Museums

 

Museum is a building, a place or an institution used for collection, preservation and display of artifacts, relics and other valuable cultural objects whether man-made or natural which has relevance to the people and representing the history of the people past and present.

The preservation of important old and new objects and happenings are important to every society. The old objects enlighten the society about their past achievement while the new ones are a record for the present as much as they are for future generations.

To facilitate the effectiveness of collecting and preserving her old and new important cultural objects, Nigeria established the National Commission of Antiquities and Museums through a Decree No. 77 of 1979 as an independent governmental body.

The collection and preservation of Nigerian artifacts were seriously started in 1933 and 1943 through the campaigns mounted by E. H. Duckworth and

K. C. Murray respectively. Both of them are expatriates. Today, the National Commission of Antiquities and Museums is the sole authority on the collection and preservation of national artistic and cultural treasures. It is organized in a way that its functions are enhanced all over the country. The National Museum in Lagos houses the headquarters for the National Commission for Museum and Monuments.

The first museum to be set up in Nigeria was by Mr. Kenneth Murray in Jos (Jos Museum) in 1943 which was quickly followed by the Esie Museum in 1944 and in 1957 the Lagos Museum was established. Oron in 1958, Benin 1960, Kaduna 1975; up till date, the establishment of museum has spread to all parts of Nigeria with every State of the Federation having a museum.

There are different types of museums which are specialized in one area of human experience or the other. These include:

i. General Museum (artifacts & relics)

ii. Fossils Museum (skeletons, bone)

iii. Automobile Museum (cars, aeroplane)

iv. War Museum' (war & weaponry)

v. Scientific Museum (scientific invention)

vi. Museum of Antiquity (ancient relics and artifacts)

vii. Museum of Inventions etc

viii. Aquatic Museum ((fishes & water kingdom)

ix. Historical Museum

Even in Nigeria, there are specialized museums at different locations e.g.

Art and Artifacts Museum: - It can be found in Lagos, Benin, Jos and Ife.

Things to be found include skulls, bones, household utensils, masks, costumes, farms and domestic implements, jewelry, sculpture pieces etc.

War Museum: - Umuahia. Objects to be found include, guns, mortars, explosives, bows and arrows, war planes, knives and other war implements, both local and sophisticated.

Fossil Museum:- OAU/Ife. Objects include bones, ivory, seeds, plants, shells Historical Museum: - Badagry, Lagos State, University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

Contents: - Notes, scrap book, written records, reports, currencies, postage Stamps, slave chains and others.

Folk Museum:- Jos - folklore and Other museums in Nigeria include:

Oron Museum: - CRS - Stone-age and iron-age objects, hardwood carvings, raffia artworks; traditional textiles and bamboo carvings.

Ekoi stone figures in Cross Rivers State and Esie Museum in Igbomina in Kwara State are worth mentioning.

FUNCTIONS OF MUSEUM

1. Preservation of the country's antiquities.

2. It helps in creating awareness among citizens and visitors about the rich cultural heritage of the country.

3. Museum helps to inspire pride in people's culture and maintains continuity from generation to generation.

4. It helps in keeping past and present historical records of the country e.g. names and photographs of past leaders from the colonial period to date. An important happening in the country, like the car in which Gen. Murtala Mohammed was killed in 1976, is being displayed at the National Museum, Lagos.

5. Museum is a good place for research activities.

6. It provides and publishes journals, newsletters, and other publications on activities of Nigerian Museum and cultural activities, also about Nigerian artwork and artists.

GALLERY - A gallery is a building or place where art works are displayed either temporarily or permanently with the purpose of selling the products. Most galleries are for collections while some serve the middle-man position of assisting the artist to sell and get commission both ways. Gallery cannot be described as a museum because the works there are displayed temporarily and also, the choice or items is solely determined by the owner of the gallery. It is basically a commercial centre for buying and selling of art works and cultural items. A gallery can be set up at any place whereas museum must be sited at a strategic place easily assessable to the public and it needs more space and better arrangement.

THE CURATOR

The person who takes care of the museum is called the CURATOR. The curator is therefore the head of any museum establishment and is also referred to as the 'director'

He is the guardian or custodian who is entrusted with the responsibility of preservation and care of museum collections (where they already exist) or making and preserving collections (where none already exist) and making some of such collections available for public viewing in the form of display or through other forms of public access to the collections.

As a curator, through his museum, "acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for the purpose of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of man and his environment". His responsibilities embrace all aspects of museum work.

He is therefore expected to be a generalist who should know a little bit of everything that goes on in the museum.

ART ASSOCIATIONS IN NIGERIA

The teaching of art started in earnest in Nigeria in 1920s through the pioneering efforts of Late Pa Aina Onabolu and British Kenneth Murray

(1927). From these two art teachers, crops of formally trained artists started to evolve. Not until in 1960 when the first institutionalized art club was formed in Zaria by the groups of Uche Okeke, Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onabrakpeya, Demas Nwoko, Felix Ekeada, Oseloka Osadebe, Okechukwu Odita, Ogbonnaya Nwagbara, William Olaosebikan and of course a woman I.M. Omigie. These were all members of the famous 'Zaria Art Society'. Other male artists from Zaria in this group include Jimol Akolo, Irein Wangboje, T.A. Fasti.

Isiaka Osunde etc.and the rest who at that time were students of Art at the Ahmadu Bello University. It was then called 'Zaria Art School. The artists of this group made an impact from 1961-1970.