Reinventing Ethnographic Museums in Africa as Postcolonial Institutions
Recent scholarship on decolonizing museums has predominantly centered on Western institutions, focusing on the restitution and repatriation of artifacts acquired during colonial times. As these objects return to their origins, and new museums spring up across Africa, it is crucial to shift our focus towards these evolving institutions on the continent.
There has also been a surge in new museum initiatives across Africa, accompanied by a heightened global interest in African collections. Yet, many of these institutions struggle to bridge the gap between art and society effectively. While museums serve not only as custodians of cultural heritage but also as platforms for dialogue among diverse audiences, many still carry the remnants of colonial influence in their collection curation, architectural design, and visitor engagement strategies. Consequently, post-independence museums in Africa have grappled with remaining relevant from their inception.
For African museum practitioners aiming to make their institutions more relevant, inclusive, and accessible to both local communities and international visitors, addressing this colonial legacy is imperative. This challenge also presents an opportunity to redefine the museum's role in the 21st century, exploring innovative ways to present and interpret cultural artifacts and narratives.
Despite these opportunities, many museums in Africa continue to emulate Western curatorial practices, often overlooking the indigenous cultural frameworks of the communities they serve. This disconnect has led to low visitor engagement and general public disinterest. This calls for an urgent reevaluation of engagement strategies to ensure cultural relevance and public appeal in African museums.
But what exactly defines a postcolonial museum? In his inaugural Okwui Enwezor Distinguished Lecture at Iwalewahaus, Bayreuth in July 2021, Chika Okeke-Agulu articulated a vision for such institutions as dynamic and inclusive spaces. He proposed that these museums should not only sever ties with their colonial pasts but also become venues for ongoing reinterpretation of history and heritage through community engagement. He envisioned these spaces as platforms for both the preservation of traditional expressions and the encouragement of new artistic production, thus continuously renewing the meanings of heritage.
Drawing inspiration from Okeke-Agulu’s lecture, we must ponder how African museums can transcend their colonial legacies. This involves looking beyond merely modifying management styles or programming but fundamentally transforming the museological framework to resonate with the vibrant and evolving African cultural landscape. Instead of mirroring Western museum models, why not draw from the rich precolonial African institutions that have organically integrated creation, exhibition, education, and conservation?
Consider the village square or what Kelechi Ugwuanyi referred to as the Village Arena, often overlooked yet pivotal in communal cultural expression. These public spaces—marketplaces, ceremonial grounds, and spiritual centers—are akin to living museums. Here, cultural heritage is not only displayed but actively celebrated and woven into the fabric of daily life. These spaces facilitate a form of engagement that modern museums often fail to replicate, emphasizing participatory experiences over passive observation.
The stark contrast between the dynamic participation in cultural festivals and the stagnant engagement in traditional museum settings in Africa underscores a disconnect. To address this, museums must embrace the communal essence of African cultural practices. This means fostering environments where heritage is not just observed but experienced, where community members actively contribute to the narrative and preservation of their cultural identities.
Therefore, to truly reinvent themselves as postcolonial institutions, African museums must embrace these indigenous modalities of engagement, ensuring that they reflect the cultural diversity and preferences of their publics. This approach is not only about physical redesign but a rethinking of the museum's role in a postcolonial African society—focusing on a different approach to storytelling, engagement, collective ownership, and the living tradition of cultural expression.
To conclude, if African museums are to become truly postcolonial, they must transform into spaces that respect and reflect the rich cultural complexities of the continent, enabling a sense of collective identity and active participation among their visitors. This transformation is essential for these institutions to reclaim their relevance and function as vibrant centers of cultural exchange and learning in the postcolonial era. This reformation requires a deliberate shift from traditional museum formats toward a model that embodies the principles of inclusivity and cultural authenticity. African museums must evolve from being mere repositories of artifacts to becoming active cultural hubs that facilitate dialogue, learning, and the co-creation of knowledge. This shift necessitates a rethinking of how museums interact with their audiences, moving away from a top-down dissemination of information to a more collaborative and experiential engagement.
Iheanyi Onwuegbucha
