Mathem Kokou Aithnard

The .incessant dficulties encountered on international and national markeis, the dwindling of reserves and the fluctuation inherent in monetary systems, the disarray of producers and users of raw materials-all these are forcing countries, whether rich or poor, whether socialist or capitalist, to seek new ways of strengthening their national economy. 1s there much likelihood that the expression of the will of one side and another to establish a new economic order can go beyond the stage of pious hopes to reach that of a new humanity?

Certain bold spirits, and likewise students of the present and future situa- tion, have thought that some economic help, however slight, might be forth- coming from museums, which could serve as a kind of buffer in the event of an adverse trade balance. As a result, various ways of promoting the tourist trade were rapidly proposed, since it was considered that the development of the latter would be of benefit to development in general.

For their part, men of culture, museologists and museum tecMcians, sociologists, intergovernmental organizations and institutions for technical assistance are giving practical expression to their ideas in activities such as 'pilot projects' and experiments aimed at bringing to light the part that could be played by museums. They are stepping up and rehning their research; they are developing a new dialectic for the purpose of asserting their points ofview at a time when structures are devised rather to facilitate the oppression of some men by others. These men and institutions often have to strive to ensure that cultural considerations do not always have to follow in the wake of economic considerations, that culture does not inevitably remain the poor relation who is called upon to carry out the lowly tasks, the incorrigible reactionary who talks of humanitarian values when the prevailing talk is of

m a t is the museum becoming at this juncture? Is it a factor making for socio-economic development or an institution that is only marginally concerned with the improvement of man9s condition and well-being? An agent for the awakening of an awareness of the close relationship between peoples or a fdl- fiedged and undisputed partner of the economic element, in a truly jntegrated development? An institution for the exclusive enjoyment of the most 'cultivated' sector of society, or a popular instrument of lifelong education and a source of awareness of the national cultural values? A centre of social and cultural activity or an institution reserved for tourists?

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’ The African museum in quest of its future direction 189

Various remarkable contributions have been made in the attempt to define the new functions which might be assumed by museums in this last quarter of the twentieth century. New terms have been added to the earlier museo- logical nomenclature: living museum, open-air museum, ecomuseum, etc.

Among these contributions mention should be made of the Regional Seminar on a Better Adaptation of Museums to the Needs of the Modern World, organized by Unesco from z to I Z April 1976, at Bangui (Central African Republic), in co-operation with ICOM. This seminar came opportunely to add a new element to the various speculations on the role which museums should play in the contemporary African world (Fig. 16).

African authorities and technicians concerned with this subject were able, in the light of their theoretical knowledge but more especially in that of the actual situation in their respective countries, to compare their experiences in Africa and to imbue the conception of the role of museums in Africa with a new dynamism more centred on the cares and aspirations of the peoples concerned.

On the basis of certain communications, the following subjects were discussed by those attending the seminar: museums and lifelong education; museums and the protection of the cultural heritage; museums and socio- economic development; the role of museums in science and technology; museums security.

The high standard of the discussions, the number and variety of ideas which were expressed and supported by specific examples, made it possible to achieve a consensus on the manifold roles which should be played by museums in Africa to meet the following requirements: the affirmation of national unity through the diversity of the cultural communities; the inclusion of museum activities in the national effort on behalf of education; the diversification of activities within and around the museum, so that it may remain the link between the people’s past and future-a property shared by all; the caution to be observed in regard to the important part that might be played by museums in the development of the tourist trade; the quest for and experimentation of museographic techniques more in keeping with the aspirations, needs and resources of the populations concerned; the establishment of a fruitful co- operation between the countries of Africa by means of exchanges of all kinds.

The acuity of the speeches on the connexion between museums and socio- economic development indicates the prime importance attaching to this subject. People can only be expected to feel that the museum belongs to them that it is essential to the community, if its socio-economic role is preponderant. But, for this role to become a reality, it seems to us necessary to specify the condi- tions in which it can come into being.

Museums in the development of young nations

In our times the development of nations demands more and more the active participation of their populations in the changes entailed by progress. There is therefore a tendency on the part of the different social and professional strata to refuse to play a passive part in such changes; they prefer to become the chief agents.

In the industrialized countries this awareness gives rise to a desire to participate at all levels, whether in the conception of projects or in the decision- making connected with them.

