museums as a tool for nationalism in africa

58 MUSEUM ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 19 NUMBER 2

Museums as a Tool for Nationalism in Africa

Agbenyega Adedze

In 1991, the International Council of Museums(ICOM) organized a conference in Lome\ Togoentitled "What Museums for Africa." The theme

of this conference was formulated to address an on-going debate concerning the role and place of muse-ums in Africa. Museums as public institutions in Africatoday are a legacy of colonialism. The purpose ofmuseums in the colonial era remains controversial,because historically museums served the interest ofthe resident or administrative Europeans and func-tioned as windows to the conquered peoples. Thisperception prompted the former President of the In-ternational Council of Museums, Alpha Konare, at theICOM meeting to argue for the elimination of the"Western model for museums in Africa so that newmethods for the preservation and promotion of Af-rica's cultural heritage can be allowed to flourish"(What Museums for Africa 1992:377). This essay re-views the brief history of museums in West Africa, anddiscusses the limits of museums as a tool for develop-ing national consciousness in Africa.

While "preserving" and exhibiting African materialculture in museums for a European audience, at-tempts were made to denigrate the people and theirculture in order to justify Europe's "civilizing" mission.Thus, between 1900 and 1910, Britain hosted na-tional and international Trade and Colonial Exhibi-tions, the aims of which were to provide (1) scientificevidence, (2) popular entertainment, and (3) stimu-late trade.

While these expositions helped promote the con-cept of national identity and unity within Britain, theydid so by encouraging an imperialist ideology (Coom-bes 1988). In a similar vein, the organizing officialsof the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition declared that"forty-five million men of all races, who have achievedthe most diverse degree of civilization, have entered

the French Community" (Marshall 1977:39). Threedecades later, in 1936, the director of the Musee*National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris exulted the mu-seum's contribution to the training of colonial officersand reiterated the fact that the museum was the "mostpowerful colonial propaganda organ" (Lemoine1936).

In response to the cultural, economic, and politicaldomination by the Western powers, there emergednationalist movements in the various territories topromote the unique culture and history of Africans.Negritude and Pan-Africanism became some of thedominant themes for these movements.

Nationalism is a nineteenth-century political in-vention of the peoples of Europe resulting in theformation of nation-states. But, nationalism in Africabegan to take shape differently than in Europe. Nzon-gola-Ntalaja (1987) has noted three types of nation-alism in Africa: (1) the ethnic nation, (2) theterritorial nation, (3) the Pan-African nation.

For the first category—the origins of the group—are shrouded in myths, ideologies of kinship, and oralhistories. The people usually speak the same languageor languages that are mutually intelligible and occupya specific geographic area. On the basis of theserealities the ruling class instills a sense of patriotismin the group. In the midst of conquest or dominationthe defunct ruling class continues to remind the peo-ple of their separateness from other ethnic groups.

The second category—the territorial nation—isborn out of colonialism. With the exception of Ethio-pia, all other African countries have been colonizedby the English, French, Spanish, Belgians, or Portu-guese. At the height of European nationalism, theimperial goals of these powers were to conquer otherpeoples whom they thought were less powerful anduncivilized. In the ensuing scramble for territories,

Museum Anthropology 19(2): 58-64. Copyright © 1995, American Anthropological Association.

NATIONALISM IN AFRICA 59

1. National Museum of Ghana, Accra, 1986. Photo: Mernck Posnansky.

Africa was carved into different states at the BerlinConference in 1884. This event had unpredictableconsequences. With the stroke of a pen, peoples ofdiverse languages and cultures were condemned toshare the same territory. These arbitrary and fictitiousagglomerations are not necessarily ideal for national-ist rule. And even the creation of administrative unitswithin the colonial territories did not take into con-sideration traditional groupings. These ephemeralterritorial units, nonetheless, became the source ofnationalist agitations after the Second World War.

The third category was the Pan-Africanist nation.At the peak of nationalist demands, some leaders, likeDr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, led a formidablestruggle for a Pan-African nation: an agglomerationof the various nation-states of Africa—i.e., the UnitedStates of Africa. Although this never materialized, itspurred the creation of the Organization of AfricanUnity.

