The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Museum

  • Museum, IFRA promote unsung objects

    Museum, IFRA promote unsung objects

    The management of National Commission for Museums and Monuments, (NCMM), in collaboration with the Institut Francaise De Recherche  En Afrique (IFRA-NIGERIA),  recently unveiled no fewer than 64 objects in its collection that are hitherto ‘unpopular’ among Nigeria’s cultural heritage. The exhibition tagged Nigeria Alternative Heritage: Beyond the Classical, Unveiling the Unsung, that opened last Monday at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, is to identify, promote, protect and disseminate alternative heritage in the country. These objects are referred to as alternative heritage because they have been forgotten overtime and therefore risk been lost or going into extinction. The exhibition, which will run till May 13, was declared open by Prof Ebun Clark, supported by Dr. Kunle Adeyemi.

    Some of the restored objects selected from minority groups in the country include Wooden Headdress, Ikenga, Door panel, Bellows, Ladi Kwali pot, spear, cane shield, water spirit, headdress, ayo olopon, ceremonial clay pot, Nupe wooden stool, Afo fertility figure, Orisa oko and Gula face mask.

    Wooden Headdress, a 19th Century piece from Ijebu Imosan, Ogun State is an Agemo headdress worn by priests of the cult of Agemo during the cult festival, which is celebrated during the sixth and eighth months of the year to appease the ancestors for community cleansing. The festival features musical performances with Esi and Aran-ofida drums. The community believes that the festival will prevent outbreaks of epidemics, ward off evils, and assure adequate rainfall for cultivation.

    Ikenga (19th-20th Century) work from the Nri Kingdom in Anambra state. Ikenga, which symbolises ‘place of strength’, is a personal deity that represents a man’s power, achievement, and ability to succeed. It is often depicted with horns and holding objects signifying victory or tools of trade. The belief is grounded in the culture that the power for a man to accomplish things is in his right hand, while the left hand generally holds some symbol of triumph. The object serves as a mirror to its owners, reflecting both their achievements and aspirations.

    But the Door panel (Mgbo ezi) is a 19-20th Century wooden sculpture from Nri-Awka, Nsukka, Anambra State, used primarily as entrance to the homes of titled individuals and wealthy families. The carved panel is found in the compounds of titled individuals and wealthy households; it serves as a symbol of status, wealth and artistic expression. The panel is a key element in the social and ritual hierarchy of the Ozo society, where men gained membership through social, ritual and financial obligation. The panel often adorned the Obu, a space within the compound use for sleeping, receiving guests and as a personal shrine. The intricate carvings and patterns on the panel can be interpreted as virtual representation of the household status and privileges with the Ozo society.

    Read Also: Shyllon Museum, law firm empower Nigerian artists

    Bellows (Igbagba) a 19th Century artifact from Owo, Ondo State, is a traditional blacksmithing tool used to supply air to a forge, increasing the temperature of the fire for melting and shaping metal. The bellows consist of two wooden paddles connected by leather, which when pressed together, force air through a nozzle into the forge.

    Curator National Museum, Onikan Lagos, Mrs. Nkechi Adedeji, said the exhibition theme is born out of Nigerian alternative heritage with the aim of making the unpopular cultural heritage in museum collections popular, particularly those from the minority groups. She stated that in order to continue to preserve our mother tongue, food, dress, music, and dances from extinction, the exhibition became necessary.  

    “These works, which were painstakingly carried out by museum professionals are further divided into different categories for easy identification and viewing at a glance. These include Household/Architecture, Fertility, Occupation, Entertainment/Leisure, Ancestral, Warfare and Governance/Royalty which were drawn from across the six geo-political regions in Nigeria with diverse cultures.

    “After a rigorous selection and de-selection process for several weeks by the exhibition team, a total of sixty-four (64) priceless selected objects are being exhibited today for your delight. Unveiling the unsung is our focus as reflected in the theme. These objects and artifacts have not been lauded or appreciated despite its existence. As a people, we must encourage our children, friends, traditional leaders, youth leaders to ensure our heritages are preserved for the unborn generation,” she added. 

    Director IFRA, Nigeria, Dr Barbara Morovich disclosed that two doctoral grants will be awarded by a selection committee of the University of Ibadan on archives and digital humanities about National Museum Lagos Archive. She said the two PhD students will be financed by the FAFTA.

