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Conventional Museums and the Quest for Relevance in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

Ekpo Eyo
Ekpo Eyo*
Affiliation:
National Museum of Nigeria
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Extract

Although the Western world knows what a museum is, in many parts of Africa its purpose is an open question. To many Africans it is an alien institution introduced by colonialists. Their intentions were good: they wished to study and exhibit local works of art and artifacts and preserve them from deterioration and depredations by local and foreign traders. Yet collecting important art objects and artifacts, some of which were still part of active rituals, and locking them up in a building rather resembling a prison, was to many, Africans and foreigners alike, inimical in principle. Nor did many Africans show much interest in the displays within the glass cases, unless such exhibits pertained to their own particular ethnic heritage. The museums were therefore seen as white elephants staffed by eccentric colonialists, assisted by Africans glad of a job, and visited mainly by foreigners. If we trace the origin and development of the museum in Europe, we may discover why these African museums, as modeled on European institutions, failed to make an impact on the lives of Africans or to meet the needs of the communities they were meant to serve. However, we shall also see how in time certain projects have transformed them into cultural and social centers of great vitality.

Type
Sources and Resources for the Study of African Material Culture
Information
History in Africa , Volume 21 , 1994 , pp. 325 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1994

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