Developing the Colonial Museum Project in British Nigeria Público

Abstract

In 1943, Kenneth Crosthwaite Murray began a survey of antiquities in the British colony of Nigeria. This project led to his own department, which wrote antiquities legislation, regulated archaeological excavations, and established all of the museums in the country - seven before independence. These museums were established for antiquities' preservation, but were also a demonstration of Britain's imperial presence in Africa. The formation and products of the department of antiquities reveal the way in which the British intended to use the museum to unite a diverse population while at the same time use artifacts to educate and create the modern colonial African subject. The department of antiquities looked to British institutions as a model for antiquities legislation and museum practice. "Developing The Colonial Museum Project in British Nigeria" explores the processes by which European museum models were translated to colonial-era African museums and analyzes how knowledge production and heritage formation were generated within these institutions. The colonial African museum maintained ties to the institutions in Europe, yet it was something different because it was set within colonial territories and catered to colonial European and African audiences. This in turn shaped the classification of art objects, which affected our perceptions of what the Nigerian visual culture is today. Nigeria plays an important role in museum development on the continent because the department of antiquities opened the first bilingual institution to train museum professionals, thus influencing museum practice across Africa. This dissertation examines Nigerian museums as both an extension of and departure from the way British museums were used for social and political purposes. The focus is the development of the department of antiquities and the institutions it founded in the period leading up to its establishment in 1946 and the dismantling of the British Empire with Nigerian independence in 1960. The final chapter considers the department in the 1960s through the Biafran War and into today.

Table of Contents

Introduction........................................................................................................................1
Structure of the Dissertation ...................................................................................................10
Chapter 1 ..........................................................................................................................13
Antiquities, Anthropology, and Museums in 19th- and early 20th-century Britain....13
Growth of Anthropology in Nineteenth-Century England ..................................................14
Antiquities Commission...........................................................................................................18
Anthropology, Archaeology, and Museums...........................................................................24
The British Museum. .............................................................................................................28
The Pitt Rivers Museum. .......................................................................................................33
Anthropology in the University...............................................................................................36
Anthropology and Colonialism ...............................................................................................41
A Continuation of the German-British Rivalry in Nigeria: The Case of Leo Frobenius..44
The Effect of British Policy on Nigeria...................................................................................48
Chapter 2 ..........................................................................................................................54
Building the Department of Antiquities in Colonial Nigeria.......................................54
Kenneth Crosthwaite Murray.................................................................................................55
William Bascom and the Ife Heads.........................................................................................66
World War II............................................................................................................................74
Edward Harland Duckworth ..................................................................................................81
Education Office or Public Relations Office..........................................................................85
Bernard E. B. Fagg...................................................................................................................89
Mission of the Antiquities Service: Repatriation, Excavation, and Preservation ..............97
Excavation............................................................................................................................101
Preservation..........................................................................................................................106
Regulation of Exports and the Antiquities Ordinance of 1953 ..........................................112
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................117
Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................119
The Fight for Museums.................................................................................................119
The Colonial Endeavor: Herbert Meyerowitz, Julian Huxley, and Hermann Braunholtz
..................................................................................................................................................124
H. J. Braunholtz's Tour .........................................................................................................138
Continued Opposition ............................................................................................................144
Road to Museums...................................................................................................................146
Exhibitions in London and Lagos.........................................................................................148
Working with the Oni and Oba ............................................................................................155
Employing Nigerians..............................................................................................................158
Hesitation of Colonial Office .................................................................................................161
A Regional Versus a Central Museum .................................................................................164
Storage.....................................................................................................................................168
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................169
Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................................173
Development of the Nigerian Regional and National Museums................................173
The House of Images at Esiẹ (1945)......................................................................................176

The Ife Museum (1954)..........................................................................................................181
The Oron Museum (1959)......................................................................................................194
The Gidan Makama Museum Kano (1960) .........................................................................203
The Benin Museum (1960).....................................................................................................205
The Jos Museum (1952) .........................................................................................................207
The Museum ...........................................................................................................................215
The Pottery Museum............................................................................................................224
Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture. ...................................................................228
Jos Zoo and Botanical Gardens............................................................................................230
The Technological Museum. ...............................................................................................232
UNESCO Training School and AMAT-MATA. .................................................................233
Conclusion. ..........................................................................................................................236
The Nigerian Museum, Lagos (1957)....................................................................................238
Expansion of the Department of antiquities ........................................................................245
Chapter 5 ........................................................................................................................247
Museums and the Department of antiquities after Nigerian Independence ............247
Kenneth C. Murray's Retirement.........................................................................................252
The strained relationship between Murray and Fagg...........................................................254
Ekpo Eyo .................................................................................................................................262
Amendments to the 1953 Antiquities Ordinance.................................................................263
Civil War .................................................................................................................................266
FESTAC '77 and the future of the NCMM .........................................................................273
NCMM Today.........................................................................................................................274
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................276
Appendix 1......................................................................................................................280
Bibliography...................................................................................................................283

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Art History
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Art History
Palavra-chave	Museum Department of Antiquities Kenneth Murray Bernard Fagg Nigeria
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Kasfir, Sidney L, Emory University
Committee Members	Stephenson, Jessica, Emory University Robins, Gay, Emory University

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