    She recalled that the on-going exhibition is a follow up to the 2022 FSPI project and that with FAFTA the team has digitised enormous works in the archives. She said a website was created through information is disseminated. But she noted that digitisation has no sense, no impact and no future without dissemination. “It’s really important for us that people must have access to their own heritage through digitisation. This is number one priority on this project now. So, this project can really be a model of civic engagement of the number one museum in an African country.

    “So, this aspect of dissemination for me is so important. And the other achievement I want to point out is that there is no good project if it is not followed by research. Research gives the project academic validation and for sure I know that the museum is always on researching things. All these achievements, all these projects are the fruits of a good team work. Transparency, discussion, agreement and disagreement sometimes but in all, it makes people enjoy working together,” she added. She stressed the significance of training of staff of the commission in order to meet the challenges of modern time.

    Exhibition Project Leader, Mr Tunji Busari urged viewers to look beyond well- known narratives and celebrate the often overlooked aspects of our heritage, noting that it ‘challenges us to recognize the stories, practices and artefacts that deserve attention, honouring the diversity of our cultures.’

    According to him, each of the selected artifacts from different cultures is telling its unique story and that they ‘remind us of the creativity and resilience of our people, showcasing unsung heroes and narratives.’

    Beyond the exhibition, the training of staff, restoration and digitization of museum’s collection remain the most significant aspect of the partnership between NCMM and IFRA. However, the state of museum storage facilities and safety of these priceless artefacts also call for prompt attention so as to preserve the nation’s heritage for future generations. 

  • How persons with special needs can enjoy museum

    Museums exist for the society. They can be a vibrant force in society; a place for learning, discussion, debate and deliberation. They can be welcoming, warm and inclusive. They can celebrate diversity and shape our views of the past and present in the planning for the future.

    Every museum desires to satisfy its visitors, this includes the able bodied and persons with special needs. Aperson with special needs require special attention while visiting the museum to enable him/her enjoys the visit and get maximum benefits of the experience.

    A person with special needs may be that person, who because of a kind of impairment has suffered a disability which eventually leads to a form of handicap the totality of these difficulties, inconveniences and circumstances therefore prevents him from living a normal life. Persons with special needs may include among others:

    Persons with mental retardation, persons with visual impairments, persons with hearing impairments, persons with physical bodily impairments  and persons with multiple impairments.

    As a museum professional, therefore, whose responsibility it is to ensure pleasurable museum experience of these classes of persons, one needs to adequately plan ahead and put together a series of resources to achieve this. These provisions range from the physical to the psychological and even, methodology of  approach.

    As a museum professional, one needs to first recognise that persons with special needs deserve our love and care, hence the need to avoid any form of discriminations against them. One needs to get close and devise ways and means of establishing rapport with these class of people by making visits to them when necessary. This builds trust, confidence and a bond between us in the first instance and getting them to visit the museum becomes easy.

    In addition to this, one can organise sensitisation/outreach programmes to bring people with special needs to the gallery. This can be achieved by establishing links with local societies for people with disabilities, holding consultations and educational programmes that will whet their appetites for making a visit to the museum.

    As a museum professional one needs to strive to remove all forms of physical and architectural barriers as this will reduce certain difficulties they are likely to face during their visit. Such things to be considered may include provision of wheelchairs, ramps to access lower levels, adequate lighting of movement paths and noticeable floor designs that can assist this class of persons.

    The museum professional equally needs to be attitudinally flexible. One should be able to essentially accommodate easily, their feelings behavior and beliefs at all times. He should avoid discriminatory attitudes and making disparaging comments during their visit. He needs to draw them closer by making them feel loved and wanted. He should be able to create a warm and friendly atmosphere to make the visitors relax and relish the tour.

    Provision of specialised resource materials are also important. Materials like audiovisual aids, Braille interpretations and other tactile facilities and object replicas will go a long way in making visits of persons with special needs enjoyable and rewarding.

    Personally, the education officer should demonstrate essential qualities of eloquence, understanding, accuracy understanding and orderliness.  He should be able to exhibit vital ethical practices of decorum, etiquette and careful and cautious dressing as well as avoiding the use of distracting objects. He should be seen as a role model and an example to follow.

