Matsobane Steven Motena, a PhD candidate in the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies (DHHS) and Interpretive Officer at the University of Pretoria (UP) Museums, was invited to participate as a facilitator and Panellists in Accra, Ghana, during the workshop titled ‘History Heritage and the Tourist Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa’ 15 – 18 May 2025. The workshop was sponsored by Indiana University (IU) African Studies, IU Presidential Arts & Humanities, IU College Art and Humanities Institute, and IU Office of the Vice President of International Affairs.

During the workshop, Steven was selected amongst two other facilitators from the University of Johannesburg and Indiana University, facilitating a panel themed: “Decolonial practices in heritage and museum work.” The discussion focused on museum ethics and the engagement of communities and visitors in historical storytelling. Steven, a heritage practitioner at the UP Museums, brought his expertise to the panel, where he shared his experience of engaging with visitors as a qualified tourist guide. Professor of History at Indiana University, Alex Lichtenstein, stated the following regarding Steven's contribution at the event: 

"Steven brought a novel perspective, as he has one foot in academia and the other in the museum education world. That allowed him to make a terrific contribution to the workshop."

Steven further served as one of the four panellists on the second day of the workshop on a panel titled: “Memory, Reconciliation, and Heritage.” The discussion focused on how memorial sites and museums address historical trauma. His paper “Dark Tourism as a Management Tool for Dark and Dissonant Heritage: Political Change and Public Perception in South Africa and Russia” contributed to the panel discussion on addressing historical trauma. More of his papers were related to the workshop theme for a comparative discussion in Sub-Saharan Africa, these papers were “Museums as Dark Tourism Destinations: The Kgoši Mampuru Correctional Service Prison Museum” and PhD research “Imprisoned by Dark Heritage: South African Prisons and the Culture of Prisoners Food, 1910 – 1994”.

On the final day of the workshop, the participants took an excursion to the Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle. Discussions on the workshop theme were held at, these major centres of the transatlantic slave trade and reflected on its legacy. The significance of the excursion was a fieldwork visit to discuss the practical approaches of history and heritage in the tourism sector. The workshop concluded at the University of Cape Coast, where participants discussed strategies for integrating historical narratives into public memory and institutional collaboration in the history, heritage, and tourism sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa.