the museum build-
the present. According to Holtorf, all of them are ing, Tukums Museum usually organises pro-

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

grammes in relationship to its collection, and

most of the events are held at the museum and
its territory.

A COLLECTION OF BIRCH BARK LETTERS

The mission of Tukums museum is focused on
the development of the community, through pro-
viding education and entertainment for target
groups. The collection of the Tukums Museum
contains more than 93,000 objects, including out-
standing artistic, cultural and historical objects
that describe changes in the Tukums Adminis- One of the 14 letters written on birch bark in Tukums
trative District and its cultural environment over museum’s collection. Photo: Kristīne Ozola.
the past 2,000 years. Some of them are related to
the Soviet repression of the Baltic countries dur- There are 45 birch bark letters written by 15 peo-
ing the middle of the 20th century. One of these ple persecuted by the Soviet system (1941–1965),
collections, which consists of 14 letters written on identified and stored in nine Latvian museums:
birch bark in Siberia and about 300 letters written Aizkraukle History and Art Museum, Daugava
on paper as well as drawings, photos and other Museum, Jēkabpils History Museum, Madona
objects, was used by educators of Tukums muse- Local History and Art Museum, Museum of the
um in order to negotiate a difficult heritage relat- Occupation of Latvia, Latvian National Museum
ed to a painful past. Tukums museum is a leading of History, Museum of Literature and Music, Talsi
institution in safeguarding the collection “Letters Regional Museum and Tukums Museum. The let-
written on Birch bark in Siberia” included in the ters were written during the period from 1943 to
Latvian National Register of the UNESCO Mem- 1965. The authors of the letters are representatives
ory of the World programme.1 of Latvian peasantry and intelligentsia, who, due

1 Latvian National Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World programme. Webpage: http://www.atmina.unesco.lv/page/77

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

to their public activities, civil position or expressed The author of the letters was a lawyer from Tu-
resistance, became personae non gratae to the Sovi- kums, Latvia, who survived for four years at the
et system, arrested and sentenced to imprisonment VYATLAG and died on June 17, 1945, five weeks
in strict-regime forced labour camps or deported after Germany capitulated and the war in Europe
to Siberia on the 14th June 1941 or the 25th March ended. The letters were sent to the Kazachinsk
1949, together with their children. All letters are District of the Krasnoyarsk Oblast, where the au-
originals, written by hand on the material available thor’s wife, Dr. med. Vera Kalevica (1890–1972)
at the place of imprisonment or deportation – birch and their youngest son, Teodors (1925–1955) were
bark. They were sent to relatives and friends in Si- settled. Of several dozen letters that were written
beria and Latvia and, some of them, even to people by Kalevics, only four reached the intended ad-
who emigrated abroad of the Soviet Union. dressee.
There are only four letters in Latvian muse- Another type of these letters are written in Si-
ums which were produced at a VYATLAG,2 one beria by deported family members of imprisoned
of the largest prison camps in the Soviet GULAG men. These men were deported on the 14th of June,
system situated in the Kirov Oblast. These letters 1941, and they were separated from their families
were written between 1942 and 1944. This is a and sent to VYATLAG while their families were
fragment from one of the letters written by Kārlis sent to distant Soviet regions, particularly Krasno-
Kalevics (1877–1945) on January 30th, 1943: yarsk Oblast. The Special Meeting (court-martial)
“I receive 400 grams of bread a day and 650 of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs
grams of liquid in the morning and at night. I sleep decided to settle the families without the presence
on a bunk. Last week two commissions evaluated of the men, banning them from ever returning
second groupinvalids.3 The chief physicians in both home. These people worked for collective farms,
commissions declared me to be incapable of doing kolkhozes, or forestry operations. They lived in
work.” semi-famine and knew nothing about their rel-

2 Gulag, abbreviation of Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey (Russian) which means: “Chief Administration of Cor-
rective Labour Camps”, the system of Soviet labour camps and accompanying detention and transit camps and prisons.
3 All disabled people were divided in three groups. People who were evaluated in the first and second group were not forced to do a
hard physical work but they got less of bread and liquid than working people in a prison camps or settlements.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

atives. Those who had access to chemical pencils Rasma returned to Latvia aboard the so-called
wrote letters on birch bark when it was possible. children’s train in the autumn of 1946 which was
For example, the social activist and conductor of organized in order to send orphans back to Latvia.
the rural parish choir, Felikss Krauklis (1893–1941) Rasma travelled to Latvia illegally and lived with
was deported from the Tome Parish, Riga District, her godmother, Anna Vanaga, at the Mazskābuļi
Latvia, and died at the VYATLAG. His daughter, farm in Vecumnieki. She was soon arrested for es-
Rasma (1927–2008) wrote her first letters to Lat- caping and sent back to Siberia and the family of
via from Krasnoyarsk Oblast during the winter of her godmother was deported to the Omsk Oblast
1945, when there were battles in the Courlandian on the 25th March 1949.
Cauldron. Her letters constitute a valuable histori- An even more detailed expression of the trag-
cal source. This is a small fragment from her letter edy faced by deported women and children can
written on the 23rd January 1945: be found in the poems by Lilija Binava-Binaus
“We are deep, deep in the taiga, far away from (1906–1996), a wife of a farmer deported from
people and traffic, and I wanted to send you a lit- Zemīte parish, Tukums District. Her daughter
tle bit of this enormous taiga. I have been making Hilda Irēna (1930–1942) suffered a serious illness
these kinds of postcards for more than two years, in January 1942 and her life ended. Adding to
and I have found that it is wonderful paper.” the horrible situation, Lilija received a message
Three letters were written to her godmoth- of her husband’s death. Because of sorrow, cold
er, Anna Vanaga, and there was one that Rasma and shortage of food she and her small boy Ilmārs
handed over to a neighbor, asking the letter to be (born 1935) were ill. Lilija wrote down her life
delivered to her cousin, Ilga Silgaile (1924–2011), story during desperate periods of insomnia. She
who was living in the neighboring village. The re- wrote it down on the wall of a cattle shed where
quest was to provide her with the amount of pota- she lived. The poems were a message to her son
toes that she owed her.4 In such a way, the letters Ilmārs so that he could remember from where he
describe the lives of those who were settled in Si- had come in case of Lilija’s death. This formed a
beria. form of dialogue with herself, and nearly all de-

4 Deported people did not recieve salary but some products, like grain, potatoes, sometimes bread, sunflower-seed oil, etc

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

portees had to deal with such episodes during to write the letters on the birch bark in Siberia. All
dark nights. Their husbands were lost, their chil- the texts are available in four languages: Latvian,
dren were dying, and they were tormented by no Russian, English and French, so that each person
knowledge about how their future may look like. can read the letters and interpret them on his/her
These letters are a valuable and also quite rare own (Ozola 2018).
historical source, having acquired a symbolic
meaning since they reflect the mental strength INTERPRETATION OF THE COLLECTION
and unity of not only the writers themselves, but Museum education programs are excellent tools
also that of thousands of other persecuted people. for the interpretation of the collections. One ex-
Museums who are safeguarding these letters are ample of the Time Travel method was a set of pro-
often using them for exhibitions and education- grammes prepared by historian Andris Strēlis at
al purposes. Most of these letters (digital pictures the Tukums City Museum of History, a branch
and texts translated in several languages) are of the Tukums museum (Strēlis 2014). Partici-
available in the Words Digital Library.5 Informa- pants (age 14–16) examined objects at the exhi-
tion about the collection and its values are also bition, including birch bark letters, trying to gain
available in the website of the Network of the an in-depth understanding of the life stories of
European Museum Organizations.6 Tukums mu- people who owned the objects during the 1940s.
seum has conducted research on the collection Once the research was done, the participants were
in order to publish a book, to have a travelling asked to take on the role of the people, partici-
exhibition, a video film for schools7 and several pating in a Soviet-era election in which suffrage
educational programs, including Time Travel. I was only granted to people who were loyal to the
have written a book on the need and motivation regime. Politically repressed people usually lost

5 The Words Digital Library: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/7421

6 "4 Museum Values: Collection, Educational, Social, Economic”- NEMO, 2015.
Available: http://www.ne-mo.org/fileadmin/Dateien/public/NEMo_documents/NEMO_four_values_2015.pdf
7 Virtual exhibition: Letters to the Future generations. Tukums museum, 2011.
Available: http://www.tukumamuzejs.lv/virtuala-ekspozicija

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

their personal rights, which meant that they were

not allowed to take part in (the staged) elections,
and they were not allowed to study in Universi-
ties, etc. Through this Time Travel program, par-
ticipants discussed the height of absurdity of the
Soviet system and learned what real democracy
signifies for them today by doing a first person
interpretation.
Another programme, designed and delivered
by myself (Ozola 2014), included the letters writ-
ten on birch bark in Siberia. It was far more com-
plicated to design a programme devoted to the
theme about Soviet mass deportations because
it is related to such a painful theme. The birch
bark was prepared for letters in Siberia and were
sent not just to Latvia, but more often to GULAG
camps in the Soviet Union. People, living in Lat-
via, were afraid of speaking loudly about these let-
ters and repressions.
This was not a situation in which conditions
close to the historical environment could be creat-
ed, so instead I emphasized a storytelling. Partic-
ipants could wear Soviet-era padded coats, work
with birch bark and write a short letter or mes-
sage to friends. The main part of the programme,
however, involved reading out loud the content Peeling the bark from a birch tree’s stem and shaving off
of the letters, with girls reading texts written by the dry outer surface. Photos from a Time Travel event.
women, and boys reading those written by men. Photo: Kristīne Ozola.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Participants experienced a broad range of emo- The aim of the educational programme is to
tions while reading the letters, including a deep create empathy and to encourage a deeper under-
sense of tragedy and helplessness, as well as a con- standing among present-day people. The letters
firmation of love and spiritual strength. In most are a source of history that the museum uses in
cases, there was a moment of silence after each pursuit of this goal. Participants remain them-
letter was read out, and only after some thought selves and therefore they are actively forced to
were there conversations about the letters and the confront issues raised in connection to their own
destinies of their authors. Participants sought to individual life experiences, for instance concern-
understand why mass deportations were possi- ing democracy. They are thus able to compare the
ble. All in all, 60,000 people from Latvia were de- contemporary situation in Latvia with that of the
ported to Siberia between 1941 and 1949: 15 424 one in the middle of the 20th century.
persons in June 1941 (Riekstiņš 2001) and 44 271
persons in March 1949 (Riekstiņš 2007). CONCLUSIONS
The Tukums Museum practises a variety of pro-
grammes in which Time Travel, oral history and
storytelling are frequently used. In all cases the
principle of what can be deemed to constitute an
authentic experience is very important, respect-
ing the actual object and the information that
is related to it. According to Bodil Peterson, the
time traveling method is a fundamentally anach-
ronistic approach (Petersson 2017: 281), because
the participants are present-day people who en-
ter an unreal situation, commonly set in the past.
Furthermore, the museum object itself is not sit-
uated in the environment for which it may origi-
Writing on birch bark. Photo from a Time Travel event. nally have been created. Indeed, the object is of a
Photo: Kristīne Ozola. very different kind of value than what it may have

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

possessed initially, since it has a meaning which is Riekstiņš, J. 2001. 1941. gada 14. jūnija
communicated within the settings of a museum. deportācija Latvijā//Aizvestie. 1941. gada
In all the cases the Time Travel program relies on 14. jūnijs/Latvijas Valsts arhīvs. Compilers:
the present experiences of the participants and Bambals A., Kalnciema A., etc. Rīga: Nordik.
shows in an explicit way how present times are Pp. 14.
intimately intertwined with our ideas of the past. Riekstiņš, J. 2007. 1949. gada 25. marta
deportācija Latvijā/Aizvestie.1949. gada
REFERENCES 25.marts.1st part./Latvijas Valsts arhīvs.
Holtorf, C. 2017. Introduction: The Meaning Compilers: Āboliņa A., Kalnciema A.,
of Time Travel. In: The Archaeology of Kārkliņš Z. etc. Riga: Nordik. Pp. 21.
Time Travel: Experiencing the Past in the Strēlis, A. 2014. Educational program: Soviet
21st Century, edited by Petersson, B. & elections. 1947. Tukums museum.
Holtorf, C. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Ozola, A. 2014. Educational program: Birch Bark
Letters written in Siberia. 1950s. Tukums
museum.
Ozola, A. 2018. Sibīrijā tapušas vēstules uz bērza
tāss/Берестяные письма из Сибири/Letters
Written in Siberia on Birch Bark/Lettres
siberiennes sur ecorce de bouleau. Tukuma
muzejs. Pp. 264.
Petersson, B. 2017. Anachronism and Time
Travel. In: The Archaeology of Time Travel:
Experiencing the Past in the 21st Century,
edited by Petersson, B & Holtorf, C. Oxford:
Archaeopress.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

HERITAGE EDUCATION, THE TIME TRAVEL

METHOD AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THEORY
ANDERS HÖGBERG  •  LINNAEUS UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN AND UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

Ebbe Westergren is a distinguished museum ed- the Time Travel method has also become interna-
ucator and a driving force in the development of tional and is now employed in heritage education
heritage education, in particular in the use of the in many parts of the world (Westergren 2017). As
Time Travel method. His energy and skills com- was apparent from the seminar in Kalmar, herit-
bined with a friendly and enthusiastic approach age education and the Time Travel method have a
have put him at the forefront of making Time major ambition: to bring about change in society!
Travel into what it is today. Though initially con- Such a high ambition for Time Travel impos-
ceived of as a means of inspiring participants to es a need to develop new theoretical approaches. If
learn more about the past, Time Travel has now the ambition is to bring about change, then careful
evolved into a method which focuses on ways to consideration about how this method actually con-
encourage participants to engage with contempo- tributes to positive outcomes for society is needed.
rary problems. These can include such issues as Today, Time Travel is used in a variety of contexts
equality, reconciliation, gender inequality, mi- in which heritage is perceived differently by those
gration and anti-discrimination among others. involved and is imbued with a variety of contem-
These developments in the Time Travel method porary implications that vary significantly with
have seen a shift in its role from seeking to en- changing contexts (e.g. Ashworth et al. 2007; Peter-
gage with the past as a goal in itself to an approach son et al. 2015; Aykaç 2018; Niklasson & Hølleland
which employs heritage education as a means of 2018). An important element which needs to be in-
exploring contemporary society. Over the years, corporated into all its activities is, thereby, an un-

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

MIGRATION, PERMANENCE AND MOVEMENT

That people move and migrate from one place to
another is often the focus of heritage education-
al activities. The place people come from and the
place they move to become fixed points, the be-
ginning and the end, which will define both their
origin as well as their future identity in the place
to which they have moved. Individuals are con-
structed on a node combining these fixed points
in a cultural heritage transcending boundaries. In
this perception, permanence is in focus. The place
migrated from is seen as stable and defined, the
Change in society? Time Travel to 1954, to prepare for place migrated to equally so. In a similar fashion,
independence, at the Freedom Tree, Entebbe, Uganda.
cultural heritage is also attributed with similar
Inspiration for changes in todays’ society?
values of stability, from one of origins to one that
is new.
derstanding of the theoretical foundation on which However, to describe cultural heritage with
heritage works to build futures (e.g. Högberg et al. reference to places and stability in this way is by
2018). This is a topic that Ebbe constantly refers to no means given. It is not self-evident that an in-
when we work together. Here, I will touch upon a dividual’s cultural heritage should be defined in
selection of topics I see as essential contributions to terms of the place he/she comes from or the place
the future development of the Time Travel method, he/she has reached. It is equally possible to focus
given that the ambition of applying this method in on the journey, the act of movement. From this
heritage education is to bring about a change in so- perspective, it is not the place one has left or that
ciety. These topics are migration, permanence and to which one has come which generate elements
movement, complexity, collective and individual of meaning; instead, it is the sense of movement
heritage and citizenship and heritage (see Högberg that derives from the journey the individual has
2013, 2015, 2016 for additional examples). undertaken and continues to pursue that gives

25
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

meaning. In the same way, cultural heritage is not tion and endorsement of what is included in a spe-
seen as something in the past or something new, cific community is important through the repro-
but in constant flux. The perceptions of move- duction of that which is similar or the same. In a
ment and stability are not simply ones of geog- perception of culture and social processes in flux,
raphy, but also relate to social categories such as the organisation of plurality is essentially achieved
class and gender (Urry 2000). In such cases, the through a discussion of and focus on that which
horizontality of the physical journey is altered to transcends boundaries (Högberg 2013).
a verticality, raising issues of the right of articula- Thomas Hylland Eriksen (2010) has enumer-
tion, representation, class struggle or power and ated three ways of understanding complexity:
gender (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1998). 1) complexity constitutes a large number of rela-
Consequently, it is important to understand tions which mutually affect each other. The num-
how migration, permanence and movement are ber of relations can be determined and the degree
understood in a heritage education project. Are of complexity can thus be defined; 2) complexity
the methods employed based on a perception of is an irreducible component of human existence.
society and social processes as stable units which To clarify the import of this, Eriksen uses the
generate different relations or are society and so- metaphor of a cake. The ingredients in a cake are
cial processes seen as in constant flux and a result known as we have the recipe. But it is impossi-
of these relationships? ble to un-bake a baked cake or to distinguish the
separate ingredients when the mixture has been
COMPLEXITY mixed; 3) complexity is an unavoidable result of
These issues relate to the question of how com- a particular point of view. Instead of defining the
plexity is approached. Heritage education activ- various individual variables in order to determine
ities can give more profound understandings of their relations, the aim is to describe complexity
the concepts of movement and stability by seeing as such without resort to simple models of expla-
cultural heritage and social processes in terms of nation, but rather to strive for new perspectives.
either the reproduction of likenesses, or as the or- From this standpoint it is impossible to describe
ganisation of plurality. In a perception of culture complexity in its entirety as new perspectives
and social processes as stable entities, the defini- constantly contribute to new perceptions.