In the countries in process of industrialization, promotion of and participa- tion in changes are recognized as absolute necessities. Following the euphoria of the attainment of independence, and the realization of the inadequacy of projects skilfully prepared in ‘laboratoriesy outside the countries in which they

130 The African museum in quest of its future direction

were to be applied, the need became obvious to seek effective participation by the populations of those countries in development. As, for a large part of the African populations, this notion of development is very hazy, their participa- tion should preferably be enlisted in connexion with definite undertakings productive of visible change. Too many promises are made and never kept. The pre-independence slogans have lost their point; what is required is a real

ity for the full use of their creative power. The idea of new types of ‘living museums’ might serve for the experimental mobilization of all the citizens of a country in connexion with a work of collective creation.

2 policy of awakening of awaxeness, such as will restore to the peoples opportun- MUSÉE DE LA RÉDUBLIQUE TOGOLAISE, Lomé. First part of the museum, inaugurated in May 1975, An artist and a museum technician at work.

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3 MUSÉE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE TOGOLAISE, Lomé. Theatrical activities around the museum.

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I MUSSE NAT~ONAL DU NIGER, Niamey: (a) the entrance to the museum on a Sunday. The establishment belongs to the people; it must be open and accessible to all;

(b) The craftsmen’s.workshop open to the public;

I f a )

(c) the reconstitution of the traditional habitat gives the community the chance to leave for posterity a tangible testimony OF its architectural and decorative values and techniques. Reconstitution of the Hausa rural habitat.

The African museum in quest of its future direction

To begin with, however, modernization must no longer be confused with development. Modernization is a cumulative process of technical procedures and industrialization, which enables an economically poor country to move into the set of the industrialized nations. It is a repetition of standard formulae. It is essentially exogenous in character and relies mainly on imitation.

‘Real’ development means, rather, a progressive seeking of internal means and possibilities for the solution of the majority of the problems arising in a given country. It is essentially endogenous in character. It depends more on the internal dynamism of the forces and possibilities of the country in question. Endogenous development strengthens the sense of responsibility and liberates

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4 The National Museum of Togo, now under construction, will cover thirty hectares. The official in charge of the museum explains the model: library and cafeteria; centre for training in cultural activities; cinema; park; naturalgardens; national

institute for the arts; theatre, open-air theatre; workshops, aquarium-vivarium; centre for crafts training; offices and

’ reception; forum; collections and displays; traditional habitat; lagoon.

19‘ The African museum in quest of its future direction

the creative powers of individuals. It choodes a pace of change that is in keeping with the ecological environment, the economic potentialities of the country and its psychosociological characteristics.

The ‘living museum’, according to the new conception of it can claim to promote endogenous development.

The ‘living museum’ in Africa may serve as the model for a collective enter- prise. In one of its definitions, ICOM described the museum as ‘a non-profit making permanent institution in the service of society and of its development and open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits for purposes of study, education and enjoyment material evidence of man and his environment’. Having regard to the different experiments being carried out here and there, the new definition (which should still be con- sidered provisional and relative, since the evolution of the conception of museums must be related to the general evolution of the country in question), emphasizes the polyvalent character of the museum, as being a permanent institution at the service of the people, and as providing ‘material evidences of man and his environment’.

For, as a general rule, the majority of people only go into museums of the traditional type as if on tiptoe. The architecture, the collections, the learned character of the displays; give rise at thë outset to a kind of discrirdnation. In its present form, the museum is not related to African tradition. Its un- suitability, from the point of view of the requirements of the environment, is remarkable. The works of art and tradition produced by a community- naturally, of unequal value-used to be in the custody of the population: handicrafts, objects produced by artist-craftsmen, statuettes and totems in the family; objects pertaining to ritual and pharmacopoeia, at the healer’s abode or in convents; historical pieces and objects, costumes at the abode of the traditional chief, etc. There was no particular institution responsible for the ‘centralization’ of objects of artistic and historical value.

To be popular, to appear as projects resolutely integrated in socio-economic and cultural development, museums must become the property of the people; they must be open to all, within the comprehension of everyone, of interest to every citizen, whatever his level of education.

The museum should present a broad general view of a comunity’s past, it should mirror passing time, be a reflection of the present and a prefiguration of the future. It should try to reconstitute the sum of the ethno-historical and artistic characteristics of the communities within a country. It must be ‘alive’; it must recall the country’s history; it must present the natural environment, the arts, traditional settlements, costumes and hairstyles, cooking, folklore and crafts, pharmacopoeia, technology, etc.; it must preserve the country’s cultural heritage and ensure the safeguarding of sites, monuments and objects of art. The museum will thus become the custodian of the history, art, cultural treasures and values of the countrp, which it will keep intact for the people of today and for future generations.

The museum in Africa will no longer be merely a ‘reservoir’-a reserve of folklore for tourists hungering for exotica-but a jiving image of the past, a source of culture, a cross-roads of ethnic cultures, a symbol of national unity. A true museum cannot be built solely for the satisfaction of the escapist needs oftourists. Rather it is the expression of the values with which the autochtonous population has been and still is impregnated. In these conditions the museum can help the tourist to understand the African and his environment, to grasp the dynamics of his history.

In African countries today, the museum is an important factor in the process of increasing the people’s awareness of its cultural heritage, and of its capacity

The African museum in quest of its future direction I93

to give birth to a new form of development which is essentially endogenous. The participation of the population in development activities is the guarantee of development, but such participation cannot be effective without national cohesion, the spiritual and material interdependence between the various ethnic groups which make up a nation. This concept itself is quite new to traditional communities.

By their very conception and design, museums can contribute to national cohesion by upgrading the culture, history and technology of each ethnic group while at the same time allowing it to make an effective contribution to the national endeavour.

The African nations are in most cases patchworks of different ethnic groups. This cultural diversity, instead of being thought of as inhibiting development, should be regarded rather as a valuable asset. It enables several cultures, each with its own glorious past, to work together towards a common deal of achievement by and for the communities themselves.

Each ethnic group offers the material evidence of its history and civilization, and co-operates in tracing the course of its own characteristic technological, historical and artistic past. This re-enhances the culture of the community, re-immerses the community in its history, restores its pride, dignity and confidence in its capacity to create and hence to participate in development.

The roots of any community’s culture go down into the kingdom of its ancestors, into a past of customs, traditions, beliefs, legends, etc. These treasures need to be brought up to date and revitalized. The museum cannot disregard the pride a citizen will feel when he sees in its collections some object belonging to his own culture, some evidence of his own community’s history.

Architecture-traditional architecture, that is-considered as the foremost artistic expression of a people, must come into its own in the museum.

The reconstitution of the traditional habitat offers each community a chance to make manifest for posterity its architectural and decorative values and techniques. Whether made of earth or cob, stones or plaited reed, bamboo or creepers, whether round or rectangular, huddled together or isolated from one another, traditional dwellings are always representative of the culture of the community which itself reconstitutes them in the museum. What is more, the decorative household objects found in them are living expression of ancient traditions and techniques, in which the joys and griefs, hopes and disappoint- ments of the community may be read.

The seeking out of cultural objects of every kind, their presentation in their original architectural setting, the collecting of works of art and of craftsman- ship, accomplished with and by the direct heirs of the cultural heritage, make the museum more fully authentic.

Flora and fauna, in their emotional and ecological relationship with man, also have their place in this museum, which thus becomes practically a repro- duction in miniature of the whole country, the country ‘in a nutshell’.

Their diversity expresses a reality from which man is by no means excluded. The mythical and historical relationships between man and the flora and fauna of Africa sometimes escape the notice of the uninitiated visitor. Both of them are part of the African’s life, at every stage of history.

Music and dance are usually intimately bound up with ethnic groups’ traditional ceremonies. Musical instruments offer to the present an important message of their own, which no popular museum can afford to ignore. The dissemination of this music and its reinstatement are cultural values freely available to the people, who come to the museum as one would go and sit under the council tree in the public square.

The museum, to represent a comprehensive image of the past, a popular history of all, for all, will thus be involved in a labour of historical reconstitu- tion, retracing the life and history of the communities concerned by means of the artefacts of civilization, and showing the visitor, in digest form, the

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= 94 The African museum in quest ofits future direction

true face of the entire country, thus representing a symbol of national cohesion within the wealth and diversity of the national cultures, the living profile of a people9s history and culture.

The history of a people has a dynamism of its own. The museum reflects this and is a living witness to it. It must interpet the future aspirations of the community. It must help to bring about the necessary transition from past to future. Always on the look-out for new achievements in each community in every sphere of its existence, the museum echoes at its own level any recent creative endeavours in art or technology and expresses the misgivings and audacities of artists and craftsmen face to face with the future.

In these circumstances, the social role of the museum can be underlined by the choice of its site. If placed far from urban centres, it would become an institution for privileged people with their own means of transport. l n the heart of town, its calling as a public institution would be more fully revealed- easy of access, at once a public meeting-place and scientific and cultural institution open to all comers. The museum is an open-air school, available to all with its greenery, its gardens, local flora and fauna, aquariums and ponds, special exhibition halls (featuring both temporary and permanent exhibitions, modern art, music, costume, etc.); an open-air theatre, recreational areas, traditional hairdressing salon, restaurant serving local dishes, craftsmen at work, counter for the sale of crafts objects, etc.

