Cultural identity is being lost because traditional practices are declining, but that is where the museums come in, said Galumalemana Steven Percival of the Tiapapata Art Centre, as International Museum Day was celebrated in Samoa this week under the theme “Museums Uniting a Divided World”.
The role of museums in promoting cultural understanding and protecting heritage was highlighted.
Galumalemana presented how museums, community learning spaces, artisans, researchers, schools, and cultural institutions can work together to protect and transmit knowledge that remains vital to Samoan identity.
Galumalemana highlighted two words relevant to the theme he had delivered: sogasogā, which he interprets as “spirit of inquiry,” and mou, a word that describes a practice or object that is in decline to the point of loss.
“Many of the practices we are reviving at Tiapapata are in decline, and some have even become obsolete,” said Galumalemana. “When we lose the practice, we lose language, and when language is lost, we lose a part of our cultural identity.”