    Having said all these, as a museum professional, one will need to employ specific goal getting methodologies in interacting with persons with special needs while on museum visit. These among others include engaging them in activities that can keep them busy, employing series of demonstrations,discussions and questions, lectures, and introduction of projects to be carried out. All of these will encourage deep assimilation and understanding that will ultimate guarantee a rich and enjoyable experience.

     

    • Ikokwu is of National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Abuja

  • Museum of Contemporary Art Lagos opens

    The long-awaited Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Lagos has been opened at the studio space of Uchay Chima at Ajao Estate, Anthony Village, Lagos. The space will serve as a secretariat pending when a permanent location will be secured.

    “This space will serve as a temporary site until we get a permeant site,” said Chima, who initiated the idea and registered the museum in 2016.

    “It’s a kind of secretariat where programmes, exhibitions and other activities will be carried out.”

    Chima said the museum was conceived in direct response to the revolutionary conversations on the imperatives of revitalising and maximising the vast potential of the Nigerian creative economy, and the growing demand by experts in the cultural ecosystem for a curatorial institution that reflects the contemporary realities and needs of the visual art industry.

    He said after his discussion with a curator, Bisi Silva, who said  ‘you artists cannot continue to wait for the government for a contemporary museum,’ when she visited his studio eight years ago,” he began to think of how it can be achieved because if they continued to wait for the government to build one for them it may never happen.

    “We have waited for so long for the government to help us. I want artists to know that what we are doing here is for every artist in Nigeria. The museum is not about me and we need to come together to make it one of the best contemporary art museums in the world,” he said.

    Chima said others in the team included: Kelani Abass, Iheanyi Onwuegbucha, Richardson Ovbiebo, Oluchi Zim, Winifred Okpapi, Roli Afinotan and Aderemi Adegbite.

    According to them, MOCA Lagos will use the visual arts as a point of departure for exploring new and challenging interdisciplinary artistic production, interpretation, collection, and preservation of art by using alternative spaces in Lagos for exhibitions and public programmes. It also aims to promote, interpret and preserve Nigerian art heritage and the progress of artists and the art community.

    “We intend to achieve this by serving diverse audience through exhibitions, public engagement programmes, dialogues on pressing issues both local and international; fostering a dynamic space for the exploration and continuous evolution of contemporary African Art. MOCA Lagos aims to leverage on interventions in the public space as a strategy for direct public engagement. We strongly believe in public participation and creating spaces to showcase art from within the community through dedicated projects that intervenes in public spaces. Curators, art institutions and other organisations are welcome to partner with us.”

    Abass said their aim was to come together and build a structure. “If we come together as one body we can achieve this.”

    One of the major challenges they are having is funding, while individuals have tried to discourage them. “This is an idea that will benefit the art community, though we don’t have money but we will get there.”

    They are urging artists to join them and also donate works which will be sold during their first curated exhibition in September. This they said will serve as one of the ways to gathering fund to buy land. “What we are doing is not for us, is something that will benefit us, including the youth through workshops, competitions and other events which they will organise for them.”

    They are also urging the government to back them up by providing fund to secure a permanent site to build the museum. “The money is not going to our pocket. Our next plan is to get a land and build a permanent site. This will offer employment opportunity,” they said.

     

  • Fed Govt, Ogun to convert Fela’s family house into museum

    The Federal Government and the Ogun State government have resolved to immortalise Afro beat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti by converting his family house in Abeokuta, the state capital, into a museum.

    The family house, christened “Heritage Museum” on NEPA Road at Isabo in Abeokuta, has begun to wear a new look.

    The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Muhammed and Governor Ibikunle Amosun visited the site yesterday.

    They hailed the Federal Government for the initiative and pledged to work together to actualise the project.

    Mohammed said the restoration and preservation of the family house was more symbolic at a time the 20th anniversary of Fela’s death was being celebrated.

    The minister said the project would be a model of inspiration to youths.

    He said: “It is laudable in the sense that this is one of the most positive steps to actually put our rhetoric into action. We’ve always said that one of the important assets we have is our cultural heritage, our history. This project, which is going to immortalise Kuti’s family, I think, is very laudable and admirable.

    “The Kuti family, as you know, represents different things to different people – talk of education emancipation, music or entertainment. Therefore, this attempt by the government to immortalise the family by preserving and restoring the ancestral home of the great family, I think, is very commendable.