26
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

The ways heritage education projects formu- COLLECTIVE AND INDIVIDUAL IDENTITIES
late and relate to complexity influence how those These issues are intimately connected to the
participating in the activities create relationships link between collective and individual identi-
among themselves and with others. It is impor- ties. Diversity and pluralism generate a number
tant to ask the question: are mutually interactive of diverse individual cultural heritage and iden-
relationships highlighted, are continuous hybrid- tity projects. These become manifest in society
isation processes emphasised, is everything seen through demands for recognition and acceptance
as in constant flux? (such as the right to citizenship), in distancing

Time Travel on migration and taking care of refugees, Kalmar in 1945. Discussions on identity, diversity and integration.
Photo: Stefan Siverud.

27
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

oneself from and rejecting various standpoints formulated and consider the values attributed to
(such as xenophobia) or the demand for special them. Are the narratives created in heritage ed-
treatment (such as special preconditions for or- ucation projects potentially complementary or
thodox religions in their contact with established divisive?
institutions in society). Complexity in the inter-
play between individual cultural heritage (and CITIZENSHIP AND HERITAGE
identity projects) and national narratives have Citizenship guarantees a number of rights. These
forced many to declare that the era of the grand, rights are accompanied by duties. Rights and du-
cohesive narrative is over (Lyotard 1979). In turn, ties of a nation-state embrace all with its borders.
this has meant that many seek a revitalisation of This is the rule. Reality is somewhat different.
the grand narrative to create what they consider Rights are not distributed equally and duties are
to be the essential binding force of society. The unequal. These conditions are expressed differ-
argument is that the plurality of individual narra- ently. In political debates it is generally accepted
tives fragments society, creates conflicts of inter- to equate social and economic issues of aliena-
est and cannot therefore be a source of cohesion tion, poverty and unemployment with discrimi-
(see the discussion in Svensson 2009). natory terms of origins and cultural heritage, or
However, the existence of several individual patriarchal power structures with history and
cultural heritage and identity projects in a society religion. Sometimes they are expressed in purely
does not mean that social integration is hindered racial terms. Rights and duties are linked to who
or that cohesion is not achieved. It does not nec- the individual is and where he/she is assumed
essarily lead to fragmentation and conflict, pro- to originate from, rather than to citizenship and
vided the various individual projects are seen as how these individuals respond to the demands
complementary rather than contrary (Högberg that citizenship imposes. Cultural heritage, real
2013). In this respect, it is perhaps less the lack of, or imagined, becomes a decisive marker of social
or alternatively the existence of, the grand nar- difference with discrimination as a result (Ash-
ratives that should be the focus of heritage edu- worth et al. 2007). Those who are not allowed
cation activities. Instead, it is important to think to participate in the self-image of the majority
about how individual and collective identities are are marginalised, made invisible or constrained

28
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

tion, migration, international mobility, cultural

heterogeneity, dual-citizenship, regional con-
flicts, inter-state commuters and the millions of
people who do not live in the country they were
born in, challenge the nation-state as a universally
operative framework for determining citizenship
(Squire 2011).
At the same time as the borders of the nation
states are being eroded, more and more individu-
als and groups equate ethnicity with cultural her-
itage as a basis on which to express the uniqueness
of the internal self as well as the differentiating
otherness of the external others. Today this is vis-
ible in the way in which minorities link cultural
heritage and ethnicity to cultural identities and
More than 40 ethnic groups and one nation. Time Travel
recognition (Högberg 2013), in the political agen-
to 1962, on the eve of independence in Kenya, focus on das of movements for decolonisation in which
diversity and cohesion. heritage is used to empower selected parts of their
communities (Schmidt & Pikirayi 2016), in the
arguments used by racist movements which em-
within the character of the nation as perceived by phasise essentialism as a Blood and Soil ideology
the dominant society (Castles & Davidson 2000; in preference to the democratic citizenship of the
Beeson & Bisley 2010). nation state as a means of bringing the commu-
Citizenship within the borders of the nation nity together (Ashworth et al. 2007; Niklasson &
state is valid for many but not all. Millions of peo- Hølleland 2018) or in the cultural perspective of
ple today do not have the right to citizenship in the EU which emphasises the cultural identity of
the country in which they live. Many more do not the supranational as a basis for a sense of com-
have access to legal rights. In addition, globaliza- munity (Högberg 2006). There is a risk that this

29
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

results in fragmentation, segregation and parallel REFERENCES

societies, where groups find belonging in commu- Ashworth, G. J., Graham, B. & Tunbridge, J. E.
nities and conventions as a group, but few others 2007. Pluralising Pasts. Heritage, Identity and
outside the group may participate. Place in Multicultural Societies. London: Pluto
The question of how heritage education pro- Press.
jects formulate citizenship and heritage is decisive Aykaç, P. 2018. Musealisation as a strategy for the
for what will emanate from a Time Travel activi- reconstruction of an idealized Ottoman past:
ty. How is it possible to avoid creating activities Istanbul´s Sultanahmet district as a museum-
which apparently include people, but ultimately quarter. International Journal of Heritage
exclude the other and thereby be divisive of so- Studies.
ciety? https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1475407
Beeson, M. & Bisley, N. 2010. eds. Issues in 21st
CONCLUSION Century World Politics. New York: Palgrave
The Time Travel method as part of heritage edu- Macmillan.
cation activities is a powerful pedagogical tool. To Castles, S. & Davidson, A. 2000. Citizenship and
re-connect with my remarks in the introduction Migration. Globalization and the Politics of
– it is a method with the capacity for change. In Belonging. New York: Routledge.
Time Travel events, participants are encouraged Eriksen, T. H. 2010. Samfunn. CULCOM. Oslo:
to discuss and deal with contemporary issues. But Universitetsforlaget.
our current world is self-contradictory. Thus, an Högberg, A. 2006. The EU: In Need of a
important question for the future development of Supranational View of Cultural Heritage.
the method is: How can heritage education using In: Landscape Ideologies, edited by Meier,
the Time Travel method formulate activities that T. Budapest: Archaeolingua Alapitvány.
generate knowledge and context which are ca- Pp. 199–208.
pable of uniting and unifying people for a better Högberg, A. 2013. Mångfaldsfrågor i kulturmiljö­
society? This is vital in our contemporary world vården. Tankar, kunskaper och processer
with its ever-growing plurality of collective expe- 2002–2012. Lund: Nordic Academic Press.
riences and traditions.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Högberg, A. 2015. The Heritage Sector in a Schmidt, P. R. & Pikirayi, I. eds. 2016.
Multicultural Society: A Discussion from a Community Archaeology and Heritage in
Swedish Perspective. In: Identity and Heritage: Africa. Decolonizing Practice. London & New
Contemporary Challenges in a Globalized York: Routledge.
World, edited by Biehl, P.F., Comer, D.C., & Svensson, B. 2009. En ny kulturell grammatik?
Prescott, C. New York: Springer. Pp. 47–53. Om behovet av stora berättelser. In:
Högberg, A. 2016. To renegotiate heritage Arkeologisk framtid: Arkeologmötet 2008,
and citizenship beyond essentialism. edited by Artelius, T & Källén, A. Lund:
Archaeological Dialogues. 23(1):39–48. Svenska Arkeologiska Samfundet. Pp. 21–35.
Högberg, A., Holtorf, C., May, S. & Wollentz, G. Squire, V. ed. 2011. The Contested Politics of
2018. No future in archaeological heritage Mobility. Borderzones and irregularity.
management? World Archaeology 49(5): London: Routledge.
639–647. Urry, J. 2000. Sociology Beyond Societies.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. 1998. Destination Mobilities for Twenty First Century. London:
Culture. Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. Routledge.
Los Angeles: University of California Press. Westergren, E. 2017. Use the Past, Create the
Lyotard, J.-F. 1979. La condition postmoderne: Future. The Time Travel Method, a Tool for
rapport sur le savoir. Paris: Éd. De minuit. Learning, Social Cohesion and Community
Niklasson, E. & Hølleland, H. 2018. The Building. In: The Archaeology of Time Travel.
Scandinavian far-right and the new Experiencing the Past in the 21st Century,
politicization of heritage. Journal of Social edited by Petersson, B. & Holtorf, C. Oxford:
Archaeology. 18(2):121–148. Archaeopress. Pp. 89–111.
Peterson, D. R., Gavua, K. & Rassool, C. eds.
2015. The Politics of Heritage in Africa.
Economies, Histories, and Infrastructures.
International Africa Institute, New York:
Cambridge University Press.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

ELDERLY CARE – A CURRENT AND

FUTURE ARENA FOR HERITAGE WORK?
EMMA ANGELIN-HOLMÉN  •  KALMAR MUNICIPALITY, SWEDEN

Kalmar County Museum has been working with where the museum tested and further developed
Time Travels for more than 30 years and a focus different methods as Time Travel events, memory
on contemporary issues for almost 15 years. The suitcases, dress parades, old fashioned choirs and
methods were first developed with children and guided tours (Angelin-Holmén and Nömgård
schools but Time Travels have been useful to im- 2011). The methods were developed further by
plement in various parts of society and its devel- working with elderly care in South Africa in the
opment, for example in facilitating integration project “More living – Active Age” from 2012.
processes (Hunner and Westergren 2011). This project involved several Time Travels, many
In 2008–09, culture was identified at national based on life stories (Angelin Holmén, Lindström
level as an important issue in order for older peo- and Westergren 2015) as well as staff exchange
ple to continue living a meaningful life. Kalmar between staff and directors from Kalmar County
County Museum was immediately interested and Museum, the elderly care organization in Kalmar
was one of the museums that were granted Na- and Mörbylånga municipalities and the Social
tional projects that enabled the museum to start welfare department in the Western Cape region,
developing a special program for elderly as well as South Africa. The project provided new experi-
for disabled people. ences and perspectives for all participants.
Kalmar County Museum has therefore been During discussions on one of the trips to
working with elderly care since 2009. It started Western Cape the directors from an elderly home
with the national project “Do you remember?” in Sweden came up with the idea to transform one

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

of their elderly homes, “Rönningegården”, into an

elderly home with a “Heritage profile”.
Rönningegården was at that time the institu-
tion with the worst reputation in its municipality.
It was situated in an outdated building and parts
of the staff, based on visits and meetings with the
director, seemed to be uninspired in their work.
Therefore, older people in the community hesitated
to move there even if they needed the care services.
The directors of Rönningegården identified
the following issues that they wanted to change
and develop in collaboration with Kalmar County Time Travel to 1962 in Nduli, Ceres, South Africa on
Museum: forced removal. Ma Rose and her two sisters’ life story.

• Develop and increase the quality of the social we realized that the key task was to somehow alter
content for the elderly the way the staff, mostly assisting nurses, perceive
• Decrease and prevent loneliness and create themselves and their work. We wanted to explore
meaningful living conditions for the elderly the possibility of challenging the traditional lim-
• Acknowledge the elderly as individuals and its and roles of the discipline, through the use of
not as a group of patients Time Traveling methodology. With the use of
• Create a more interesting and meaningful job such an approach, we could perhaps also change
situation for the staff the way the nurses perceive the elderly as a group
• Implement evidence-based methods of patients, adding tools from the methodology
that enabled them to gain impressions and ex-
It proved to be a real challenge for the museum to periences that they had not received within their
test how heritage in general and the Time Travel more formal and traditional training.
method in particular could function in relation With those aims in mind, the museum cre-
to these goals and purposes. Within the museum, ated a tailor made educational program that all

33
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

the assisting nurses took in smaller groups. The

education consisted of several parts, including an
introduction about culture and heritage, a short
history lesson, accounts on civil courage and the
role of unwritten rules in society and finally, as
the main part – a Time Travel to the 1960’s.

