[image_spread img_url="https://fhis.cms.ar ts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2021/10/Wide-picture.png" caption="Th e National Museum Lagos\, 2021. Photo: Sanya Onolaja." width="browser"]
Nigerian museums were established and interpreted by the British col onialists\, the same people who historize Nigeria’s art and culture. During the colonial period\, Africans were seen as retarded and uncivilized\, the refore\, the Europeans who went to Africa were there with the intention to change them and train them to live in an “acceptable” civilized way. They c reated a Eurocentric dominated narrative about African art and culture that was mainly influenced by their Western perspective and their experience in Africa as visitors. Cultural and art objects were classified and translate d through European museum paradigms and policies.
Unfortunately\, Afr ican museums\, with a specific focus on Nigeria\, have continued to uphold the same history attached to their establishment with little or no change. National museums in Nigeria\, governed by the National Commission for Museu ms and Monuments (NCMM)\, are functioning under a modification of the antiq uities policy that established them with no visible improvement.
How might we rewrite Nigerian museum histories to reflect the locals’ accounts and understanding? With the use of Foucault’s idea of Dispositif\, Titilope Salami will examine the history of museums in Nigeria explaining their colonial exploitation and how the narrative has not changed despite t he country’s independence. Salami will also discuss how ethnicity\, class\, and educational and professional backgrounds have continued to influence N igerian museum discourse.
Titilope Salami\, an artist and curator\, is a doctoral student in the d epartment of Art History\, Visual Art & Theory at the University of British Columbia. She is currently conducting her Ph.D. research in the history an d policies of West African museums. She is a recipient of SSHRC Doctoral Fe llowship (2021-2024).
[gravityform id="25" title="false" description=" false"]
If you have any questions\, please contact Dr. Antje Ziethen at antje.ziethen@ubc.ca.