    “This is the period we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the death of the maestro himself. I am sure this is within the time, to be inaugurated very soon, probably next year or thereabout.

    “The emphasis of this government, weather state or federal, is that creative industry must be turned into creative economy. I think this centre is going to be a good model to encourage and inspire the youths.”

    Amosun described Fela, his siblings and parents as galaxies of icons.

    The governor promised to complete the project soonest.

    According to him, Fela’s family is one of the giants that laid the foundation of greater Ogun State.

     

  • Fountain varsity partners National Museum on Osun grove

    The Fountain University, Osogbo, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Commission for Museum and Monument to collaborate in carrying out series of researches on the Osun Osogbo grove.

    The MoU which was signed at the grove was to enable the university to conduct researches to establish some of the medicinal benefits that can be derived from certain plants and organisms that have been preserved in the sacred grove over the years.

    Speaking with journalists shortly after the event, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Basiru Raji explained that the MoU enable researchers from the university to unravel certain hidden treasures in the grove for the beneficial of indigenes of Osogbo and people Osun and the world at large.

    The VC disclosed that a researcher from the University, Dr Afolabi Nusra Balogun has started working on certain discoveries she made in the Osun Osogbo water and some plants in the grove and that the discoveries would contribute to health care delivery when fully developed.

    Professor Raji noted that despite that Fountain University is a faith based institution, the quest for knowledge and research compelled researchers to pay attention to Osun Osogbo grove and that the institution would fully explore the Osun Osogbo grove and come out with good findings that would help the humanity.

  • Lagos unveils plan to overhaul Badagry Museum

    The Lagos State Government yesterday unveiled plans for overhauling the Badagry Heritage Museum and other heritage sites to further annex the state’s tourism potential.

    Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture Mr. Folorunso Folarin-Coker, who made this known while briefing reporters on the ministry’s activities in the last 11 months, said work would soon begin on the Heritage Museum to restore its glory.

    He said the ministry has ascertained the state of the museum and other heritage sites in order to arrest their obvious deteriorations.

    According to the commissioner, the ministry found that the museum needs “total and complete restoration and rehabilitation in many areas.” The ministry, he added, would complete the overhauling and remodelling of the galleries.

    He said the state planned to provide “adequate and functional facilities, modern infrastructure to cope with the expectation of visitors and tourists as well as capacity building, training and manpower development of the staff to manage a modern museum.”

    Speaking on the agreement between the state and the Federal Government to upgrade the National Museum at Onikan in Lagos, Folarin-Coker said the plan is to make the museum a pride to all Nigerians and a befitting tourist centre within the state.

    He said the monument would be upgraded into a befitting international standard museum in preparation for the celebration of Lagos at 50 next year.

    The commissioner said the state is collaborating with foreign partners to promote Lagos as the most desirable tourism destination in Africa.

    Folarin-Coker said the Lagos State Film and Video Censors Board, the Task Force and Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officers raided designated areas notorious for selling pirated movies in order to sanitise the sub-sector.

    During the raid, he said, 33 suspects were apprehended and 11 bags of illegal and pirated movies seized.

    The suspects, according to him, have been prosecuted and fined or sentenced accordingly.

  • Museum at 70: Whither the museum service in Nigeria

    Museum at 70: Whither the museum service in Nigeria

    On November 11, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) celebrated 70 years of the museum service in Nigeria. The choice of Esie Museum for the anniversary was hypocritical for many reasons, including neglect.

    What has Esie Museum to show for being the first museum in the country? Established in 1945, following the discovery of over 800 soapstone figures, Esie Museum has been a victim of neglect as its infrastructure, which is an apology, is still not too different from what it used to be in the past. It would have been better for the money used for the celebration to be utilised to improve on the physical development of the museum being the first in Nigeria. It is shameful that the first museum has not advanced from its primordial state when others after it have received preferential attention.

    But the pertinent question is, what is there to celebrate, considering the decadence into which the inexperienced and ignorant leadership, past and present, that have passed through the system after the exit of  Prof Ekpo Eyo has plunged the museum service?