TIME TRAVEL
The Time Travel went to 1967 and it included Staff at the elderly home Rönningegården in the Time
the scenario of a meeting for women in the local Travel event to 1967. The focus was on “change”.
church committee. The discussions concerned
whether it was a good idea to start a nursing girls during the meeting that in her opinion was
home (later Rönningegården), what art to choose unfit for household maintenance tasks as baking,
for the assembly hall, what kind of cookies they sewing or taking care of the home or children.
should bake and who should bake them, the up- She had favorites that were chosen for every im-
bringing of children and other topics along sim- portant task. She decided everything. There were
ilar lines. attempts during the Time Travel to express alter-
Prior to the start of the Time Travelling, the native opinions, especially by those who had role
staff was given a short history lesson about the cards telling them to do so. Most attempts were
sixties and the mentality as well as an introduc- rejected. For example, the church committee had
tion to the Time Travel method and how to par- the privilege to choose what kind of art to put on
ticipate. Some of them got a role card telling them the walls in the assembly hall. Different sugges-
how to act and what to say. They were all given an tions and opinions came up but almost everyone
invitation to the meeting and had five minutes to felt forced to vote in favor of the chairwoman’s
put on a hat or a dress suitable for the occasion. suggestion in the end. It was very interesting to
The meeting in the church committee was led see how most of the staff followed the chairwom-
by a very dominant and mean chairwoman with an despite the fact that they were against her by
old fashioned ideas and opinions. She pointed out heart.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

After the Time Travel and a short break, the care instead of a homogenous group of patients
education continued, and it was suddenly as if we in need of mostly physical care such as medicines,
were working with a totally different group of peo- cleaning, hygiene etc.? Indeed, many ideas came
ple. Before the Time Travel most of the staff mem- up during the following dynamic workshops. The
bers were shy and hesitated to discuss with us. discussions of how to value the staffs’ accessible
Furthermore, they were skeptical as to why mu- hours and needs amongst the elderly is of course
seum people were there in the first place. We tried nothing that the museum introduced; it has al-
to avoid that skepticism by simply acknowledging ways been an important and difficult task. The
the fact and joke about it telling them that since museum simply created a safe space and a method
they work with elderly people they need histori- through the Time Travels for the discussions.
ans/archaeologists. Then we tried to explain that We are happy and proud to note that since our
we work with human values and use history as a Time Travelling program, Rönningegården has
method. However, after the Time Travel they were developed from a traditional institution with a
instead cheerful, open and we had interesting dis- bad reputation towards an open and more social
cussions on the topic of why people may choose to working environment. The staff is now more en-
follow a dominant leader, which unwritten rules gaged in their work, which can be noted in how
you have a possibility to change as an individual they included the elderly in helping out in pre-
in society and, in addition to that, what kind of paring the meals. Through an increased dedica-
delimiting discourses that may reside within the tion of the staff members, a pub has opened in
very walls of an elderly home, including highly the elderly home, and various sport events have
traditional opinions of how a certain kind of work been organized. Furthermore, the bathroom was
is supposed to be carried out. transformed into a spa, Thai food is occasionally
New ideas about how to run a nursing home added to the menu, study circles are organized,
came up. What could be changed if the staff old furniture have been collected in order to cre-
would use their own cultural heritage and their ate new rooms and making exhibitions. Both staff
own interests and capabilities in their work? How and directors agree that those little changes, to
could they see the elderly as individuals with a make the formal bath into a spa or the rehab area
personal history in need of personal and social into a gym, have been very meaningful in every-

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Today Rönningegården has changed from

being the lowest ranked nursing home in Mör-
bylånga municipality to being one of the best.
They have several visiting groups that wish to
learn from their experience. Contrary to how it
was previously, elderly people in the municipality
now request to move there and therefore, they are
even having a waiting list. Just as important, the
staff members work on a daily basis with heritage
and they are now more satisfied with their jobs
(Gustavsson 2016).

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Simple activities can make a difference in everyday life at Which factors contributed to making this project
elderly care centres. Photo: Stefan Siverud. a success? There are many reasons for this, such
as engaged and open-minded directors and staff
day life for the elderly (Gustafsson 2016). Final- (even though not all of them were open-minded
ly, the staff are now carrying out their own Time from the beginning). In this case, we can also
Travels with the elderly in their own ways. At one argue that heritage and the Time Travel method
Time Travel they organized a dance in the park helped to empower the staff and realize that they
and cruising with American cars from the 60´s. are important not only as staff but as individu-
Of course, there are also other factors than Time als with their own cultural heritage, that they can
Travelling contributing to these positive changes use in their work. Knowledge about for example
of attitudes. However, the museum is happy to cooking thai food can be an asset in elderly care.
have played a part in this development through Knowledge about history and the elderly’s stories
adding perspectives and experiences that employ- and life-trajectories change how the staff treated
ees in Swedish elderly care otherwise rarely have the elderly: “An important result is that the staff
access to. is more observant of the elderly’s personal histo-

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

ry and needs” (Gustafsson 2016, author’s trans- implementing the importance of heritage was
lation). The recognition of the creative resources a decisive factor for increasing quality of life for
among the staff and how capable they were in pro- both elderly and their care assistants. Therefore,
viding increased emotional wellbeing for the el- the museum now has a new arena to work on.
derly certainly empowered them as they realized
what a significant impact they could have in the REFERENCES
improved social conditions for the elderly as well Angelin Holmén, E. & Nömgård, M. 2011.
as creating more satisfying working conditions Kommer du ihåg? Rapport från ett äldre­
for themselves. Welfare research continuously projekt i samarbete mellan fem länsmuseer.
state that the low social well-being and quality Kalmar läns museum.
of life among both staff and residents in Swedish Angelin Holmén, E. together with Lindström,
care institutions for elderly is a significant, and T. & Westergren, E. 2015. Livsberättelser
costly, welfare problem. Therefore, it is highly rel- och platser gör historien levande. In:
evant to identify and implement evidence-based Livsberättelser, Kultur och Hälsa, ed. Eklöf, M.
methods that hold a capacity to counteract this & Petersson, M. LNU.
development. Gustavsson, K. 2016. Kulturarv i person­centrerat
To work with heritage and the Time Travel arbete med äldre. En utvärdering av profil-
method introduced innovative and concrete tools boendet Rönningegården. LNU.
to develop the social content and a salutogenic per- Hunner, J. & Westergren, E. 2011. Engaging
spective for the staff. The education on heritage cre- the Present through the past. In: Museum
ated a safe space for important and sometimes dif- International Vol: 63/1–2. pp. 119–129.
ficult discussions. Education is always empowering
and the willingness, dedication and engagement of
the staff in this project, where they themselves were
a central actor in the development, is the best result
and proof of a useful method!
For the museum the most significant outcome
was the confirmation that acknowledging and

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

IN SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

– A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE OF TIME TRAVELS
GULSHERA KHAN  •  PORT SHEPSTONE TWINNING ASSOCIATION, SOUTH AFRICA

BACKGROUND “As long as many of our people still live in utter

Over three decades ago, a powerful method was poverty, as long as children still live under plastic
developed in Sweden: Time Travel and Histor- covers, as long as many of our people are still with-
ic Environment Education. The Swedish society out jobs, no South African should rest and wallow
has a sophisticated information documentation in the joy of freedom.”
system and comprehensive archives. The country
has a highly resourced education and welfare sys- In 1995, the Truth and Reconciliation Commis-
tem based on social democratic principles (right sion (TRC) was established to deal with the hu-
to health care, family services, old-age pensions man rights violations primarily by the apartheid
and other social benefits regardless of income). It state. According to South African History Online:
has a smaller population than South Africa and a
strong infrastructure. “The aim of the TRC was to combat impunity
In contrast, South Africa is one of the and recreate a culture of accountability, and most
world’s youngest democracies. In 1994, our first importantly to uncover truth about gross human
post-apartheid President, Nelson Rolihlahla rights violations and assist families of the victims
Mandela, was elected. The primary task at hand in getting closure. In short, the TRC was a prudent
was to reconcile and rebuild. The challenges of step for reconciling the South African community.”
poverty, unemployment and inequality remain (www.sahistory.org.za/article/truth-and-
formidable. In his own words: reconciliation-commission-trc-1995)

38
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

However, this attempt merely scratched the sur- Fundamentally, Time Travel remains an educa-
face of a deep wound. There was need for deeper tional method, using local heritage in a learning
intervention reaching all corners of South African process, to reflect on contemporary issues, and
society. provide tools for community building.
The effort by the team at Kalmar County Mu-
INTRODUCTION OF seum steadily spread the concept to many parts of
TIME TRAVEL TO SOUTH AFRICA the world, including South Africa.
Against this background, Kalmar County Mu-
seum, in Sweden, led by Ebbe Westergren, intro- INTRODUCTION OF
duced the Time Travel method to the Western TIME TRAVEL TO KWAZULU-NATAL
Cape in 2006. In 2008, the principles underpin- In 2008, the programme reached the province
ning the Time Travel implementation process of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The Port
were adopted at a national conference. Since then, Shepstone Twinning Association, a civil socie-
10 years later, the following principles have en- ty (non-governmental) organisation, decided to
dured and remain relevant: embrace this programme. The organisation has
a long history of twin programmes with Sweden
• A focus on local sites and stories. since 1994.
• The importance to maximize partners in the The value of the Time Travel programme for
process and in the event. the situation that prevailed in South Africa was
• A focus on key questions, related to impor- immediately apparent. It compelled the engage-
tant issues of today and connected to similar ment of local communities irrespective of sta-
issues in the past. tus or stature. It included involvement from the
• Developing and documenting the history of youth, senior citizens, women, people with dis-
local communities, thereby acknowledging abilities, professionals, workers and the unem-
their contribution, history from below. ployed. In human rights violations, all are affect-
• Implementing reflective dialogue, focusing ed. Hence, in applying the programme, all are
on communication, reflection, analysis and equally absorbed and engaged. The programme is
discussion/debate by participants. about “us”.

39
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

The success of the pilot programme impressed the approach is needed where the site identified is
Member of Executive Committee of Kwa­ Zulu- generally unrecorded and linked to human rights
Natal’s Department of Arts and Culture. They ac- violations. Thus, researchers, social workers, ed-
knowledged the concept and saw the opportunity ucators, community development workers, mu-
for the transformation of museum services. Today, seum personnel and most importantly ordinary
the programme has developed a national footprint members of the local communities are collective-
in all provinces supported by the National Depart- ly engaged. The facilitating organisation manages
ment of Arts and Culture. South African society in and co-ordinates the process. An example of such
general, non-governmental organisations, sector a process is documented below.
government departments and museum and herit-
age organisations have all identified the relevance APARTHEID: THE GROUP
of the programme. The lobbing process to influence AREAS ACT AND FORCED REMOVALS
other departments and stakeholders continues. The harsh apartheid laws, especially the Group
Areas Act of 1950, restricted citizens of the coun-
METHODOLOGY try to racially classified residential and business
In applying the method, the process begins with areas. Almost four million people were forceful-
ordinary people identifying their heritage. This ly removed overnight to areas away from the city
enhances ownership, dignity and self-respect. with little to no basic resources.
Their own stories are used as an educational tool In 2010, Ebbe Westergren and Helen Eklund,
for learning. In each Time Travel event, the pro- working with a committee in Gamalakhe (a town-
cess has been comprehensive, focusing on com- ship arising out of the Group Areas Act), realized
munity development and adopting a community that there was no documented history about the
building approach. township. This warranted a need for extensive
In researching for Time Travel sites at local research, consultation and documentation of the
community level, mostly through oral history re- area’s history. After many oral history sessions, it
cordings, the deep wounds of the past invariably was decided to peg the painful history of forced
resurface. Working at the pace of the communi- removals on the story of the Memela family.
ty takes time and patience. A multi-disciplinary This family was one of the very first to bear the

40
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Smangele Mamela cooking in her tin house in the Time Travel to 1968.

brunt of the draconian Group Areas Act by being In Smangele Memela’s own words:
moved from a peri-urban area close to their place “It is too painful to talk about. It was traumatic
of employment, to a rural, under-resourced area times in South Africa. I clearly remember the day.
on the basis of their pigmentation. I was eight years old when it happened. We heard
The method is very effective for mass commu- stories, rumors about people, that Black African
nity education. It is “real” and healing, in that the people were being taken away from their homes
stories of regular people are being heard. and placed in unknown areas. We did not realize

41
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

October 1968. The truck with all the belongings of the family, arrives at a new place. Time Travel event based on the story
of Smangele Mamele.

that this would also happen to us. I still ask my- pack. It was all rushed. Where, we did not know.
self the question, Why? As a child you failed to I could see fear in my mother’s eyes. My brother
understand. There were no answers given by my and I followed my mother at the back of the mu-
mother Bonnie because she said we should not ask nicipal truck, holding her tightly, in order not to
questions, just follow the rules if we want to be fall over but also out of a fear of the unknown, for
safe. The day arrived, in October 1968, when we protection. There were two or three other families
heard shouting’s; to take our belongings and get on the same truck, whom I do not remember their
into the truck. We were not given enough time to names.”

42
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Why are we removed? How to survive in the new place? Many questions and few answers. Discussions and reflections
outside the new home for Memela’s family, a small tin house.

Together, we organized a Time Travel event based ered a heritage site and the event has been repeated
on the story of Smangele Memela. A scenario was many times for new groups, learners and adults.
developed focusing on the arrival of the Memela The Port Shepstone Twinning Association con-
family in their small tin house in Gamalakhe. The tinues to work with other families in Gamalakhe.
key questions were about discrimination and living Bestowing respect and dignity is a constant pri-
together in the new place. This Time Travel event ority. The victim comes first in all of such Time
was a big success and of course very emotional for Travel events. We attempt to mitigate their pain
Smangele Memela. Her tin house is now consid- through supportive services but at all times their

43
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

King Shaka Time Travel at Mtwalume, when the Zulu King stopped there for a couple of days in 1828. War or peace? This
Time Travel has become a tourist event with thousands of participants.

space is respected. This is carefully managed. COMMUNITY BUILDING IN

Oral history continues to be documented for fu- THE FACE OF CURRENT CHALLENGES
ture generations. This is one of many examples of Implementation of the method also takes into ac-
the significance of the intervention by Ebbe West- count current needs of our country. Unemploy-
ergren and Kalmar County Museum in support- ment rates are high. In every community artists,
ing our journey towards reconciliation and social praise singers, crafters, musicians and those en-
cohesion through the Time Travel method. gaged in culture and heritage programmes are

44
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

identified, recruited, screened and trained. Be- serves as an example of strong partnerships. It in-
tween 2013 and 2016, 120 job opportunities were volves the following participants: Umzumbe Mu-
created in our Time Travel programme in Port nicipality, Port Shepstone Twinning Association,
Shepstone/KZN. In addition, former education- Department of Arts and Culture, AMAFA, Ugu
ists are recruited, and their skills assist in many South Coast Tourism, local cultural groups and
areas of our work. Their contribution in the re- members of the community.
flective dialogue is invaluable and motivating.
To contribute towards the economy of poor TIME TRAVEL CONTRIBUTING
rural communities, their facilities and resources TO SOCIAL COHESION
are used during Time Travel events. Furthermore, Increasingly all over the world, and most certain-
community members participate in the Time ly in South Africa, there is a need for stronger
Travel programme. In this way there is a total social cohesion. Social cohesion is multi-dimen-
buy-in to the programme. sional, promoting integration between commu-
Time Travel stimulates creativity and expands nities in an attempt to find common expression
the horizon of what is possible. The link to tour- between themselves. It is a long-term process. The
ism soon became apparent. Historical sites are Time Travel method is used as one of the tools in
natural tourist destinations. King Shaka Zulu is promoting this concept.
a world renowned historical figure. As a result of Nelson Mandela left us with a powerful lega-
Time Travel, we developed a site in Mtwalume cy – the phenomenon of the rainbow nation. But
where King Shaka and his army travelled in 1828. the legacy of apartheid also remains. The fault
The community identified the site though oral lines of racial division, class exploitation, poverty,
history. Today the site has been developed and unemployment and inequality run deep. When
maintained as a heritage site, and there are in- economic conditions are difficult these fault lines
formation signs leading to it. Annually, there is a are sharply exposed which leads to an increase of
community event hosted at the site, attended by divisions.
approximately 3000 people. In addition, five ed- From its inception, the Time Travel pro-
ucational programmes are conducted every year, gramme actively and consciously brought the
involving local schools. This form of Time Travel different sectors of society together in promoting

45
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

non-racialism. It encouraged dialogue on past

and current issues.
The Time Travel method contributes to our
overall developmental goals as enshrined in South
Africa’s National Development Plan: A Vision for
2013:
”Cultural activities and art can also play a ma-
jor role in facilitating the sharing of common spac-
es. In addition art can foster values and facilitate
dialogue and healing, thus restoring pride among
African, Indian and Coloured South Africans. The
country must support and encourage the produc-
tion of art work and stories that facilitate healing,
nation building and dialogue.”
Our Time Travel programme is recognised as
a credible and effective method towards achieving
the objective mentioned above.
A quote from one of our adult participants is
most telling:
”All my views changed when I experienced my
first Time Travel event – being in the time capsule
allowed me to go through a little bit of the past and
stirred up all kinds of emotions. Seeing how people
were treated in that time period and the challeng-
es they faced brought tears to my eyes. The Time
Time Travel with learners at the old harbour in Port Shep-
Travel method is unique. My personal opinion is
stone, 1905. Learners from several schools are mixed in
that it is good exercise for all South Africans to ex- the events. Indian can play African, African can play Indian.
perience.”

