“Zimbabwe’s museums must tell Zimbabwean stories’

Vusumuzi Dube in BEIJING, China

CHIEF Director in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Jonathan Gandari, has called for a rethink of the concept and role of national museums in Zimbabwe, saying the institutions should do more to tell the country’s own story and promote narratives centred on local heroes and national identity.

Mr Gandari made the remarks following a tour of the Museum of the Communist Party of China here, where he said Zimbabwe could draw important lessons on the role of museums, media and creative industries in preserving and communicating a nation’s history.

He questioned whose narratives are currently being advanced through Zimbabwe’s national museums, noting that some of the country’s institutions have historically placed significant emphasis on colonial-era figures and explorers.

“We need to rethink the concept of national museums. The museums in Harare, in Bulawayo and elsewhere in Zimbabwe, whose story are they telling?” he asked.

“Is it the story of Cecil John Rhodes, the story of David Livingstone? Those are the issues that are in those museums.”

Mr Gandari said the experience in China demonstrated the importance of developing institutions that place local experiences, heroes and national achievements at the centre of the historical narrative.

“What we have seen here is media sovereignty, information sovereignty. It is the story of the local heroes,” he said.

He said the issue was not simply about having museums and other institutions in place, but ensuring that they advance narratives that reflect the aspirations, history and identity of the people.

“That is a very important thing to think about. Because we could say we have got those institutions, but whose narrative are they advancing?” said Mr Gandari.

He also challenged Zimbabwe to rethink its information architecture, particularly the relationship between audiovisual production, the media and the broader creative industries.

Mr Gandari said the country’s audiovisual sector, media practitioners and creative professionals often operate in separate spaces, limiting opportunities for collaboration and the development of innovative media products.

“We also need to think about the information architecture of audiovisual. We are disconnected. The audiovisuals are on their own. The media industry is on its own,” he said.

He added that filmmakers, painters and other creative practitioners were similarly operating in separate spaces, unlike the more integrated approach observed in China.

“The other ones, you know, the filmmakers, the painters, they are in their own corner. Here we see convergence,” he said.

Mr Gandari said greater convergence between the media and creative sectors could help Zimbabwe develop stronger ways of packaging and communicating its history, culture and development agenda.

The convergence of museums, audiovisual production, journalism, film, visual arts and other creative disciplines, he said, could create platforms capable of making national stories more accessible and relevant to different generations.

His observations come as Zimbabwe continues to strengthen its information and publicity systems, with an increasing focus on harnessing technology and creative industries to communicate national development priorities.

The tour of the Museum of the Communist Party of China provided the Zimbabwean delegation with an opportunity to observe how history, political development and national identity can be presented through integrated multimedia platforms.

Mr Gandari said Zimbabwe could draw lessons from such approaches while developing its own models that place Zimbabwean experiences and local heroes at the centre of the national narrative.