    Against the backdrop of the expectation of an efficient and effective museum service, rather than celebrating, it should have been an  occasion for sober reflection and stocktaking for the management of the museum institution and the Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and the National Orientation Agency. They needed  to have pondered over some pertinent questions in view of the low ebb the establishment has sunk over the years since the departure of the ‘fathers’ of the museum service in Nigeria, which terminated in the glorious epoch of the late Eyo, the first indigenous Director of the Federal Department of Antiquities and later Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

    In fact, the heart bleeds anytime an x-ray of the state of the museum service is undertaken, which had experienced what  can be referred to as El dorado during the tenures of Kenneth C. Murray, Bernard Fagg and Eyo. May their gentle souls rest in peace.

    It is a fact that when Eyo, an archaeologist and museologist, was at the helm of affairs at the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, the members of the staff and the public spoke of the institution in glowing terms. His tenure witnessed the rapid development of the museum service in all facets, including but not limited to infrastructural development, capacity building, appointments based on competency, care of collections, scheduling and maintenance of monuments, exhibitions, including travelling exhibitions and staff welfare.

    The same cannot be said of the present leadership, which is a round peg in a square hole, judging from the state of affairs in the institution which exudes a catalogue of woes.

    In a television interview recently on the reasons for the celebration, the Director-General, Mallam Abdallah Yusuf, said: “Because the National Commission for Museums and Monuments is still existing.”

    What a puerile and naive response from the Chief Executive Officer of a research and intellectual institution. Perhaps, he is correct either from the standpoint of his own assessment or because he has not improved on the state of the institution since his assumption of office about six years ago.

    At the last count in 1986, when Eyo was retiring, there were over 53 scheduled monuments across the country, all in good condition. Today, the story is different as the number of monuments across the country can be counted on the finger tips as the majority, including those in the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture (MOTNA), have deteriorated and have disappeared from the earth surface. A visit to the museums’ collection storage across the country, particularly Lagos, Jos and Benin, will make a true museum professional weep. No thanks to the tenterhooks of neglect by the museum leadership. The installed air conditioners have long broken down while the usual regular fumigation of the collections storage aimed at preservation to deter agents of deterioration is a thing of the past. If it is not possible to improve on the status quo, must the  facilities or activities be allowed to deteriorate or stopped? It is worthy to note that other West African countries with whom Nigeria entered the museum service, such as Ghana, Mali and Niger, are growing in leaps and bounds while we are retrogressing. An example, the Museum Centre in Jos, established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultured Organisation (UNESCO) in the 1970s, for the training of museographers, that used to attract patronage from museums in other African countries has become a caricature and a laughing stock since its metamorphosis to the Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies (IAMS). It no longer enjoys patronage from West African and East African museum institutions because of its appalling standard. The school can be likened to a living dead.

    Apart from the care of collections and the maintenance of monuments, including MOTNA, other areas that need attention, such as the primacy, integrity and ethical considerations of the collections, appointment of dedicated and knowledgeable staff to leadership positions, with round pegs in round holes, relevant staff training and development, vigorous ethnographic research/archaeological excavations across the country, matched with corresponding publications, settlement of antiquities vendors to discourage illegal trafficking, pursuit of aggressive educational programmes in all the museum stations, are, to past museum professional employees, including the author, who have seen it all in the museum service, mindboggling questions begging for answers.

    There is no gainsaying that things have gone awry in the National Commission for Museum and Monuments; a situation that calls for urgent intervention to stem the tide of decadence. To watchers of the commission, it is not surprising that this is so because the leadership of the ministry that is expected to be a watch dog did not help matters because of pecuniary gains. There have been unabated calls from the workers for the ministry to beam its searchlight on the institution’s leadership. Instead, the ministry allegedly busied itself witchhunting whistle-blowing union officials for speaking out against the leadership.

    The oddity at the commission has been laid bare in the public ‘court’ as a Macedonian call for anticipated salvage.  The leadership of the new the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, under which the NCMM will function in the new dispensation, should take  action to prevent an imminent collapse of the museum service in Nigeria.

    A stitch in time saves nine!

     

    • Akanbiemu is the resident curator, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
  • Shyllon to build multi-billion naira museum

    Shyllon to build multi-billion naira museum

    History will be made today as Omooba Yemisi Adedoyin Shyllon Art Foundation (OYASAF) founder, Yemisi Shyllon, an engineer, and the Pan Atlantic University (PAU) Governing Council, sign an agreement establishing Nigeria’s first multi-billion naira privately funded public museum, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.