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

TIME TRAVEL AND CONCLUSION

THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM Time Travel and Applied Heritage is a powerful
Time Travel as an educational method resonates method which transcends all boundaries. It is
with the principles of social transformation espe- more than educational. It is practical. It unites
cially concerning human rights, inclusivity and people. It builds self-respect and confidence.
social justice. It allows students to be actively in- It creates new horizons and gives people hope
volved thereby strengthening their skill and depth through their efforts. Today, Time Travel and Ap-
of knowledge and understanding. Furthermore, plied Heritage has a national footprint in South
valuing indigenous knowledge systems and being Africa. Ebbe Westergren started it.
sensitive to issues of diversity are instrumental in
developing critical thinkers. FURTHER READING
The Time Travel method can be a strong pillar Khan, G. ed. 2015. 7 Steps Guidebook. Time
of support to the school curriculum. It can assist Travel and Historic Environment Education.
to promote individuals who are able to: Port Shepstone Twinning Association.
• identify and solve problems National Development Plan – Vision 2030. South
• make decisions using critical and creative African government.
thinking Social African School Curriculum. 2016.
• work effectively as individuals and with oth- Westergren, E. et al. 2018. Guidelines for Time
ers as members of a team Travels with Schools
• organise and manage themselves and their Westergren, E. et al. 2010. This place has
activities responsibly and effectively meaning. Case Studies of Time Travels and
• communicate effectively using visual, sym- Historic Environment Education, South Africa
bolic and/or language skills in various modes 2006–2010.
• show responsibility towards the environment
and the health of others
• demonstrate an understanding of the world as a
set of related systems by recognising that prob-
lem solving contexts do not exist in isolation.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

LIFE TIME COMPETENCES

AND TIME TRAVELLING
HENRIK ZIPSANE  •  JAMTLI, SWEDEN

The concept of time travelling rests on the human total. As the older adults have a better health situa-
ability to imagine. As we humans feel empathy, tion than previous generations this population seg-
and as we recognise and experience the same abil- ment offers potential resources for living memories
ity in other human beings we can imagine togeth- (Zipsane 2011).
er. That must somehow be the key to time travel- With life time competences I refer to the
ling when using the concept in science fiction and knowledge, skills and attitudes which develop
in museums. through a lifetime based on experiences and bi-
ological development. Such competences are per-
LIFE TIME COMPETENCES sonal but there are commonalities between people
In the following text I’ll concentrate on what time because of similar structures in life time sched-
travelling may be about for older adults in third age ules. After all, we all go through similar phases in
– meaning the period post labour life and until the our biological development and even in our social
health situation as such deteriorates and life con- lives. It seems pretentious to use a word like wis-
tinues in to fourth age (Schuller & Watson 2009). dom to characterise these specific competences.
That is an age group which is increasing rapidly in The life time competences can’t really be valued
western society as life expectancy has grown longer or even assessed as such. They are simply there!
during most of the 20th century. But this specific Life time competences are already today of
group in the population has not only grown in great interest to memory organisations such as
numbers but also as a portion of the population in museums and archives. Many are the older adults

48
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Volunteers acting 19th century ladies at Jamtli’s spring market, taking a ride in Jamtli’s carousel.

who help with identification of long forgotten mo- smiths and other crafts of the like but the same
tives in photo collections and many older adults goes for nurses, teachers and even office assistants
have preserved competences from different crafts such as secretaries. Remember that not many are
which seem obsolete today. Preservation of some able to type more than 100 signs per minute today
crafts has become dependent on competences or use all ten fingers when typing.
which were taught and learned decades ago by However, life time competences are not only
now older adults. Museum professionals may be about memories in the form of knowledge or skills
especially tempted to think of carpenters, black- from the past. Attitudes are as important but less

49
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Every summer during the Historyland season, volunteers arrange meetings to different historical times. Here are the
housewives meeting in the Per Albin-farm from 1942. The housewives inspect the vegetable garden.

50
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

explored. In fact, I am sure that we all have ex- a setting for socialising with others. The heritage
perienced older relatives with “strange” attitudes organisations – when successful – are almost ar-
which become visible in specific circumstances. chetypical places to stimulate self-directed-learn-
Nevertheless, it should not be any surprise that ing. The self-directed-learning is probably today
attitudes also relate to everything from character the most prominent phenomenon in adult learn-
of fostering in childhood to continued develop- ing, as this quote reveals: “In some respects, this
ment of convictions and behaviour throughout emergence of SDL has been a reaction against the
adulthood. overly-prescriptive character of formal education
The life time competences carried and kept by where tight curricula, teacher domination and
older adults are interesting in several ways and in sometimes rigid assessment practices have resulted
the meeting point between the older adults and in alienation of adults, particularly older people”
heritage organisations such competences are giv- (Findsen & Formosa 2011).
en exceptional value for both (Hansen & Zipsane Nevertheless, this represents an ideal percep-
2014). tion and a meeting on equal terms with a transac-
tion formed by demand and supply should be the
ELDERLY IN MUSEUMS case. Indeed, in many archives and museums that
Volunteering in museums and archives is such an is what’s happening every day.
example. From the perspective of the heritage or- Therefore, being in a museum or an archive
ganisation the older adult is representing a direct should be a form of time travel for the individual
contact to a recent past. From the perspective of older adult when dealing with times covered by
the older adult the heritage organisation repre- the personal life span.
sents the demand for the specific life time com- At Jamtli museum we have permanent en-
petences. The heritage organisation grows with vironments from 1940s, 1950s and 1970s in the
achieving and preserving new memories and the open air museum. These offer full scale three di-
older adult grows as she or he feels valued. At the mensional experiences with complete interiors
same time the heritage organisation provides a and actors re-living the time. In the established
place for a potential social setting. As older adults research tradition on living history and re-en-
engage as volunteers they help making that place actment such environments are often referred to

51
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

as outdoor laboratories and outdoor classrooms

(Tilden 2007). The reactions and conversations
among our guests who remember these periods
in their own lives deserve attention. We hear and
observe how our guests remember and how their
memories are initially triggered by the total bom-
bardment of all senses including sounds, smells
and views. Indeed, these impressions are taking
the individual back in time. Afterwards, many
guests begin talking to their relatives and even to
themselves about their experience. From a casual
remark about one or few objects it often develops
to longer talks about the remembered context. Fi-
nally, we observe – with great pleasure – how the
guests play along with the museum actors in the
Volunteers also contribute as hosts at various events and
environment who are re-enacting and personalis- reinforce Jamtli’s service to the visitors.
ing a specific typical character of that time.
Not only does such engagement from our
guests create exciting moments for the actors and rience. Experimentation with audiences’ percep-
other guests. We see how the individual grows tions of what constitutes participation provokes
with well-deserved pride and actors learn some- various responses. Those who choose to engage in
thing new about the time in question. It becomes such a way receive memories of experiences that
a process of capacity building by taking advan- remain vivid, urgent and can genuinely change
tage of the life time competences of the older adult their attitudes not only toward the subject mat-
(Fristrup & Zipsane forthcoming). ter being interpreted, but toward the form also, in
The older adult becomes something else than a pronounced ways. Those who are forced to partic-
guest in the museum at that moment. He or she is ipate can be turned off the idea of interpretation
both teacher, learner and co-producer of the expe- of heritage in this manner altogether. It is for this

52
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

reason that one of the principal recommendations that the Swedish government noticed the formi-
is that the “frames” of a performance should be dable potential of living history in reaching peo-
considered as critical to the success or failure of ple from all backgrounds when in the first decade
participatory heritage performance (Kidd 2012). of the 21st century first Kalmar County Museum
With a paraphrase of Peter Jarvis and Jack (Kalmar läns museum), then Jamtli Foundation
Mezirow we may understand whatever experience and finally The Archive Association of Scania
as the totality of ways in which humans sense the (Skånes Arvförbund), were provided three-year
world and make sense of what they perceive. Old- long national tasks for Sweden. These institutions
er adults’ life time competences may then be un- are all front runners in applying living history in
derstood as lifetime accumulation of experiential their work (Zipsane, Löfstedt & Domeij 2018).
learning which in turn is resulting in personal The Time Travel method as developed in Kal-
growth and development (Jarvis 2006; Mezirow mar and with its many followers has, as Ebbe
2000). Westergren emphasises, its focus on contem-
porary issues in a learning process by using the
LIVING HISTORY local past (Westergren 2017). For older adults in
When living history in combination with heritage heritage organisations such as Jamtli or other mu-
interpretation using first, second and third person seums who address and visualise recent times,
techniques and time travelling methods were in- the time travel may be about what you might call
troduced in the 1960s and 1970s internationally, the “contemporary past” as it is a life time mem-
and in the 1980s in Sweden, it was not really rec- ory. It has been observed that there seems to be
ognized by the museum world at large. Living his- a split between two activities in museums, with
tory was a post-modern provocation to positivist reminiscence work being oriented towards the
scientific approaches. Today living history is part fourth agers (when health situation deteriorates)
of the mainstream arsenal of almost every archae- and volunteering work being the domain of the
ological or cultural history museum worldwide. third agers (Fristrup & Grut 2015). Even though
For reasons which goes beyond the scope of this this is a representative perception of what we see
short paper living history is going to conquer art every day, I think we may have to question the
museums and galleries as well. It is not surprising categorisation as too rigid as it does not give the

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

REFERENCES
Findsen, B. & Formosa, M. 2011. Lifelong Learn-
ing in Later Life. A Handbook on Older Adult
Learning. Rotterdam-Boston-Tapei: Sense
Publishers.
Fristrup, T. & Grut, S. 2015. Self-Caring in Later
Life. The Caring Museum. New Models of
Engagement with Ageing, edited by Robertson,
H.L.–Edinburgh and Boston: Museums Etc.
Fristrup, T. & Zipsane, H. Forthcoming. Lifelong
One of the favorite tasks of volunteers is to cook “kolbul- Learning through Heritage. Capacity building
lar”, pancakes, during Jamtli’s various events. for re-engagement in later life. Social Inclu-
sion through Lifelong Learning in Cultural
reminiscence impact in the third age the value it Heritage, edited by Hildebrand, B. Östersund:
has when activating life time competences. The The Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning &
life time competences may be as important in Creativity, Östersund (in print).
third age as in later life. The individual memories Hansen, A. & Zipsane, H. 2014. Older people as a
are as important for life quality in third age as in developing market for cultural heritage sites.
fourth age, but of course in a different way. When Journal of Adult and Continuing Education 20
individual memories are triggered in fourth age (1). Pp. 137–143.
we often just look at this as a way to possibly im- Jarvis, P. 2006. Towards a Comprehensive Theory
prove the conscience of the individual about here of Human Learning. Lifelong Learning and the
and now. For the individual in third age the time Learning Society”. London: New York: Rout-
traveling to earlier memories is more like re-acti- ledge.
vating competences related to the memories. This Kidd, J. 2012. The costume of openness: heritage
makes the use of time traveling in volunteering performance as a participatory cultural prac-
re-enactment especially interesting and worth tice. Performing heritage. Research, practice
further research. and innovation in museum theatre and live

54
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

interpretation, edited by Jackson, A. & Kidd, citizens. In: International Journal of Continu-
J. Manchester University Press. ing Education and Lifelong Learning, edited by
Mezirow, J. 2000. Learning as Transformation. Zhang, W., Enoch, Y.C.M., Cheung, D., Lau,
Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress. M. and Chenggui, D. Hong Kong: The Uni-
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. versity of Hong Kong.
Schuller, T. & Watson, D. 2009. Learning through Zipsane, H., Löfstedt, U. & Domeij, M. 2018.
life. Inquiry into the future for lifelong learn- Kulturarvsinstitutionerna och skolväsendet
ing. Leicester, UK: NIACE – National Insti- – bidrag till en forskningsöversikt. (Cultural
tute of Adult Continuing Education. Heritage Organisations and Education – a
Tilden, F. 2007. Interpreting our Heritage. [4th Contribution to a Research Survey). Stock-
Edition]. The University of North Carolina holm-Östersund: Riksantikvarieämbetet and
Press. The Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning &
Westergren, E. 2017. Use the Past – Create the Creativity. (in print).
Future. The Archaeology of Time Travel. Expe-
riencing the Past in the 21st Century”, edited by
Petersson, B. & Holtorf, C. Oxford: Archaeo-
press.
Zipsane, H. 2011. Heritage Learning in service
of the memories and life quality of senior

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

COFFEE AND MUSIC

– TWO POSITIVE EXAMPLES OF PEACE BUILDING, SOCIAL COHESION
AND FUTURE CHALLENGES, REFLECTIONS FROM RWANDA AND TANZANIA
JONAS EWALD  •  LINNAEUS UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN

In this short article I would like to give two con- lar music can play for peaceful development and
trasting and interesting examples of how heritage social cohesion.
can contribute to build peace and cohesion, even
in diverse societies that have suffered from pro- RWANDA – ILLUSTRATING
tracted conflicts. The first example is Rwanda, HOW DEADLY HERITAGE CAN BE
a country that has experienced one of the worst Rwanda is a small, landlocked, mountainous coun-
genocides since the Second World War. It is diffi- try with a long and exciting history and culture
cult to imagine a country more torn apart. In this (Chrétien 2003). It is a beautiful and fertile country.
article I will present a positive example of how it At the same time, it is one of the countries in Africa
is possible, even after a genocide, to build peace with the highest population density, with scarcity
and development with the help of a combination of land, few natural resources and deep poverty.
of heritage and civil society organisation, local Rwanda is an illustrative example of how dan-
government, universities and international or- gerous politicized heritage can be (Prunier 1995).
ganisations. The second example is Tanzania, a We cannot analyze the complex background here
country which is an exception in a region, where in detail, but it was through a politicization of cul-
all neighbouring countries have been involved in tural heritage and a mobilization based on a cul-
protracted violence, where no violent conflicts, so ture of identity that led to the genocide in 1994,
far, has developed (Ewald 2013). With the Tanza- where some 800 000–1,2 million mainly “Tutsis”,
nian case I would like to illustrate the role popu- were killed, raped, maimed in a horrific process,

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

mobilizing some 1,5–2 million “Hutu”-perpetra- THE CASE OF

tors, and generating refugee flows of some three- ABAHUZAMUGAMBI COOPERATIVE
four million people within and outside the coun- A good example of moving towards reconciliation
try (Des Forges 1999, Ewald et al. 2004, Prunier is the Abahuzamugambi (People who work to-
2009). gether to achieve a goal) cooperative, which I have
The politicisation of origin and of ethnic iden- been involved in as a researcher/activist. It was
tities is a challenge in some, but not all, African started in one of the worst affected areas of the
countries. (Braathen, Bøås, and Sæther 2000). genocide, in Mbarara south of Butare, as a collab-
How can a country heal after such terrible oration between the National University of Rwan-
events encompassing almost all of eight million da, women groups, local governments, various
inhabitants? civil society organisations and international part-
To rebuild infrastructure, buildings etc., is ners. Therefore, it is also an interesting example of
relatively simple, but how is it possible to rebuild how universities/institutes of higher learning can
trust – between individuals, clans, communi- play a hands-on role in practical peace building,
ties and the state (interpersonal and intergroup) reconciliation and development processes.
and the community? How can reconciliation be After the genocide almost all “Tutsi” men in
achieved after a genocide? Maraba were murdered and only a few managed
to escape, and most “Hutu” men were either in
prison/camps or had fled to Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC). Women and orphans were the
only ones left, from both sides of the conflict – all
with deep psychological and physical wounds.
Property, irrigation systems and infrastructure
were destroyed and cattle were killed. Poverty
was extremely deep – and deepening. A small co-
operative was started with some 200 women in
1999, in which they were trained in how to run
a cooperative and produce coffee. Already from