African countries are today in search of their entire cultural heritage, which has been disturbed and dispersed by history. So many ethnic groups, so many different cultures are there to rediscover, to catalogue and to rehabilitate, so as to blend them in the melting pot of national unity. The museum forges the bond between the future of a people and its past, resuscitates the noble senti- ments of formerly oppressed comunities, retraces step by step their history, art and culture. Above all the museum enshrines the value of the creative imagination.

No administrative institution, however respectable, can arrogate to itself the right to be the sole overlord of so important an undertaking as the museum. Administering, being the ministry responsible for a museum, is not be confused with the arrogance and pretension of reducing the life and special character of an entire people to one conception alone, making it dependent on the sole will of the ministry. On the contrary, the task is more exhilarating if a steering committee is formed, composed of men of culture, qualified repfcesentatives of various ministries responsible for matters of public welfare (such as education, social affairs, scientific research, agriculture, public health, development, etc.), artists, craftsmen and representatives of traditional com- munities and associations to assist the ministry responsible in fulfilling its responsibility by making suggestions and by putting their technical facilities at its disposal, while at the same time being deeply involved in the life of the museum.

The consolidation of the xole of the artist and the craftsmen in young nations is an important factor in the process of socio-economic development.

The artist and the craftsmen have lost something of their position in the community. The creation of a crafts training and demonstration centre at the museum would reinforce its ‘living’ character. Here, before the visitor’s fascinated eyes, artists and craftsmen will be able to exercise their age-old arts and techniques. The best craftsmen in each cultural community will be assembled there; they will share their experience and initiate the young, to whom they will transmit the power of the creative spirit.

Art renews links with the past, interprets the present and foreshadows the future of a people. With all the various artistic tendencies thus freed and

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The African museum in quest of its future direction I95

enabled in conditions of fair competition to survive into the present, and with traditional techniques restored to their full value, artists and craftsmen will be able to make their own effective contribution to development.

But the criterion of quality will be essential. It will have to take precedence over ‘quantitative growth‘. To avoid too prolonged separation of craftsmen from their roots, thought must be given to replacing them from time to time-the museum should not drain off the craftsmanship and craft production of the provinces.

Colonialism sinned greatly against history by giving priority to an intellectual élite which had been won over to a superimposed culture, to the detriment of African cultural values. Manual creativity was devalued and deteriorated into slavish copying. It must stimulate artistic creativity and craftmanship throughout the nation, demonstrating the falsity of claims and of the ‘intel- ligentsia’ to be the sole judge of the norms and principles of endogenous development.

The complaint has often been made that Africans make little use of objects made by African craftsmen and artists. People often prefer furniture in imported styles, pots or clothes made in Europe, etc. In its function as educator, the museum should encourage the use of artefacts and objects made by African craftsmen. Not only will this improve the status of the craftsmen, but it will also bring them economic advantage. Tourists will contribute enormously to the growth in the purchasing power of craftsmen, but museums will lay particular emphasis on the value that nationals and Africans attached to their work. Young people in search of a paying occupation, providing they had the requisite qualities would thus be able to take up craft work without apprehension.

The museum, to avoid giving any undue privilege to its immediate sur- roundings, will have to organize travelling exhibitions throughout the country. They will encourage local craftsmen everywhere they go. Visitors should be permitted to handle certain objects: they may get a little worn, but they will keep the imprint and the memory of their admirers.

The use of craftsman-made objects and the real recognition of the value of those who make them, the credibility of the creative spirit translated into visual reality, will confer on the living museum a promotional and vitalizing role in endogenous development.

The museum, being concerned with collective creativity, must not lay itself open to the charge of discrimination; it must be a true cross-section of the country, its inhabitants, their history, their arts. These arts it must preserve jealously, revitalize and bring up to date, so that they remain the living expres- sion of the cultures of traditional communities as those communities move in the direction of progress. All new sciences and techniques must be assimilated into the fabric of a philosophy of man and his environment.

In the course of determining socio-economic development priorities, we consider it every bit as important to promote a sense of historical responsibility, of the power of transmitting acquired knowledge, as to build uninspired ‘prestige’, public buildings and monuments which are no more than the slavish transposition of a style unsuitable for the African environment. Cultural dialogue requires a thorough knowledge of one’s own culture.

If the museum in Africa, by getting off the beaten track, can contribute to the emergence of a new dynamism in development, it will have served a historically more worthy cause than empty rhetoric and the propensity to imitate.

We need, therefore, to revise our conception of the museum, adapt and strengthen training in museology, accentuate research on maintenance and conservation products more appropriate to our climate and less expensive, and encourage exchanges of goods and information, in short, to perpetually call ourselves into question as well as our pretentious outward looking knowledge. [ Tramlaated from French]

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