    •Engineer donates 15-foot bronze statue to Unilag Law Faculty

    It could not have come at a better time than now when Nigeria does not have any functioning national art exhibition edifice. From today, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon will begin the funding of a multi-billion-naira museum of art that will house all genres of Nigerian art and photographs.

    Shyllon, who began collecting art as an undergraduate, using savings from his scholarship, has over 6,000 pieces of African antiquities, traditional and neo-traditional pieces and contemporary Nigerian art in his collection. It is the largest private collection in Nigeria comprising music, traditional dance, drama, opera, tribes, paintings, sculptures, photography, folklore, oral tradition, poetry, literature, architecture, performing arts, general arts, embroidery, documentaries and weaving.

    The facility, Yemisi Shyllon Museum – Pan Atlantic University, that will be on Pan Atlantic University campus in Lekki, is one of the steps taken by Shyllon to fill the lacuna in the nation’s art space.

    Shyllon said the project was a selfless effort by his family to establish a one-stop reference point of all the genres of art, including photography, traditional, modern and conceptual art. He said the museum set up for promoting Nigerian art. “It will be Nigeria’s first functioning privately funded, but public exhibition space that will contain all genres of visual art and antiques from part of my collection for the benefit of our country and the world,” he said. He disclosed that other major collectors of Nigerian art will be allowed to exhibit their collections in sections within and forming part of the museum.

    According to him, the agreement includes, among others, granting the museum his art collections, funding of the seed money, providing 15 years of yearly funding of the running cost of the museum and electing some of the members of the museum management. He disclosed that the University Council and himself would agree on the design of the museum architecture, which will be undertaken by an international architect.

    Shyllon has been worried by what will become of his treasured collections. Even after trips to renowned museums and galleries across the globe, seeking knowledge on how to run a museum, he discovered that it required more than erecting a building to run a viable museum. “It is an expensive venture as it involves insurance of collections, preservation of works, management of operating staff and logistics among others. Given all this, I was in a quagmire on how to preserve all my collections and what will happen to my works. I did not want my sweat to go the way of other collectors,” he said.

    Shyllon recalled that for many years he had been thinking of what to do with his art collections, which he started as an undergraduate. “In my working career, I kept satisfying my passion by collecting art. But, when I started to work for myself, I decided to take art collection serious. This led to the incorporation of OYASAF in 2007. The foundation held its first two art exhibitions: History of Nigerian art and Drums and Totems in partnership with Omoba Oladele Odimayo at the National Museum, Lagos. These shows caught the attention of the United StateS Embassy in Lagos and facilitated my selection for US-sponsored International Visitors Leadership Programme to 22 institutions in the US in 2009.

    “My question all through the trip was how viable is running a museum? When I returned I was better informed and learnt that gate taking was only 5 per cent of museum income,” he added, noting that his search on who to partner with led him to Pan Atlantic University, which has foreign partners in Spain.

    On why he chooses to initiate all this project, he said: “One thing that drives me is legacy. You can make all the money in this world, but if there is no legacy you left behind, when you die, people will forget everything about you. Whatever I want to do must be legacy inspired. These projects have no profit motive behind them but to contribute to the society in my chosen passion.”

     

    Donation of a 15-foot

    bronze statue to Unilag

    Similarly, on Friday  a 15-foot bronze statue donated by Shyllon to Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, will be unveiled. Considering the concept of the new statue of justice, it is to revolutionise the design concept of the universal symbol of justice. It is expected to project the different ethnic nationalities of Nigeria and redirect the representation of the symbol of justice as a people towards ‘promoting our culture and traditions.’ It took the artist Adeola Balogun, who was supported by a bronze-caster Paul Omorodion three months to complete the sculpture.

    The sculpture is a maiden holding the Eben of the Oba of Benin and the horse whip of Yoruba Kings. She is also adorned with the Jigida of the Efik culture around her waist and wears the famous Fura do Nunu attire of the Hausa/Fulani culture. The Ileke of the Yoruba culture adorns her waist. The beads on her neck and the Udu on her two feet represent the Igbo culture. Her hairdo (Shuku) and the bracelets on her hands are of the Yoruba culture. She is of the Negro (Nigeria) identity and blindfolded in tandem with the universal representation of the symbol of justice.