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

the beginning reconciliation and peace-building

was an integrated part. It was emphasised that the
only way to more forward was to work together
to give the children a chance to improved living
conditions, to depoliticise cultural heritage and
build a new culture of belonging together, hence
the name Abahuzamugambi. Within a few years
it expanded to include some 6000 members, from
both sides of the conflict. The project created an Women at the Maraba cooperative sorting coffee cherries.
advantage of two disadvantages; namely the enor- Photo: Gilles Tordjeman.
mous labour surplus and being a mountainous re-
gion. Through training, the women learned how
to cultivate coffee more intensively, with sustaina- it became a certified member of Fair Trade which
ble (and labour demanding) methods, and to pick ensured them a better deal. 70% of the income
the cherries exactly when they were ripe, one by for the coffee went to the individual farmer, and
one, and in such a way get a much higher and even 30% went to various joint investments in educa-
quality of the produce. The mountain sides were tion, health, storage facilities, infrastructure like
used to build coffee cleaning stations, leading the irrigation systems, and training of the members.
water through a system of rinsing channels and The women got much better income, and in a few
stations, in a way that effectively rinsed the cher- years the destitute Maraba district became one
ries, with very little damage to them. This created of the more developed rural districts in Rwanda.
the foundation for the “Maraba coffee” success – a This occurred through the Abahuzamugambiı co-
high quality coffee that could be sold at a much operative and all the multiple effects the coopera-
higher price at the world markets, roasted at spe- tive had on the area. A more diversified economy
ciality roasteries which found its way to Starbucks developed, with various service functions like bi-
and COOP in Sweden. Abahuzamugambi cooper- cycle/moped/motorcycle/car transport, cellphone
ative coffee is produced in a sustainable way, and charging facilities, butchery (better nutrition and

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

local market for livestock producers), education MUSIC AND TANZANIA – AN

and health facilities etc. It also inspired others INTERESTING CASE IN A REGION
to start cooperatives to produce baskets, horti- COINED BY PROTRACTED VIOLENCE1
culture and fruits. Apart from the positive eco- Why is popular music interesting and important
nomic effect, the Abahuzamugambi cooperative from a Time Travel perspective?
also contributed to reconciliation and a better un- Music, as part of heritage, have many func-
derstanding between the two sides of the conflict. tions for humans and society. It entertains, it can
The role of cultural heritage as a factor behind the make us dance and enjoy life – which is an es-
conflict are better handled even if the wounds are sential part of the well-being in Tanzania, as in
still present. any society. Music also plays an important role
If it is possible to do something like that in in ceremonial and official functions, such as on
Rwanda, with the extreme atrocities in mind, it national days, family festivities/weddings/gradu-
is also possible in any other context. Abhuzam- ations/funerals as well as in various religious con-
ugambi cooperative’s successful contribution to texts, including the traditional religion. It is also
peace-building and sustainable development led to important for increasing knowledge/awareness of
them being awarded the Gothenburg International the history and the culture of a society. It carries
Environmental Price in 2005 (Edman and Ewald the experiences and memories of older genera-
2005). This occurred as the result of a collaboration tions to the next generation. Music can be used
between Gothenburg University, Gothenburg Mu- to convey wisdom, experience and moral values
nicipality, the National University in Rwanda and (or the opposite – depending on the perspective
Maraba District local government. of the listener) (Malm 1981).
Let us now move to the other case, Tanzania, Music, lyrics and dance is embedded in socie-
and the role of popular music in building social ty. Music is not only listened to. People take active
cohesion. part in making it. Music can contribute to create

1 I have been a hobby musician. I played African dance music for ten years in Mama Malumma, a Gothenburg based band. On tour
in East Africa two times (Kenya, Tanzania). I spent many nights and Saturday afternoons at the many social halls with live music
around Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar town, Arusha and Mwanza, listening to music, dancing and discussions with musicians.

59
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

feelings of belonging and identity – as well as ex-

clusion, estrangement and even alienation. Music,
lyrics and dance play an important role for teasing/
challenging those in power, to discuss and criticize
social and political issues in society. People in pow-
er can control music or use it for propaganda or po-
litical objectives. In Tanzania as well as in Rwanda,
music has been important for political mobilisa-
tion and awareness–for both “good” as well as less
“good” reasons (Askew 2002, Gilman 2009).

RICH MUSICAL HISTORY

IN TANZANIA/EAST AFRICA Western Jazz Band in Dar es Salam.
There is a rich musical history in Tanzania and
East Africa2. There is Ngoma, the ”traditional” roles also were important plant schools for musi-
music and dance, with many different variations cians. They also brought instruments to the coun-
of dance and music from various parts of Tanza- try, like the brass instruments and guitars that
nia. The religious music – which apart from its became used in the early popular music, the Jazz
religious role, play an important part in training bands playing Muziki wa Tansi dance music, from
people in singing, playing instruments and con- 1930s to Bongo Flava today (Graebner 2007).
tribute to building a culture of music as well as In Zanzibar and along the coast, the Taarab
bringing instruments, amplifiers and recording music developed, including interesting influences
opportunities to the country. from 19th century Egyptian court music and vari-
The political music has played an important ous Arabic and Indian music influences. It is still
role since the colonial time. The military/police very popular both in Tanzania/East Africa and in
orchestras apart from their ceremonial/official Yemen (Perullo 2011).

2 In this short text I will focus on Tanzania as one example, but a similar strong development of popular culture exists as well in Kenya,
Uganda and Rwanda.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

The rich and varied popular music in Tanza-

nia has developed through an interconnection
between Ngoma, Muziki wa Dansi, the political
and religious music and international influences –
from its early days up to 2018. Popular music has
played an important role to build social cohesion
in Tanzania, and to the strong feeling of belong-
ing within a Tanzanian nation. Diamond Platnumz – Salome. Still from the music video.
From the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the po-
litical ambition to build a socialist country indi- also videos. In the 2000s social media came to be
rectly contributed to the rich musical development. one of the main channels. Influence from North
In order to attract the public to come to political American Hip-Hop developed to Bongo flavour,
meetings, social halls and stadiums were used as which is a specific Tanzanian style, often bring-
meeting grounds. This happened in almost every ing up social and political issues, and usually an-
corner of the country. Furthermore, theatre, dance chored in a rhythm or in elements from Ngoma
and dance music were used. Most state-owned (Clark 2014, Perullo 2011).
companies and organisations had orchestras used In sum, this rich popular music has contribut-
for information/propaganda purposes. This polit- ed to social cohesion and to the strong feeling of
ical music and the meeting venues in almost every being Tanzanian.
block in the larger cities created a good breeding
ground for a rich and diverse popular music. CRITICAL DISCUSSION
With liberalisation and globalisation from the The popular music could be critically discussed
1990s influences, new commercial channels as from a gender, social and class perspective.
well as video and TV opened up new opportu- From a gender perspective most videos/per-
nities. A combination of the development of new formances are quite sexist and tend to objectify
channels for music and a technological progress women. The language is rough and the gender
in the music/video industry improved the possi- roles are stereotyped. Male artists are often in
bilities to record and distribute not only music but a dominant position or in power. There are few

61
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

female lead singers, even if this is now changing. age and international influences – like all music
The tradition in Taarab is different. Women have – to a rich diversity of various genres, with a gen-
always played an important role, both as singers uinely distinct sound and style.
and writers. It has made Eastern Africa known far outside
From a social perspective it could be debat- the individual countries.
ed what kind of values that are promoted in the It creates jobs and economic opportunities in
contemporary popular music. Indeed, it is often a rapidly growing cultural sector, together with
a consumerist/day dreaming type of life style that dance, video, film and TV production.
is promoted in which the ideal seems to be to get Its vitality, energy and creativity inspire East-
rich. Consequently, the values that are promoted ern Africans – and others – and serve to make
represent the middle/rich class which is far from them both proud and aware of the importance of
the reality of the many. This could lead to frustra- the Swahili culture.
tion and less cohesion. It can promote the unity of the citizens to over-
From a class perspective it could be discussed come ethnic and religious division and motivate
by whom, for whom and with what purpose the the youth – but could as well be used for opposite
music is produced. reasons, as we have seen in the case of Rwanda.
However, there are also a great number of mu- It has promoted Swahili as a lingua franca in
sicians that voice critic and discuss various social, the region – and the greater region–and perhaps
cultural and political issues through music, rang- most of all, it has contributed to build a feeling
ing from Remmy Ongala in the 1980s and 1990s of belonging and common identity in the Eastern
to some of the Bongo flava musicians of today African Region – from the Somali Coast, Como-
(Brennan 2012). ros, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Eastern DRC,
Southern Sudan and the East African Communi-
CONCLUSION ty (EAC) countries.
Music in East Africa has developed in a fantastic A challenge in East Africa is the current rapid
way! population growth in combination with slow and
It has developed through a combination of non-inclusive growth that has led to rapidly in-
global, transnational, trans-cultural, local herit- creasing inequality, both in incomes and between

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

the rural and urban populations. This creates frus- Ewald, J., Nilsson, A., Närman, A. & Stålgren, P. 2004. A
strategic conflict analysis for the Great Lakes Region.
tration. These frustration gaps could easily be po- Stockholm: Sida.
liticized by various elite groups – as we have seen Frazer, L. 2006. “Coffee, and Hope, Grow in Rwanda.” New
in the case of Rwanda (and Kenya in the elections York Times, 2006-08-06.
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/business/
2007/08; 2013 and 2017). Here Time Travel as well yourmoney/06coffee.html.
as various ways of using cultural heritage could pro- Gilman, L. 2009. The dance of politics: gender, performance,
and democratization in Malawi, African soundscapes.
mote a dialogue for cohesion and peaceful develop- Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
ment. But it is also necessary with a transformation Graebner, W. 2007. “The Ngoma Impulse: From club to
of the economy to create a good and dignified life – nightclub in Dar es Salaam.” In Histories from an
Emerging African Metropolis edited by et al. James
and time to develop the rich cultural heritage even Brennan. Dar es Salaam: Mkuki Na Nyota.
further. Abahuzamugambi coffee cooperative and Malm, K. 1981. Fyra musikkulturer. Tanzania, Tunisien,
Sverige och Trinidad. Stockholm: AEW/Gebers.
the music scene of Tanzania show that it is possible, Perullo, A. 2011. Live from Dar es Salaam : popular music
both on a micro and a macro level. and Tanzania’s music economy, African expressive cul-
tures. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Prunier, G. 1995. The Rwanda crisis, 1959–1994: history of a
SELECTED REFERENCES genocide. London: Hurst.
Askew, K. M. 2002. Performing the nation: Swahili music Prunier, G. 2009. From Genocide to Continental War. The
and cultural politics in Tanzania, Chicago studies in “Congolese” Conflict and the Crisis of Contemporary
ethnomusicology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Africa. London: Hurst.
Brennan, J. 2012. Taifa: Making Nation and Race in Urban
Tanzania: Ohio University Press.
Clark, M. K. 2014. “The Role of New and Social Media in
Tanzanian Hip-Hop Production.” Musiques dans l’« SELECTED MUSICAL REFERENCES
Atlantique noir » (216):1115–1136. Diamond Platznum 2017 “Salome”: https://www.youtube.
Des Forges, A. 1999. “Leave none to tell the story”: Genocide com/watch?v=_bPjsDcPHks
in Rwanda. New York; Paris: Human Rights Watch; OTTU Jazz 1992 https://www.youtube.com/
International Federation of Human Rights. watch?v=h6l7ZprheWw
Edman, S. & Ewald, J. 2005. ”Maraba coffee – visar att Orchestra Maquis ”Ngalula” https://www.youtube.com/
det går! Succéhistorien om Abahuzamugambi Coffee watch?v=riNzCtuCfOQ&start_radio=1&list=R-
Cooperative.” Göteborgs Posten 2015-11-24. DEMOlOT7ARzsaCFHV-rstubEQ
Ewald, J. 2013. Challenges for the democratisation process Taarab: Bi Kidude 2009 https://www.youtube.com/
in Tanzania. Moving towards consolidation years after watch?v=egzufQ1ZDCk
independence? Dar es Saalam, Tanzania: Mkuki na
Nyota Publishers.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

TIME TRAVEL 1918 IN ESTONIA:

HOW TO ENGAGE 8400 STUDENTS IN ONE DAY
KAARI SIEMER  •  ESTONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM, ESTONIA

On the 7th of February 2018 at 10 o’clock 46 were Tukums Museum from Latvia, Ostroboth-
schools1 and 8 museums from all over Estonia inian Children’s culture Network BARK from
took part in “Time Travel 1918”. Over 8400 stu- Finland, Gargzdai DistrictMuseum from Lihtua-
dents travelled 100 years back in time. The histor- nia, Estonian National Museum (ENM) and Au-
ical destination was February 24th 1918, the date dentes School from Estonia.
of the publication of ”the Manifest to all Nations Each partner decided for themselves how to
in Estonia“, in Tallinn, that included the declara- celebrate the birthday of their country. In Finland
tion of independence of the Estonian Republic. all the eighth-graders of Ostrobothnia Coun-
ty were invited to travel to the years 1917, 1918
ABOUT THE PROJECT and 1920 – the first years of independence and
The idea that the museums of Estonia, Latvia, start of the civil war. The museums of Latvia and
Lithuania and Finland should celebrate the in- Lithuania decided to develop a new Time Travel
dependence of their countries together was al- program and enhance the cooperation between
ready conceived at the Bridging Ages Time Travel schools and museums.
conference in 2014. Two years later the project Since this method of teaching history is not
obtained a grant from Heritage Bridge Nordplus yet widely known in Estonia, we decided that the
Horizontal program. The partners of the project project is a good opportunity to promote the idea

1 As in Estonia there are 515 public schools during the session 2017/2018, 9% of the schools participated in this Time Travel event.

64
 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

of Time Travel, as well as provide training on how will take place in many schools all over Estonia on
to prepare and conduct it. Therefore we decided to February 7th 2018. As an example we conducted
travel back to the end of February 1918 at the same an entertaining Time Travel event in the end of
moment all over Estonia – on the 7th of February October 2017 in the Estonian Open Air Museum
2018 at 10 o’clock. We were hoping that the same in Tallinn so that the teachers would have a clear-
date and time would create similar excitement er understanding of how to organise and conduct
and sense of solidarity as in August 1989, when a Time Travel.
people from Tallinn to Vilnius stood together in The Facebook group Ajarännak1918 proved to
the Baltic Way.2 be an excellent medium. In a project of this size
it is very important to keep all the participants
PREPARATIONS informed. The group has over 180 members. It
The preparations took two years. During this made it easier to distribute training documents
time we promoted our ideas in newsletters and and useful reading material, share experiences
at meetings with school teachers. To simplify and emotions. The group also helped everyone
discussions we created a closed Facebook group to understand better how the Time Travel will be
Ajarännak1918 (Time Travel 1918). At the meet- carried out in different corners of Estonia. Many
ings with teachers it became clear that while the schools had studied their local history and with-
historical events in Estonia in 1918 are known in in their scripts they were using historical places,
general, there are gaps in the knowledge concern- situations and persons which were playing an im-
ing the culture and everyday life of the early 20th portant role in the declaration of independence.
century Estonia. Therefore we held two training During this project we were hoping to also
days for the teachers to talk about the political reach the Russian-speaking schools in East-
background, as well as about fashion and school ern-Virumaa, the area of most Russian-speaking
system – and in general about the “life“ of the era. inhabitants. Unfortunately we did not manage
We discussed and put in place the vision of what that.

