Preserving and sharing South Africa’s diverse histories will be at the centre of the 23rd National Oral History Conference to be held in Gqeberha next week.
The five-day conference is hosted by the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC) and the Oral History Association of South Africa (OHASA).
The conference will be held under the theme “Voices Across Time and Space: Oral Histories of Resistance, Collaboration and Resilience”.
Researchers, historians, academics, heritage practitioners, storytellers and communities from across the country will attend the gathering to explore South Africa’s diverse oral histories and the importance of documenting, preserving and sharing them.
“The conference is an important national platform for advancing oral history as a means of preserving lived experiences, community memory and histories that may not always be adequately represented in conventional historical records.
“The 2026 theme places particular emphasis on histories of resistance, collaboration and resilience, creating space to examine how individuals and communities have navigated struggle, social change and transformation across different periods of South Africa’s history,” DSAC said.
The department highlighted that hosting the conference in the Eastern Cape provides a particularly significant setting for these conversations.
“The province occupies an important place in South Africa’s social, political and cultural history and carries a rich legacy of resistance, community organisation, intellectual thought and cultural heritage,” the department said.
The conference will also provide a platform to connect local and community histories with broader national conversations on memory, identity, heritage, and the preservation of South Africa’s historical record for future generations.
The programme will include presentations by oral history researchers, academics and heritage practitioners, as well as panel discussions on oral history, memory, heritage, resistance, collaboration and resilience.
Participants will also engage on contemporary approaches to documenting, preserving and sharing oral histories, while book launches and heritage and knowledge-sharing exhibitions will form part of the programme.
The conference is expected to create a space where academic research, institutional heritage work and histories preserved within families and communities intersect, ensuring that diverse voices and experiences continue to form part of South Africa’s collective historical record. – SAnews.gov.za