     

    Online journal of art:The OYASAF Journal of Art (TOJA)

    The third part of Shyllon’s intervention on art this month is the establishment of an online international journal of art, The OYASAF Journal of Art, under his endowed professorial chair at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), which he has committed funds. The journal is expected to make its debut by the end of July.  He said: “I decided to set up this quality of journal because of the dearth of such journals in our academic space in Nigeria. What we usually have in Nigeria are stop gap journals published merely to get promotions after which the journals are often jettisoned. This is one of the projects initiated to enhance the appreciation and development of Nigerian arts and culture and to position us in the global art space. It will also give Nigerian art stakeholders something to be proud of.

    It will be edited by the Chair of the Prince Yemisi Shyllon Professorial Chair of Art and Design of UNIPORT, Prof Frank Ugiomoh. There will be three professors from the US, two from South Africa, one each from Germany and the UK and four from Nigeria. The chair of the board of trustees is a Vice Chair of the UNESCO 1970 Convention, assisted by seven professors of international repute. The journal is expected to be published thrice year ly with a maximum of six and minimum of four papers per publication.

    TOJA is an online journal for critical debate on African art  and will publish  articles, reviews, critical discourse based on studio experiences of artists and products such as product/industrial design, architecture, sculpture, painting and printmaking, photography and installations, exhibitions, curatorial practice.    The journal will provide an on-line platform for documenting the arts of Africa, and similar cultural practices around the world.  It will be published annually, every four months (March, July & November) as an on line publication with a maximum of six (6) and a minimum of four (4) annual outings. It will include global features on book reviews, review of art exhibitions, scholars’ forum, review of art fairs and others.

    TOJA is set to occupy the position of a vanguard online forum that provides commensurate knowledge in art practice, discourse and related engagements in Africa. It vision includes to contribute to an appreciation of visual literacy through discourse alternatives that engage practice, history, criticism and interpretation; to encourage discourse options that privilege diverse ideological perspectives and to create an enabling medium for the free expression and exchange of ideas.

    Shyllon’s philanthropic gestures know no bound. He restored a failed Ben Enwonwu’s 1952 artwork for the University of Ibadan, donated a 25-feet sculpture Towards Distinction to the University of Ibadan, contributed to the redesigning of the University of Ibadan zoo, contributed to the refurbishment of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife campus (during the tenure of Prof Rogers Makanjuola), endowed a professorial chair at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, sponsored school competition in arts, sponsored the annual creative art workshop at the University of Lagos, donated sculptures to the Freedom Park, Lagos and runs residency programmes for arts scholars among others through his foundation.

  • Museum celebrates Nigerian heritage

    Museum celebrates Nigerian heritage

    In a bid to pass a message across to Nigerians on the importance of the traditional marriage ceremony and as part of activities to mark its 2015 cultural week, workers of the National Museum, Lagos Island, recently staged a drama to show different traditional marriages.

    The ceremony which held in the museum premise saw almost every member of staff of the museum participating, while family, friends and many dignitaries were in attendance.

    Speaking to The Nation, Miss Nwaenyi Esther who acted as bride for the Igbo traditional marriage during the event said the museum workers have taken it upon themselves to map out a week every year to showcase different cultural practises in Nigeria.

    “We decided to showcase traditional marriage ceremonies in Nigeria this year because Nigerians and Africans in general have thrown away their known traditional marriage ceremony to borrow foreign marriage ceremony which to us is not right.

    “We now hear people divorce anyhow, some do contract marriages, some focus only on court marriage and feel they have wedded,” she said.

    She explained that marriage is the foundation of every family and since Igbo practice extended family system that is predicted on solid lineage and network of families it becomes important that marriage in Igboland must be regarded as one of the pillars of the people’s tradition and culture.

    She called on Nigerians to go back to their various traditional marriage systems.

  • Museum as an agent of change, innovation

    Museum as an agent of change, innovation

    Museum has been defined differently by scholars. It is a place where heritage materials are kept for display, learning and relaxation and have been seen as a non-profitable institution where people view and enjoy the display of cultural heritage. In 1979, ICOM defines museum as a non-profitable permanent institution in the service of the society and its developments, opened to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits for the purpose of study, education and enjoyment, material evidence of man and his environment.

    In 2004, as a rejoinder at the Curators’ seminar in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, museum curators countered the non-profitable ICOM definition of museum since museums are now generating funds for their upkeep.