2 At 19:00 on 23 August 1989, approximately two million people from the Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – joined
hands, forming a human chain from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius, spanning 600 kilometres, or 430 miles. It was a peaceful protest
against the illegal Soviet occupation, and also one of the earliest and longest unbroken human chains in history.

65
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Students discussing the manifest in the Time Travel to 1918 at Heimtali Museum. “An Estonian republic – for everybody?”.
Photo: Arp Karm.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

FEBRUARY THE 7TH 2018 IN HEIMTALI Suddenly the excited vicar stormed in and
On the 7th of February a bus full of students and announced: Dear students and congregation, be-
teachers of Audentes School, partners from Fin- tween the morning service and Sunday school I
land, Latvia and Lithuania and people from Es- dropped by the train station to collect the new hym-
tonian National Museum gathered in Heimtali nals sent from town. And I heard exciting news
Museum (the small branch museum of ENM) at from the passengers: Estonia have been declared
Viljandi County to travel back in time to Sunday, independent in Tallinn and they gave me a bundle
24th of February 1918. of manifests where it`s all written down.
The participants were thoroughly prepared The vicar read the Manifest to the people and
with refreshed knowledge of history, contem- the classroom got quite excited: this was unex-
porary clothing and a tag with their character`s pected news! Independence at last! But are we re-
name. With the sound of an old school bell we ally of one mind when it comes to independence?
travelled back by decades to the year 1918. It was Before the Time Travel the participants drew
important to remember one thing: that we had to lots to receive a specific world view they had to
forget everything we knew of what happened after represent that day: patriotic, socialist or con-
the 24th of February 1918. servative pessimist. The first group supported
independence and were convinced, that the Es-
FEBRUARY THE 24TH 1918 tonians can survive only if they are masters of
According to the scenario we had gathered at their own fate. The socialists believed, that the
Heimtali village school as villagers and students Estonians can manage only under the protec-
of the Sunday school and we waited for the local tion of Russia – in poverty and equality. The
vicar Julius Köster. There were also some foreign- conservative pessimists did not want to change
ers among the locals – Lithuanian farmers and anything: let things remain as they have always
a Latvian merchant family who had stopped on been, and what would the Estonians want with
their way home from a market in Tartu, and a independence anyway?
couple of Finnish university students. The local Different world views were represented in the
organist was playing but the vicar had still not scenario by three characters: village clerk Andres
arrived. Saal, a widowed cottager Alma Vasar and Kadri

67
THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

All schools in Viljandi gathered in the cold February morning next to the court house. In this court house the “Manifest to
all nations of Estonia” was declared in February 1918. Photo: Epp Härm.

Ilves, a farmer`s wife. Their colourful statements independence of our nation self-evident? After
started the discussion: how should the Estonian becoming free of Soviet occupation 27 years ago,
Republic, where everybody feels at home, look Estonians are now living in an independent and
like? What can we do to help achieve it? And democratic state, but do we appreciate our free-
maybe the most important question of all: is the dom and democracy today?

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

The discussions among the Sunday school WHAT NEXT?

students were lively. Despite the arguments and The feedback to Time Travel 1918 has been ex-
different opinions they reached a common under- tremely positive. Both the students and the teach-
standing: only if we are masters of our own fate, ers were very pleased to discover this new and
can we build a state, where every Estonian can exciting way of studying history. The initiators of
work and live a peaceful and fulfilling life. Inde- the Project – Pille Rohtla, Saale Randaru and me,
pendent state is the only possibility. Kaari Siemer – were pleasantly surprised of how
After the happy news the vicar asked every- many schools and museums came along with the
body to stay for lunch. A table with white linen idea. Encouraged by this rewarding experience
was set and decorated with oak leaves and blue- we have already started with the preparations of
black-white ribbons cut out of paper. The footpath our next project. June 2019 marks the 150th an-
was cleared of snow and lunch was brought in on niversary of the first song festival in Estonia. The
sledges. All-Estonian Time Travel 1869 will take the par-
After the feast the Time Travel came to its end. ticipants back to the preparatory months before
The school bell counted back time to the present the festival, and it will be carried out in May 2019.
by decades with the knowledge that freedom and Hopefully we can engage even more students to
independence are without a doubt the most im- participate in Time Travel than we managed the
portant treasures for us. first time.

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OUR DIVERSITY, OUR STRENGTH

EDUCATION, SPORTS, CULTURE AND PEACE BUILDING IN KENYA
MILDRED AYERE  •  MASENO UNIVERSITY, KENYA

It is necessary to work towards the notion of posi- ple live. This, in effect, means emphasizing the
tive peace in Kenya. With positive peace I refer to a importance of reviving progressive cultural atti-
peace that promotes reconciliation and coexistence tudes and values that can foster a climate with-
on the basis of human rights, social, economic and in which peace can flourish. Song, art, drama,
political justice. In this context peacebuilding de- dance, sports and technology are cultural tools in
notes the process whereby the goal is to strengthen peace building used in traditional peace building
the capacity of societies to promote a positive peace. initiatives in Africa and are still relevant today
An integral part of the process of achieving posi- in any community. In most African communi-
tive peace is the need to promote social solidarity. ties, when there was any serious conflict, the el-
Achieving social solidarity means that members ders would call a traditional peace conference.
of the society once again begin to recognize each The whole community would gather with one
other as fellow human beings and begin to share common objective, i.e. to restore the broken re-
a concern in the common welfare and well-being lationship and invigorate the process of healing.
of each other. This paper hopes to give its readers Such a meeting would be open-ended so that all
a chance to ponder over peace building not just as the participants had time and opportunity to
the absence of violence but on the basis of positive air their views. The meeting would be held in a
peace that builds on the strengths of each other. “carnival” atmosphere, punctuated with stories,
Cultural attitudes and values, provide the songs, dance, proverbs, etc. The name of God and
foundation for the social norms by which peo- the spirits would be invoked during the meeting.

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Launch of Bridging Ages Kenya at Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi, November 2016.

A bull would be slaughtered and its blood collect- these traditional practices in order to build the fu-
ed and sprinkled into the air as a way of binding ture community we strive for.
the community to the peace covenant. As a ges- The UN identifies four major areas of peace
ture of reconciliation the whole group would eat building activity, namely: preventive diploma-
the meat together. Thereafter, feasting, singing, cy, peacemaking, peace-keeping and post-con-
dancing and celebration would continue for sev- flict peacebuilding (Søbjerg 2006; Boutros-Ghali
eral days. The whole society would thus be part of 1995). Kenya needs to apply all these four activ-
the agreement and anybody who violated it could ities as it moves forward so that as a country it
suffer some calamity. I see a need to borrow from practices time tested principles that can embrace

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its multi-ethnic society and promote a peaceful method to bring communities together. The fol-
co-existence. The principal concern of this pa- lowing sections expose sample presentations from
per is to locate traditional customs and values young people who attended a Bridging Ages Ken-
that may be of significance in promoting securi- ya event on 12th – 13th March 2018 on the Theme:
ty, peaceful coexistence and respect for human Our Diversity, Our Strength: Education, Sports,
rights and how to teach them to the youth. Culture and Peace Building; to give a bird’s eye
The aim of Bridging Ages in Kenya (BAK) is to view on the creativity amongst the youth in Ken-
provide a sound and vibrant methodology of us- ya that could be harnessed by the Bridging Ages
ing local history, local stories and applied heritage teams to build a lasting legacy amongst the youth.
to develop a profound understanding of life and The main purpose of this conference was to show-
the society by connecting the past to the present, case how sports, education and culture can be
towards building a free and democratic society, used for peace building. In its workshops, partic-
promoting nation building, reconciliation and ipants were exposed to ways of refining tradition-
social cohesion. The vision of BAK is to transform al, contemporary and emerging tools in song, art,
learning institutions and communities through drama, dance, sports and technology and how
heritage education and participatory learning ap- these can be harnessed and used for community
proach. Its mission is to use Time Travel Method peace building. This is because: 1) These tools are
(TTM) and Local Historic Environment (LHE) as popular with the youths who prior to this have
a resource in learning and teaching various sub- been used as agents of chaos and acrimony; 2) The
jects in the curriculum and the local communi- tools cut across age groups and communities and
ties. as a result can be used with a cross section that
It is from these aspirations that this paper covers various ethnicities, professions and social
hopes to bring together sample presentations classes; and 3) These tools are potential sources
on the Time Travel methodology as used by the of employment and income for those engaged in
youth from all over Kenya (but mainly students them. They are therefore easily sold to young, tal-
of Maseno University) to expose how song, art, ented youths in the community. The young peo-
drama, dance, sports and technology are cultural ple thus trained can become peace ambassadors
tools that can be employed with the Time Travel in their own community.

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GRAVITY LIGHT ADOPTION AND villages and drive away the cattle. The elders have
ACCEPTANCE IN CREATING PEACE AMONG organized many meetings in vain without them
COMMUNITIES IN KENYA BY NOAH OKIDIA leading to a cease in hostility. Through a shared
Approximately more than 1.2 million people concern of introducing gravity light, the commu-
globally have no access to electricity and mil- nities have come together to foster peace. Indeed,
lions more have unreliable supply. About one out members from the two communities gathered,
of three people in Kenya do not have access to talked and shared ideas and a meal in a carnival
electricity. Instead, they use dangerous polluting mood. This presentation is an example of how
kerosene lamps for light. Collectively, kerosene technology can be used as a tool to foster recon-
lamps cause 3% of the worlds CO2 emissions and ciliation, create peace and respect for the sanctity
are a significant source of black carbon, with even of human life.
more intense local warming impact. The cost of
kerosene is a poverty trap and amongst the poor- CREATING A LEGACY
est populations, kerosene alone consumes up to THROUGH HERITAGE EDUCATION
30% of their income. Gravity Light is an innova- AND TIME TRAVEL BY MIKE MUMBO
tive device that generates light from the lift of a Between 2006 and 2012, Mt. Elgon region of
weight. Combining kinetic and potential energy, western Kenya experienced pain and suffering
it works by connecting an elevated weight filled from the hands of militia. More than 1,000 peo-
with rocks to a pulley system that slowly powers ple were killed; scores of women raped and doz-
a generator as the weight falls to the ground. For ens of men were castrated as they were dispersed
four years, a group of young people from western away from their homes. A few people settled at
Kenya have led a Non-profit project supporting Chebyuk as the rest were moved to the nearby
the communities in the borders of Nyanza and Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya. In 2016 a group of
Rift valley in western Kenya. The region is ethni- youths started working with these squatters in
cally diverse and it has a very limited electricity an operation dubbed “Digital community initia-
power grid and most villagers virtually have no tive as a way of creating peace and conflict reso-
electricity. Because of this, the cattle rustlers find lution in the region”. The women from different
it easy to go to the neighboring community and ethnic communities in the Trans-Nzoia settle-

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

ment scheme started integrating as they worked violence and conflict. A wide range of actors in
with the Digital Community Initiative. The the peace and development field, including the
youth started by using tablet technology to en- UN, international development agencies and
able these women to nurture their different eth- non-governmental organizations, have endorsed
nic community heritage craftsmanship to make sport as a significant social catalyst (Cárdenas
a living by exploring potential markets. Some of 2013). This presentation explains ways in which
the craftsmanship that they had inherited was traditional sporting activities and events such as
slowly fading away, and as a way of helping in wrestling, racing exercise, stick fights, hunting
community peace building the youths working with the use of spears and arrows, board games,
within the Digital Community Initiative held a bull fights, dances, rustling, among others, were
series of workshops on traditional craftsman- used to bring peace, unity and harmony among
ship. A year later, the groups of women were different communities and nationalities. This
able to organize themselves and settle on their compares favorably with current sporting activi-
bead making and basketry as full-time jobs from ties played both professionally and as recreation-
which they earned a living. Furthermore, they al physical activities in most Kenyan institutions
trained other women who expressed interest and which are mainly athletics and ball games. We
in such a way built a more cohesive communi- posit that sporting activities described above
ty. This presentation shows how technology can are enjoyed by all; irrespective of age, gender or
be used as a tool to foster reconciliation, create ethnicity. It allows for people to escape the re-
peace and respect for the dignity of work and ality of everyday life for a given time, and the
hence for humanity. responsibilities, errands and tasks that follows.
In this way, it allows politically tense situations
TRADITIONAL SPORTS AS A PEACE to be put aside for the sake of a tournament that
BUILDING INITIATIVE BY JOHN ODOYO unites through sports. It also conveys basic rules
The use of sport to address a variety of social and essential values of peaceful co-existence
issues, a strategy referred to as Sport for Devel- such as team spirit, loyalty and fair play. Sports
opment and Peace (SDP), is becoming widely ac- as a medium also provide the values of disci-
cepted, especially in regions affected by poverty, pline and self-motivation which the high num-

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Students from Maseno University created a peace ceremony, using poems, symbols, illustrations and the Kenyan flag.
Time Travel on the post-election violence 2008.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

ber of unemployed youths in Kenya need dearly. man-Tov 2004; Nkwenti 2012; Timmermans &
By conveying the ethics of sport, it also lays the Guerin 2015). This presentation argues that her-
foundations for a more peaceful, humane world. itage education is an enabling tool and not an
This paper suggests to the authorities in Kenya obstacle in addressing issues of reconciliation
that sports combined with other methods can in the 21st century. Specifically, cultural heritage
be tried and used to resolve issues among differ- outlines the unspoken narratives which could
ent ethnic communities through youth engage- help in conflict resolution. Looking closely, the
ments. use of heritage fosters a shared human identity
which goes a long way to secure a common fu-
LEAVING A LEGACY: YOUTH AND ture. There is a need to study the past, learn from
HERITAGE EDUCATION BY NELSON ASIRA it and improve the future. As a result we suggest
This paper explored the existence of heritage that investing in the young generation through
sites, the use of heritage education and how its heritage education could secure a better future
uniqueness and ambiguity could be used to set for them. Therefore, the usage of the Time Trav-
the pace for a better future. Special focus was on el Method in reconciliation represents a method
the role of youth in leaving a legacy using herit- that could be employed among the youth in or-
age as a tool to foster reconciliation and the ways der for them to leave a legacy.
in which the whole world could leave a legacy
based on applied heritage. Clear sample reflec- CONCLUSION
tions on the past challenges have been highlight- The Time Travel method could change the equa-
ed citing examples in Kenya, Rwanda, South tion for the Kenya youth if used well within the
Africa and Syria. These illuminates the societal culturally accepted boundaries, which means that
challenges which include but are not limited to it has to be used sensitively to reflect on stories,
civil wars, unrests, tribalism, family violence, events or issues that are allowed to be observed
ethnic tension and impunity. Previous research- or practiced without hindrance and objection
ers have suggested that applied heritage could be to norms, traditions, religion, language, ethics,
a hindrance or be double sided when it comes ethnicity, or values. This is because it allows for
to reconciliation (Bloomfield et al 2003; Bar-Si- creativity to thrive within divergent views loosely

