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Maximilian Felix Chami

Senior Lecturer

College of Humanities

Archaeology and Heritage Studies

Biography

Maximilian Felix Chami (PhD) is a Senior lecturer in the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ) of Stellenbosch University. He holds a PhD in Heritage Studies from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany and MA in Heritage Management from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He previously served as a Senior Research Officer and Secretary of the Restitution Committee of cultural property and ancestral human remains at the National Museum of Tanzania (2021–2022) and as a Culture and World Heritage Officer at the UNESCO National Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania (2015–2021). Dr Chami was also a Visiting Researcher and Sensitive Provenance Research Fellow at the University of Göttingen in 2022 and 2024. His research focuses on cultural heritage management, colonial heritage and history, cultural tourism, and restitution and repatriation of human remains and ethnographic objects.

Research Interest

  • Heritage management and conservation, particularly in historic towns and World Heritage Sites such as Stone Town of Zanzibar and Kondoa Rock-Art Sites
  • Critical heritage studies, including debates on restitution, memory, and the politics of heritage in Africa.
  • Urban heritage and historic cities, focusing on conservation challenges, tourism pressures, and adaptive reuse.
  • Colonial and postcolonial histories, especially issues of segregation, sanitation, and spatial planning in cultural heritage sites and historic towns.
  • Community engagement and heritage governance, including the role of local communities, stakeholders, and indigenous knowledge.
  • Tourism and cultural heritage, particularly the impacts of Cultural Heritage Tourism (CHT) on built heritage.

Contacts

Email:

Projects

  1. Colonial Violence, Memory and Restitution and Repatriation of Ancestral Human Remains in Central Tanzania: Funded by AVReQ, University of Stellenbosch (2025-2026).
  2. German colonial administrative buildings and military stations (Bomas): Cultural heritage conservation and the colonial past in Tanzania: Funded by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) (2024).
  3. Sensitive Provenance Research Project, University of Göttingen: Mkalama, Chemba and Kondoa Districts. Funded by Volkswagen Foundation and University of Göttingen (2022-2023).
  4. Development of Management Plan in Tendaguru Palaeontological Site (TPS): Funded by British Council under the Cultural Protection Fund (2022).

Publications

Mabie, Z. S., & Chami, M. F. (2026). From Old to New: An Action-Oriented Integrated Heritage Management Planning Framework of the Kondoa Rock-Art Sites, UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tanzania. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2026.2663177.

 

Salum, S.S and Chami, M.F. (2026). Reclaiming Darajani Creek: colonial sanitation, urban transformation, conservation and heritage memory in Stone Town of Zanzibar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built Heritage 10, 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238-026-00265-9.

 

Chami, M. F. (2025). Cultural heritage conservation and the colonial past in Tanzania: collaborative approaches towards German colonial administrative buildings and military stations (Bomas). International Journal of Heritage Studies, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2025.2579246.

 

Chami, M.F., Ndyanabo, A.S. & Stoecker, H (2025). Finding Solutions for Managing, Protecting, and Promoting Tendaguru Palaeontological Site in Tanzania. Geoheritage 17, 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-025-01092-7.

 

Chami, M. F. (2024). Restitution and Repatriation of Ancestral, Human Remains from Colonial Contexts in Tanzania. Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage, 13(3), 261–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/21619441.2024.2425899.

 

Chami, M. F., Ryano, M. P., & Ndyanabo, A. S. (2024). The Archaeology and Cultural Heritage of the Mafia Archipelago, Tanzania: Recommendations for Conservation and Management. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2024.2414521.

 

Chami, M.F & Mjema, E. (2024). Local Community Engagement and Gazettement Approach in Managing and Conserving Pangani Historic Town in Tanzania. Built Heritage 8, 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238-024-00148-x.

 

Lwoga, N. B., Chami, M., Kafumu, B., Kisusi, R., & Ndahani, P. (2024). Multivocality and Its Implications for the Representation of Heritage: A Case Study of the Slavery Heritage in Mikindani, Tanzania. Journal of Heritage Management, 9(1): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/24559296241249242.

 

Chami, M. F., Simba, A., & Stoecker, H. (2023). Community Awareness and Restitution of Isanzu Ancestors’ Human Remains from the University of Göttingen Collections to Mkalama District, Tanzania. Africa Spectrum, 58(2), 155-178. https://doi.org/10.1177/00020397231202806

 

Chami, M. F & Kajiru, E. J. (2023). Assessment of 12 years (2011–2023) implementation of the 2003 UNESCO convention on safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Tanzania, Cogent Arts & Humanities, 10:1, DOI: 10.1080/23311983.2023.2254044,  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2023.2254044.

 

Chami, M., Walz, J and Sarathi, A. (2021). Expectations of Community: Meaningful Uses of Caves (beyond Archaeology) in Contemporary Zanzibar. Journal of African Cultural Heritage Studies, 3 (1), pp.1–7 DOI: http://doi.org/10.22599/jachs.104.

 

Chami, M. F, Albrecht, E and Ryano, M, P. (2021). Community Awareness and Understanding of the Origin of Swahili Archaeological Heritage and Ruins along Tanzania’s Swahili Coast: Conservation and Management Issues. Journal of Heritage Management, 1-13; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/24559296211054611.

 

Chami, M. F and Chami, F. A. (2020). Management of Sacred Heritage Places in Tanzania: A Case of Kuumbi Limestone Cave, Zanzibar Island, Journal of Heritage Management, Vol. 5 (1): 71-88; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2455929620934342.

 

Chami, M & Kaminyoge, G. (2019). Closed House of Wonders museum: Implications to the Tourism of Zanzibar Stone Town, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing, Vol. 5 (1): 31-36, http://jthsm.gr/vol5iss1/5-1-5.pdf.