    Changerefers to outcomes, results, accomplishments or preconditions. It can also be defined as a passing from one phase to another thus making a variety. Innovation on the other hand means, a new way of doing something: incremental, radical and revolutionary, changes in thinking, products, processes or organizations. Innovations are ideas applied successfully: in organizational context; it is linked to performance and growth through improvement in efficiency, productivity, quality, competitive, positioning, market shares. All organizations try to be innovative in their operations: hospitals, universities, governments etc. As individuals, innovation occurs when someone uses an idea or invention to change the world outlook;how people organize and conduct themselves. Innovation is distinct from improvement in that it permeates society and causes reorganization. It is also distinct from problem solving but may cause problems, in this view, it has positive or negative results but it is generally understood as a successful introduction of a new thing or method.

    Innovation is therefore an embodiment of combinations, or synthesis of original knowledge, relevant, valued as new products, processes or services which begins with creative ideas. Innovation can fail if it is seen as an organisational process whose success stems from a mechanistic approach because it has an emphasis on control, enforcement and structure, but it is the only partial truth in achieving development and can be used to counter an organization’s orthodoxy. However, space for fair hearing of innovative ideas is required to balance the potential of auto-immune-exclusion that quells an infant innovative culture.

    A newly born child in Africa, Asia, America or Europe is born without knowledge or culture. Education is designed to guide such a child in learning a particular culture, model his/her behavior towards his eventual role in the society. In pre-literate societies with no formal learning system the entire environment the activities served as school while the adults served as teachers.

    As societies grow more complex the quality and quantum of knowledge to be passed on from one generation to another hence, the more selective means and efficient means of cultural transmission. The outcome of this is formal education: the school and the specialists called teachers. Overtime, societies grew more complex and schools became institutionalised, experiences gained therefore became far less directly related to daily life: less a matter of showing and learning in the context of the work a day world, abstraction from practices, distilling, telling and learning things out of contexts.

    The concentration of learning in formal atmosphere allows the child to learn his/her culture through observation and imitation. The society attaches more importance to education, in that it also began to formulate the overall objectives, content, organization and strategies for education giving birth to education as a distinguished discipline that is constantly being refined and redefined in various countries to meet national goals and aspirations.

    The museum has as part of its roles to the society the duty of transmitting cultural roles from generation to the other; therefore museum education is the transmission of cultural information of a given society from one generation to another using the platform of museum exhibitions. From museum inceptions, one of the fundamental objectives of the museum is to educate by using its collections and exhibits. Therefore, it follows that museum education is an in-depth transfer of pertinent “cult” information using museum exhibits, this process should not be evaluated in terms of what is imparted, but also on how it received and further transferred. Therefore, the aim of the museum education to foster contact between people (children or adults) and its exhibits, not to teach the facts alone but to sow a seed of interest and a spark of inspiration.

    Purposes of museum education are many, among which are: promotion of public awareness, developing the creative capabilities of the visitors, interpreting museum collections to all categories of people; promoting the museum institution as a centre of public learning. Museum’s educational role therefore is to liaise with formal education authorities when school curriculum and scheme are prepared. Museum education liaises with formal education authorities to enhancing the planning of school curriculum. It can also provide space for teaching groups of people within museum premises. In this wise, it help the informal learning system. It is the function of museum education to improve the provision of facilities for visitors particularly for schools, families and even disabled people.

    The museum is an educational resource centre that aids in the field of human learning. A Chinese proverbs says “a look is worth a thousand words”, illustrates the values of viewing, teaching and learning. Having resource materials at hand results in a more effective learning process of facts, information and skills in a short period of time than verbalisation. When properly used, resource materials can facilitate the following supplying of a concrete basis for conceptual thinking they making learning more permanent through reality of experience and self-activity thereby developing continuity. Resources like motion pictures, museum objects etc contribute to the growth of meaning and concepts. First hand experiences not easily obtained elsewhere are gotten from the museum resources and display. Museums all over the world are replete with many resource materials ranging from educational, archeological, ethnological, architectural, and natural history materials. The museum is a vital element in establishing a national cultural identity and the transmission of cultural heritage. The museum is a repository for many kinds of research, and in most cases it has a well equipped libraries, life specimen manuscripts, research results often very useful as educational materials.

    •Adedokun is of the National Museum, Osogbo.