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knit by rules guiding its implementation. Youths REFERENCES

thrive on creative ideas that not only bring them Bar-Siman-Tov, Y. ed. 2004. From Conflict
together but offer a chance for income generation Resolution to Reconciliation. New York:
and livelihood creation. The Bridging Ages Kenya Oxford University Press.
(BAK) team through its Maseno University net- Bloomfield, D., Barnes, T. & Huyse, L. eds. 2003.
work has tried to use the Time Travel method to Reconciliation After Violent Conflict: A Hand-
build a network of youth that could be harnessed book. Stockholm, The International IDEA
as agents of change. This is done by creatively en- Handbook Series.
gaging them in activities that cause them to seek Boutros-Ghali, B. 1995. An Agenda for Peace.
reconciliation in their communities. A goal that New York: United Nations.
is being pursued is how traditional and modern Cárdenas, A. 2013. Peace Building Through Sport?
song, art, drama, dance, sports and technolo- An Introduction to Sport for Development and
gy can be harnessed as cultural heritage tools in Peace. An E-journal promoted by the Campus
peace building and reconciliation in a nation that for Peace, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.
groans under politically instigated violence that Nkwenti, R. F. 2012. Heritage in Contemporary
has used its youth negatively in promoting vio- Grade 10 South African History Textbooks:
lence. As BAK we choose to identify with words A Case Study. A Thesis presentation at Uni-
spoken of the genocide in Rwanda by Wole Soy- versity of KwaZulu-Natal.
inka when he posits that “Given the scale of trau- Søbjerg, L. M. 2006. The UN’s New Peacebuild-
ma caused by the genocide (political violence), ing Commission. Peace Magazine, December
Rwanda (Kenya) has indicated that however thin 2006.
the hope of a community can be, a hero always Timmermans, D. & Guerin, U. eds. 2015.
emerges. Although no one can dare claim that it Heritage for Peace and Reconciliation: Safe-
is now a perfect state, and that no more work is guarding the Underwater Cultural Heritage
needed, Rwanda (Kenya) has risen from the ashes of the First World War, Manual for Teachers.
as a model on truth (peace) and reconciliation.” Paris: UNESCO.
We hope BAK could harness its youth to become
heroes of hope in a bleeding nation.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

IN SEARCH OF A LIVING PAST

NIKLAS AMMERT  •  LINNAEUS UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN

The past has passed. Yes, in one way and accord- described and defined as a Historical consciousness
ingly we are able to watch it and to study it. On the (Jeismann 1979; Seixas 2004). A Historical con-
other hand, the past is still and constantly with sciousness is a way to describe the fact that people
us. Every day we encounter history in the media – live in, with and by history. Without interpreting
for example in news, films and games –, as well as the past, we would not be able to understand or
in literature, debates and in the cultural environ- handle the present. Besides, without experience
ment with its monuments, buildings and places. and previous knowledge, we would not be able to
We do not live our everyday life in an isolated think about what is to come. Expectations on the
present time and what does that entail? It means future are also important for how we use the past
that the present is a rapidly passing moment, but and how we act in the present in order to achieve or
always interrelated with experiences from the past to avoid something in the future.
and thoughts about the future. To put it simple, Everybody has a historical consciousness, but
when people meet they almost immediately dis- it might be stimulated in order to develop and get
cuss memories and experiences such as Do you more elaborated (Ammert 2008; Eliasson 2008).
remember when we went to London or I really en- One way to trigger and stimulate it is to imagine
joyed the concert last week. People also make plans another time and in such a way enhance knowl-
for the future, plans that are based on experiences edge of that time in relation to the present. Such
from the past and the present. This ”multi chron- encounters with the past could be staged as a
ological” way of thinking and reasoning is often Time Travel.

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TIME TRAVELS AND PARTICIPANTS chronological narrative, they describe glimpses of

The Time Travel method has been developed by a different life in a different society at a different
Kalmar County Museum and Ebbe Westergren time, sometimes exotic and sometimes famil-
since the 1980s.1 The method has been nationally iar. The content and the messages from the past
as well as internationally spread and appreciated bridge connections and recognition over time. In
and it has proven to be a successful tool for schools an exemplary narrative (here described as “what
and local communities. Several thousands of pu- is the message from the past and what could we
pils, teachers and community members have expe- learn from the past”) the participators express
rienced Time Travels as encounters with the past. that moral and ethical directions in life could be
It is important in the discipline of history in discussed and that they might learn from the past.
general and within history didactics in particu- In the participators’ critical narratives the in-
lar to study and to consider how participants terpretations are framed in the present and the
perceive and experience Time Travels. How do past appears as a time dimension that differs from
participants react and what do they learn? Results the present. Through such a conceptualization of
from the research project The Archaeology of Time the past as “different”, there is a risk that partic-
Travels (Petersson & Holtorf 2017) tell us that par- ipants are too critical and judge the past from a
ticipators find Time Travels important. They often present point of view and thereby emphasize dif-
stress issues of personal or societal importance. ferences rather than similarities. Unfortunately,
Furthermore, reflections and reactions based on this alternative might not enable a mutual con-
ethical values are frequent. nection over time.
A Time Travel could be described as an en- The genetic narrative is the educationally most
counter with aspects of society, framed as one challenging and interesting, because through it,
or several narratives.2 When the participators the participants reflect on their current position
reflect upon the Time Travel as a traditional and in time and how this position is related to other

1 See the presentation at www.bridgingages.com/what-we-do/the-time-travel-method/. (Downloaded 2018–01-31)

2 The analysis is based on Jörn Rüsen’s typology with different types of narratives (traditional, exemplary, critical and genetic). Rüsen,
Jörn, History: Narration, Interpretation, Orientation, New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books 2005, p. 147.

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THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

Morals and values are discussed in a Time Travel in Ngurunit, Kenya. Shall we keep the traditions on gender and circum-
cision?

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

dimensions of time. The reflection can contribute aspects are difficult and sensitive, because values
by challenging the Time Traveler’s understand- and moral could be used to influence children and
ing of herself and the surrounding world as well adolescents. Schools and the educational system
as the interpretation of life in the past and life in are responsible to foster the youth as democrat-
times to come. A general, and important, con- ic and responsible citizens3, but history is an ef-
cluding reflection when analyzing participants’ fective tool and there is risk that history could be
reflections on Time Travels, is that expressions used for ideological purposes which do not take
for meaning and meaning making seem to be the into consideration the way people in the past dealt
consisting outcome (Ammert & Gustafsson 2017). with these issues. In other words, a dialogue be-
tween the present and the past would be lacking.
VALUE ISSUES AND It is therefore important to stress that past tradi-
MORAL REFLECTION tions and cultural patterns must be interpreted
When encountering the past, it seems as if mor- with knowledge about the past and the specific
al and value-related aspects are forceful and im- conditions at that time. It would be a problematic
portant. Narratives and contexts characterized and biased use of history to unilaterally interpret
by value issues increase the fascination and the and judge the past from a present point of view.
understanding of the past as well as of relations Value issues and moral reflection must instead be
between the past, the present and perspectives used as a way to bridge the past to the present and
on the future. There are two explanations. First, the other way around. When moral reflections are
a likely explanation is that moral issues touch used and applied in a conscious way, it can pro-
deep down, fundamental human perceptions of vide a unique possibility to experience an impres-
good – bad, right – wrong, etc. Second, the dream sion of life in the past. To interpret how values and
about – and the struggle for – specific ideals such the moral system were perceived and used in the
as freedom, justice and democracy, have been the past is one way to get to know the past and reflect
de facto driving forces for historical change and on similarities and differences to the society of to-
development. However, value related and moral day. The encounters of value issues is also a way

3 Läroplan för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet 2011, Stockholm: Statens skolverk 2016, p. 7.

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Key questions on values and morals release engagement. A Time Travel event in Kalmar to 1945 on the local communities
receiving refugees, “we” and “them”. Photo: Stefan Siverud.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

to understand moral perceptions and interpreta- Elisson, P. 2008. Kan ett historiemedvetande
tions today, in the light of the patterns of moral in fördjupas? Om historiemedvetande och
the past. In such a way the past is with us and we bedömning i gymnasieskolans undervisning.
could use it to understand our lives today and to In: Historien är nu: En introduktion till
influence the time to come. hstoriedidaktiken, edited by Karlsson, K.-G.
So, after all, the past has not passed. It is con- & Zander, U. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Pp.
stantly with us on our life long Time Travel. 309–325.
Jeismann, K. E. 1979. Geschichtsbewusstsein.
REFERENCES In: Handbuch der Geschichtsdidaktik, Band
Ammert, N. 2008. Det osamtidigas samti- 1, edited by Bergmann, K. et al. Düsseldorf:
dighet: Historiemedvetande i svenska his- Pädagogischer Verlag Schwann.
torieläroböcker under hundra år. Lund and Petersson, B. & Holtorf, C. eds. 2017. The Archae-
Uppsala: Sisyfos. ology of Time Travel: Experiencng the past in
Ammert, N. & Gustafsson, B.E. 2017. To Make the 21st Century. Oxford: Archaeopress.
and to Experience Meaning: How Time Trav- Rüsen, J. 2005. History: Narration, Interpretation,
els are Perceived Among Participants. In: The Orientation. New York and Oxford: Berghahn
Archaeology of Time Travel: Experiencing the Books.
past in the 21st Century, edited by Petersson, Seixas, P. (ed.). 2004. Theorizing Historical Con-
B. & Holtorf, C. Oxford: Archaeopress. Pp. sciousness. Toronto: University of Toronto
113–128. Press.

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COMMUNICATING (DIFFICULT) HERITAGE THROUGH

ORAL HISTORY AND TIME TRAVEL METHOD
RADIKOBO NTSIMANE  •  KWAZULU-NATAL MUSEUM SERVICE, SOUTH AFRICA

INTRODUCTION Soviet republics as examples where the heroes and

Heritage is often communicated by way of statues, the founding fathers’ larger-than-life statues came
monuments, audio- and visual recordings, books, tumbling down from their plinths. Although the
photographs and gatherings of commemorations examples provided are confined to statues and
and celebrations. For a person to appreciate and monuments, they are relevant to other heritage
embrace such heritage, it is beneficial if they can forms as well. I am going to attempt to show that
identify and somehow align themselves with it. it may be beneficial to communicate heritage oth-
Since it is commonplace for statues and monu- er than by statues and monuments in order for it
ments to mark sacrifice and conquest, they are to serve a purpose in reconciliation attempts. In
often by their very nature exclusionary. For them this paper I will focus on Oral History and the
to be recognized as heritage and serve a purpose Time Travel method.
of remembering the sacrifices and heroic deeds in
question, they are put in public places. ORAL HISTORY AS A MOVEMENT
In an article published in 2014, I argued that Although oral historians tend to acknowledge
statues and monuments all have sell-by dates that their adopted method to study history has
(Ntsimane 2014). There comes a time when such been used for centuries, users of oral history did
statues and monuments lose their relevance be- not necessarily see themselves as belonging to a
cause the political landscape has changed. I used specific movement (Denis 2000:2). Instead, oral
the Apartheid South Africa and the Communist history was a tool used largely by the elite and ac-

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ademics to record events told by witnesses. Some In the 1970s, political movements and pro-
of the New Testament authors like Luke attests to gressive newspapers were banned and any pro-
having interviewed eyewitnesses to produce the gressive movements were repressed. Within such
text on the events around Jesus Christ (see for ex- an oppressive environment, a strong movement to
ample Luke 1:2). For instance, the story of the two listen to other voices was born. People who were
disciples, as accounted for in the Gospel of Luke, dissidents were banned, house arrested, incarcer-
was told to someone who told it to another person ated or exiled. Despite all these risks, Oral Histo-
and it ended up being recorded (Luke 24:13ff). ry Workshop at Wits University began to record
It is known that later written sources super- history from below. Voices of labour activists and
seded the oral evidence when the German histori- unionists, voices and experiences of domestic
an Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886), often consid- workers and mine workers were recorded. How-
ered the founder of modern source based history, ever, the Apartheid regime did not take kindly to
insisted that everything must be written exactly the movement.
as it happened. For that reason, he excluded the Songs of protest by exiled musicians like Hugh
hearsay as credible evidence. He ignored the fact Masekela and Miriam Makeba, protest poetry by
that even written sources were produced by those Ingoapela Madingoana, Kedisaletse Mashishi and
who were prone to make mistakes and leave out later Mzwakhe Mbuli were published and distrib-
matters when reconstructing what happened. uted. In any gathering of protesting students and
In South Africa, history has been written picketing adults, songs and poetry played a role.
from ivory towers of the universities, and thus, Such instruments made sure people did not for-
the experiences of its people have not contribut- get their past and helped them to understand the
ed a strong presence within published books. In current situation.
a country where poverty, landlessness, and other In the 1990s Oral History was used in academ-
exclusions were designed and legitimized by laws, ic circles to close the gaps that were left by literary
evidence that opposed such evil has been muted sources. There were campaigns to recognize it as
within public discourses. Written sources like the a tool to acquire credible sources whose validity
Bible were used by architects of Apartheid to jus- could be interrogated in the same manner as writ-
tify oppression of the indigenous people. ten sources. Importantly, it was used to create an

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archive of experiences left out during the White

Apartheid rule.
Oral History has since then been used as a
healing tool where the very process of telling the
story is considered just as important as the story
itself. Finally, those who experienced the police
torture, the repression and the degradation, and
who had been denied and dismissed for such a
long time, were provided a safe space to tell their
stories and be acknowledged. Oral History was
used to affirm those people who had already given
up all hope of anyone ever listening to them and
take their stories seriously.

TIME TRAVEL METHOD

Unlike Oral History, this method is specifically
designed for communicating heritage. One major
difference between Oral History and Time Travel
method is that all are learners in Time Travel in
contrast to Oral History where one person is most
often sharing her/his stories. While the various
initiatives during and after Apartheid to prepare
for change and to break the barriers of hatred and
suspicions have not been evaluated for efficacy, it
is correct to say that the seeds have been planted.
One can see that such initiatives were in service
of the society. A chance to know the other person
through the use of Time Travelling reduces the sus- Making candles in the Mpophomeni Time Travel to 1967.

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 THE TIME TRAVEL METHOD – IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

picion about their perceived evil intentions. Time

Travel is designed to provide safe space to talk and
learn by attempting to go back in time to expe-
rience the lives of the people about whom one is
learning. With the use of props and costumes the
designed scenario is reenacted by participants un-
der new names. The discussions during the activ-
ities and the dialogue at the end of the Time Trav-
el are the most important steps during the Time
Travel. Each person is given a chance to speak.
The research required in order to find evi-
dence of the local histories on the sites is exciting
as it provides valuable learning opportunities. The
adults in the community are sharing the local sto-
The hunter-gatherers find their land occupied by the farm-
ries and we can enquire and record. The exercise
ers. Ingula Time Travel back to the 1700s.
shows how the adults are valuable to those who are
participating. A partnership can evolve where the
senior citizens come to the school and share what We have learnt how to make isiphefu, a paraf-
they know, before or after the Time Travel event. fin lamp in Mthwalume and how to make candles
The activities in the Time Travel method have in Mpophomeni.
not only provided the opportunity to discuss Skills on how to cook rare meals have been
questions related to a specific theme within a transferred to participants during the Time Trav-
smaller group. It has also provided in South Afri- el encounter. The preparations and the eating of
ca, at least in KwaZulu-Natal, an opportunity for the food have provided a fun experience as well as
participants to use old and new technology. We practical knowledge.
have in Mpophomeni Time Travelling used sick- The Time Travel method has provided a space
les, cast iron pots, pressure stoves, paint brushes, for the emerging recognition of the Indigenous
shovels and picks. Knowledge Systems (IKS) to be known. The IKS is

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the recognition of the knowledge the indigenous

people had and used to survive in their environ-
ment before the introduction in Southern Africa
of the Western school education. The Time Travel
held on the Drakensberg Mountain on the site of
the Ingula Dam is a good example, which envisions
the meeting of the Hunter-Gatherers (San people)
and the Farmers (Nguni people). It was organized
jointly by the Siege Museum of Ladysmith and two
nearby schools. The event included the mathemat-
ics used by the Hunter-Gatherers in the building of
their huts with portable basic material of grass and
branches, it included the type of material used in
making the bow and arrow including the poison
mixed for the immobilization of the varied sizes of
hunted animals and it included the relocation to The hunter-gatherers tasting the food of the farmers. Ingula
Time Travel back to the 1700s.
the site of the animals brought down in the case of
them being too big to carry. The lessons learned in
the Time Travel were manifold but the central one CONCLUSION
was that one learns from other people to survive in The fact that the South African society does not
a new place. This form of Time Travel shows how have a sense of a shared heritage remains a major
people in South Africa used to govern themselves problem towards reconciliation. The use of oral
before the arrival of the Europeans; how they lived, history method can create a safe space where both
produced food, raised children and used the envi- the victims and perpetrators of racial exclusion
ronment. This particular Time Travel had the ben- can address their experiences. Although such
efit to expose participants, especially the primary an exercise can take place on a one-to-one inter-
school learners, of the dangers of xenophobic at- view encounter or in a group interview, there is a
tacks directed to people from other nationalities. chance for healing, as a result of telling past ex-

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periences. In the preface of the volume A Journey REFERENCES

towards Healing: Stories of Multiple-Woundedness Denis, P. ed. 2000. Orality, Memory and the Past:
in KwaZulu-Natal, Michael Lapsley wrote that, Listening to the Voices of Black Clergy under
“Participants often tell us that their experience Colonialism and Apartheid. Pietermaritzburg:
of being “listened to” in a reverent and respectful Cluster Publications.
way, gave them an acknowledgement of their pain Denis, P. & Ntsimane, R. ed. 2008. Oral History
which enabled them to take significant steps be- in a Wounded Country: Interactive Interview-
yond victimhood.” (Lapsley 2011) ing in South Africa. University of Kwa­Zulu-
Such safe spaces can similarly be created Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg.
through the Time Travel method where in small- Lapsley, M. 2011. Preface. In: A Journey towards
er but mixed groups of people who have suffered Healing: Stories of Multiple-Woundedness in
violence, different roles are taken for the purpose KwaZulu-Natal, edited by Denis, P. Houser, S
of learning how people may have felt hundreds of and Ntsimane, R. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster
years ago within a similar experience. The Time Publications.
Travel method should not, I want to conclude, be Ntsimane, R. 2014. Conflicting multiple rep-
seen as an end in itself, but as a means to an end, resentations and sell-by dates. Msunduzi
which among others can be in the service in society Journal, Volume 4. Stalin, Verwoerd and Biko.
and its development. Time Travel is building bridg- Pp. 53–61.
es and closing gaps in society. The opportunity to Qunta, C. 2016. Why we are not a nation. Seriti
explore the introduction of IKS during the activity sa Sechaba Publishers: Cape Town.
sessions gives pride to the people who may learn to
embrace their past. Even if this method of learning
about history and heritage does not show instant
fruits of social cohesion and integration, its adop-
tion of Indigenous Knowledge during activities
rekindles pride among the people. With that pride
restored, one hopes that Black people can stand up
and begin to interact with others as equals.

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TIME TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA

NEGOTIATING THE PRESENT BY EXPLORING THE PAST
SCOTT GREEN  •  DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, NEW MEXICO, USA

What is Time Travel? It is a question I’ve been asked The semester before, Jon went on a fellowship to
many times. I always clarify that what I do does not Kalmar, Sweden where he learned this innovative
require the use of a DeLorean or a phone booth or living history technique and pedagogical meth-
any machine of any kind. It does however involve a od from longtime practitioner and educator Ebbe
complex device, namely the mind. My form of Time Westergren and other museum professionals at the
Travel, that which was pioneered by Ebbe Wester- Kalmar County Museum. When I discovered that
gren in Kalmar, Sweden, combines historical knowl- Jon’s course involved doing living history, I was
edge and imagination to generate an experience that overjoyed. When Jon presented his slide show and
is often empowering. Time Travel education is im- told us about Kalmar and the Time Travel method,
mersive and emotional. It is thought-provoking and I was entranced.
memorable. Time Travels are history lessons in the Having grown up visiting Colonial Williams-
raw that resonate and connect students with the past burg and Jamestown, I had long been captivated
in an unforgettable way. by living history. I’d seen how effectively it en-
My first contact with Ebbe’s form of Time Trav- hanced museum exhibits or museum events. I
el occurred in 2002 when I enrolled in a course at saw how it could transport visitors to the past and
New Mexico State University (NMSU). Though the elevate visitor experiences at historic sites. Until
course was titled Guiding Heritage Tours, it was that first day in Jon’s course, I’d never imagined
Dr. Jon Hunner’s first Time Travel class at the uni- doing living history myself. Nor had I imagined
versity and the first of its kind in North America. living history as more than an effective museum

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program. That semester I witnessed first-hand

how powerful it is as an educational tool.
Following Jon’s suggestion, I took on the role
of Pat Garrett, the Old West sheriff who tracked
down and killed famed outlaw Billy the Kid. As
I delved into the history and the character of this
historic person, I spent hour upon hour research-
ing Garrett in the local archives. I was committed
to knowing enough to fully embody Garrett as
part of the Time Travels we were preparing. After
Time Travel event with snake oil salesman 1882, during
months of research and preparation, Jon and I and
Ghosts of the Past event. Photo: Paul Shelton.
four other students transported children back to
the New Mexico (Territory) of 1889. In a strange
pairing, Garrett, a devout atheist, worked with fellow friar, Dominquez, explored portions of the
religious figure John Newbrough making adobes American Southwest searching for a route to the
with children from local schools. In character as Pacific Ocean. I again delved into the character,
Garrett, I also periodically recounted “my” en- reading and reliving the journals of the Domin-
counters with William Bonney aka Billy the Kid. quez-Escalante Expedition and deeply research-
During these small-scale Time Travels (usually ing the lives of Franciscans in the 1700s.
no more than 25 children at a time), I watched as The Time Travels were to 1776, an important
the students became thoroughly engaged with the year for America but, to a certain extent, just an-
characters and often asked questions as if we were other year in the Nueva España that was New Mex-
in 1889 and I was really Pat Garrett. ico from 1598 to 1821. This time the Time Travels
A year later, Jon Hunner conducted his second were longer and with more students. Jon’s class was
Time Travel course, with a focus on the Spanish bigger with around 15 university students taking
Colonial era in New Mexico. I enrolled in the on Spanish Colonial characters. We lead the 50 to
course again, this time portraying Franciscan 60 primary school students out to the desert and
Friar, Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, who along with rang them into 1776. We remained in 1776 for near-

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Time Travel to the Great Depression 1936 at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. Photo: Craig Massey.

ly two hours and I stayed in character the entire extirpated in New Mexico and few remain there
time, working to make the Time Travel experience today. The children used their imaginations in
as immersive as I could for the excited students. ways I’d rarely witnessed. They suspended their
As a friar, I taught the children how to paint disbelief and almost every child wanted to re-
retablos (depictions of Saints) and I lead them main in 1776. They wanted to stay in the past even
on walks through the desert as I told them about though it was hot and dusty and void of modern
the lobos (wolves) and the osos (brown bears) that conveniences. They wanted to stay because the
lived in the land back then. In the hundred and Time Travel method had immersed them in the
fifty years after 1776, both animals were nearly past and they were captivated.

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Interacting with these children as part of the Travel magic. He spoke so passionately about the
Time Travel classes at NMSU inspired me to process and facilitated our frigid evening so expert-
teach. I moved to Tucson, Arizona and taught ly that most of us forgot how cold we were. I made
for three years, utilizing Time Travel, role-play lifelong friends at the conference and became part
and performance to teach history. Students were of this amazing international group of people who
excited to learn about history, these techniques were all working to help others consider important
exercised their imaginations and helped them to issues and think imaginatively and historically.
analyze important questions about the past. In 2007 I returned to Las Cruces and took a
In 2004, while teaching in Arizona, Jon Hun- full-time job at the Farm and Ranch Museum. This
ner called and invited me to the first Bridging Ages was my chance to actually program Time Travels
conference in Vimmerby, Sweden. I attended the and living history into a Museum schedule and
conference with a student from my school. It was I did so with great enthusiasm. I taught an annu-
his first trip out of the country and though Josh al Time Travel camp which was a smaller version
had done some living history performances, he had of Jon Hunner’s university course. Each summer
never partaken in a Time Travel. He was amazed if we mirrored one of Jon’s university sessions, Time
not overwhelmed by the whole experience. We ar- Traveling to a year he had focused on with his class.
rived in Vimmerby and jumped right into a Time With each summer camp, we also tackled many of
Travel to 1914. While at one point during the chilly the important topics that Jon had highlighted:
evening’s Time Travel, Josh stated that it was the In 2007 we Time Traveled to 1889 and wrestled
coldest he’d ever been, he was not deterred how- with frontier issues such as water rights and Native
ever and was enthralled with every moment. We American subjugation.
celebrated the seventh birthday of Astrid Lindgren, In 2008, our Time Travel to 1776 analyzed the
jamming ourselves into a cozy house where we im- issues of colonialism, disease and religion.
agined life before the Great War and prior to full In 2009 we Time Traveled to 1936 where the
realization of Pippi Longstocking. Great Depression helped us look closely at eco-
The Time Travel and the entire conference re- nomic disparity and socialism.
main etched upon my memory. It was here that I In 2010, our Time Travel to 1912 focused on wom-
first met Ebbe and watched him weave his Time en’s rights, immigration, and environmentalism.

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Then finally in 2011, with our Time Travel

class to 1950 we addressed such poignant issues as
racism, the cold war, communism and the threat
of nuclear annihilation.
With each of these Time Travels we connected
issues of the past with problems of today. Some of
the key questions raised included:
• Why do we subjugate and persecute those we
fear or don’t understand? How can we prevent
this from happening? Yukon Time Travel students researching their characters in
the Dawson City Museum archives. Photo: Donna Larsen.
• How do we conserve our resources such as
water? Why is land preservation important?
• Why do we build walls and set up borders? Many of the children who attended these
Can we imagine a world without borders? classes went on to help facilitate many other
• Can socialism work? How do we take care of Time Travels as part of other programs at the
the poor and unfortunate? Is it our duty to do Farm and Ranch Museum. A few parents later
so? expressed to me how much of a difference the
• Why are equal rights for all people an alien Time Travel class had made in their child’s life
concept for so many people? Don’t all people and their child’s view of learning. One particu-
deserve equal rights? lar student, Delenn Larsen, went on to overcome
• Why does racism exist? How do we eliminate learning issues and excel in her homeschool
it? studies. She participated in nearly every liv-
These and other thought-provoking questions in- ing history program or Time Travel we staged
spired students to think more critically about their at the Farm and Ranch Museum. Her mother
current world while gaining a better understand- also become keenly interested in Time Travel to
ing of the past. These Time Travels inspired stu- the point of working with me to pioneer a Time
dents to use their knowledge of history as a tool for Travel project in the Yukon Territory of Canada
negotiating the current world. which is now going on its third year.

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In 2016 we launched the Yukon project in that it is also about promoting diversity and cohe-
Whitehorse and Dawson City establishing inter- sion through reflection. That to me is why partici­
est in the methodology and garnering support pants are never ready to leave a Time Travel; they
from the Dawson City Museum, Parks Canada h­aven’t finished their contemplation and explora-
and the Frist Nation Tribes. Last year, we inte- tion of the past and they know that they’ve only
grated First Nation issues into our Time Travels just begun an amazing journey.
and performances. This year we plan to continue
working with the Frist Nation people by utilizing FURTHER READING
Time Travels to more fully address the issues they Anderson, J. 1991. Living History Reader –
have dealt with since the Yukon Gold rush. Volume 1: Museums. SAGE Publications Inc.,
Ebbe, and the Time Travel method he pio- October.
neered, have inspired me throughout my last Cobadmin. 2012. “NMSUnews: A Blast of the
fifteen years. He has shown me how the Time Past: Time Traveling to 1912.” 11 May 2012,
Travel method, instigates critical and imaginative business.nmsu.edu/nmsunews-a-blast-of-
thinking, promotes local history, reveals forgot- the-past-time-traveling-to-1912/. Accessed 17
ten or buried aspects of history, adds emotions to August 2018.
history, uses all the senses and fosters dialogue Hunner, J. and Westergren, E. 2011. Engaging the
that can lead to social cohesion. It is a teaching Present through the past. In: Museum Inter-
multi-tool and one that I am always looking to use national Vol: 63/1-2. pp. 119-129.
in a new and exciting way. I was recently inspired Roth, S. 1998. Past into Present: Effective Tech-
anew and motivated to share and apply the Time niques for First-Person Historical Interpreta-
Travel methodology during the special seminar tion. The University of North Carolina Press.
this past February in Kalmar. As I’ve done at all Thierer, J. M. 2009. Telling History: A Manual
the Bridging Ages gatherings I’ve attended, I met for Performers and Presenters of First-Person
old friends and made new ones, learning about Narratives. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
their Time Travels and how they applied this
wondrous pedagogical tool. As Ebbe summed it
up, Time Travel transcends typical education in

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Some of the participants at the International Seminar in Kalmar 28 February 2018. A heavy snowstorm made the experi-
ence magical and exotic: Kaari Siemer, Kholisile Ntsimane, Annina Ylikoski, Gulshera Khan, Mildred Ayere, Scott Green,
Steven Labarakwe, Ebbe Westergren, Agrita Ozola, Tina Lindström, Radikobo Ntsimane.

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REMARKS
It’s amazing to see the development of the Time
Travel method from the start in the Kalmar
region in the mid-1980s to the expansion into
more than 20 countries all over the world. It’s
remarkable to discover the impact that the Time
Travel event has on the participants. The experi-
ence is something that stays with you, it makes
a difference. “You will not forget it, even if you
try”, as a learner in Port Shepstone, South Africa
expressed it.
It was a big honour for me to have the chance
to organize an international seminar in Kalmar
on the achievement and future of the Time Trav-
el method. Thanks to Kalmar County Museum,
Linnaeus University, Nordic Centre for Heritage
Learning and of course all the participants. And
moreover, at the seminar the appointment as an
Honorary Doctor at Linnaeus University was an-
nounced. This doctorate is not only for me but
for all those who have been working with big en-
gagement to promote the Time Travel method in
Kalmar county and in all the other regions and
countries. The work is in the service of the society
and in development of the local community.

Ebbe Westergren

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BRIDGING AGES
Bridging Ages is an international organization a network in 2004 and was formalized into an or-
promoting the Time Travel method, an educa- ganization in 2007. Several countries have nation-
tional method using local heritage to create re- al and regional Bridging Ages chapters.
flection on contemporary issues. Bridging Ages Read about the Time Travel method and what
consists of people from schools, museums, com- is happening in each of the countries on the web-
munities, universities, various organizations and site: www.bridgingages.com
NGOs from more than 20 countries. It started as

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– IN THE SERVICE OF SOCIETY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT

“The Time Travel method is dialogue and can bring a change to our country”.
– Mustafa Sentongo, Principle, Kigungu Primary School, Entebbe, Uganda.

The Time Travel method gives space for building, education, health and environ-
reflection on contemporary issues, by us- ment. It was inevitable to look back on
ing local heritage and history. This edu- the 35 years of existence, what has been
cational method started in the Kalmar re- achieved? But the main focus was to look
gion, Sweden in the mid 1980’s and is ahead. How can the Time Travel method
now used in more than 20 countries all make a difference in the future, to be in
over the world. the service of society and its development?

In February 2018 a group of 40 persons Hopefully these articles from the seminar
from eight countries met at a seminar in will give inspiration to use local sites and
Kalmar to explore how the Time Travel stories for community building and learn-
method and Applied Heritage can meet ing, creating a cohesive society for the fu-
today’s challenges: social cohesion, peace ture.