Munyaradzi Elton Sagiya
University of Zimbabwe (Harare)
Archaeology - Department of History
PhD Candidate
Education and professional career
Munyaradzi holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Archaeology, Cultural Heritage and Museums Studies (2009, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe), Master of Arts in Heritage Studies (2014, University of Zimbabwe) and he is a registered PhD Candidate at the University of Zimbabwe beginning October 2017. Since 2010, Munyaradzi has been working at Great Zimbabwe World Heritage Site, as a curator of archaeology. Due to its importance, size and other attributes, Great Zimbabwe remains central in the narratives of the region’s past. It is an archaeological heritage site located in southern Zimbabwe that has been used to re-create the past and to remember certain aspects of the past by different local communities and state governing regimes. Among a wide range of duties, Munyaradzi is responsible for developing and advising on cultural heritage policy issues relating to the involvement of different publics in the management of Great Zimbabwe and other heritage sites as well as the national museums in the country. With special reference to national museums, some of his challenging duties involve participating in exhibition development and engagement with a wide array of stakeholders that include but not limited to the state, political parties and politicians, local traditional leaders and their subjects, spirit mediums and educational institutions.
Over the years, Munyaradzi has gained practical experience on how to manage different stakeholders and publics with multiple interests in the management of cultural heritage sites and museums. This career path has enabled him to acquire an appreciable level of knowledge on and specialisms in cultural heritage issues.
Research Focus
Munyaradzi is interested in researching about the use, and management of archaeological heritage sites particularly in Zimbabwe and other southern African countries. In southern Africa, as might be the case elsewhere, most archaeological sites attract different meanings, values and understandings among multiple stakeholder groups. As such, most cultural heritage sites in Zimbabwe, for example, are ‘battlefields’ of rival attachments. The processes of managing archaeological heritage in Zimbabwe are therefore multifaceted, complex and contested. Munyaradzi is currently writing his doctoral dissertation entitled: An investigation into governance of archaeological heritage with special reference to Hwange district, northwestern Zimbabwe.This policy-oriented study is largely informed by qualitative field research carried out in Hwange district, and its goal is to provide insights into the governance of archaeological heritage in Zimbabwe, with special emphasis on the Zimbabwe culture archaeological sites. To understand the governance of archaeological heritage in Zimbabwe, the study deploys the theories of Authorized Heritage Discourse, multivocality, and cosmopolitan theoretical frameworks. At the base of these theories are the ideas that heritage means different things to different people, and these concepts are used as lenses to understand and interpret the attitudes of different heritage stakeholders and interest groups towards the governance of archaeological heritage.
Selected Publications
Sagiya, M.E (In Press). Conserving Great Zimbabwe and other Zimbabwe type-sites. In I. Pikirayi, The World of Great Zimbabwe. London: Routledge
Basinyi, S. and Sagiya, M.E., 2019. World Heritage Communities,anchors and values for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in southern Africa: Zimbabwe and Botswana. In Akagawa, N and Smith, L (eds) Safeguarding Intangible Heritage: Practices and Politics.London and New York: Routledge.
Burrett, R.S and Sagiya, M.E 2018. Masvingo Memories: Including Great Zimbabwe. Bulawayo, Khami Press.
Mujere, J., Sagiya, M.E and Fontein, J. 2017. ‘Those who are not known, should be known by the country’: patriotic history and the politics of recognition in southern Zimbabwe. Journal of Eastern African Studies Vol 11(1): 86 – 114.
Pikirayi, I., Sulas F., Musindo, T.T., Chimwanda, A., Chikumbirike J., Mtetwa, E., Nxumalo, B and Sagiya, M.E. 2016. Great Zimbabwe's water. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water Vol 3 (2): 195–210.