The foundations of the post-colonial states in mod-ern Africa were therefore not monolithic, with theexception of Botswana, Lesotho, Somalia, and Swaz-iland, they are all aggregates of different peoples. In

order to avert civil strife, the Organization of AfricanUnity adopted a charter to sanctify and legitimize theexisting colonial borders. This, however, did not pre-vent civil wars, such as the case of Nigeria. The newleaders of these multi-ethnic states of Africa have amajor obstacle to overcome in order to cement na-tional unity. If misused, nationalism could become.(1) an abrogation of personal freedom, (2) the oneparty state, (3) the dictatorship of the army, or (4)the cult of leadership and various forms of xenopho-bia (Said 1991). A quick survey of the contemporaryhistory of Africa provides stark examples for each ofthese symptoms.

Regardless of the nature of the government,throughout history all political systems have usedmaterial culture to inspire nationalist feeling in theirpeoples. Some noted examples from West Africa in-clude the use of the Asante Golden Stool and theBenin "bronze" heads as symbols of pride and unityfor the Asante and Benin peoples respectively.

Every capital city in West Africa today has a na-tional museum. This is considered an imperative be-cause cultural institutions are believed to be a


2. National Museum of Cote d'lvoire, Abidjan, 1982. Photo: Christopher B. Steiner.

powerful medium to reclaim the glories of the Africanpast. But the question is how national are the nationalmuseums.

It would not be an exaggeration to assert that theconcept of nationalism remains fluid in most Africanstates. If the concept of the African nation-state isitself a contentious and problematic domain, howthen do we define national museums in Africa?. Inother words, what does it take to create a nationalidentity in a national museum in Africa?1 Are themuseum s exhibits intended only for the elite, visitingtourists, and foreign dignitaries? And if so, how dothe rest of the population interact with and perceivethe national museum?

The capital cities are the seat of government. Al-though the capital represents central authority andthe source of nationalist rhetoric, the collections inthe museums do not fully represent the various com-ponents of the national territory. The colonial collec-tions were at best unrepresentative of the territoriesunder their administration. Most collections were or-ganized on the basis of ethnicity (Ravenhill 1988).This classificatory bias was never corrected by post-

independence African curators. Most of them simplybecame the guardians of colonial museum heritage,and hardly made any new collections to strengthenan area or for the sake of diversity.

This lapse could either be explained by a profoundlack of interest and concern or by the economic diffi-culties facing most African countries (Posnansky1993). It may also result from an uncritical adoptionof colonial museum practice or from the absence ofongoing fieldwork. As a former director of one of WestAfrica's museums told me 'The colonial museum is apiece of history and must be preserved" (Lame 1992)

To illustrate the irony of nationalist ideology inmuseums, consider the fact that the collections andpermanent exhibitions of the National Museum ofGhana in Accra are dominated almost exclusively byAkan material culture—even though the Akan repre-sent only a fraction of the modern-day population ofGhana. This phenomena can be explained by under-standing the vision of the museum curator and in lightof the political history of Ghana. The National Mu-seum of Ghana in Accra, is an offshoot of the Anthro-pology Museum of the Achimota School founded in


3. Palais Royal Honme, Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin, 1993. Photo: Agbenyega Adedze.

the 1930s by the British. The first collections werelargely archaeological and ethnographic, and wereassembled by amateurs. Many of the objects found inthe commercial mining areas within the Akan territo-ries of Obuasi, Nsuta, and Tarkwa were sent to themuseum. R. S. Ratray, who was an administrator inthe Asante region, was appointed government anthro-pologist in 1921. Ratray was able to convince thechiefs and elders of the Akan areas to donate objectsto the museum. The National Museum of Ghana alsobenefitted from donations from individuals like theAkwamuhene (an Akan chief)." Finally, the prepon-derance of Akan collections in the National Museumof Ghana may be explained by the proliferation ofAkan material culture in the European art marketafter the Anglo-Asante Wars of the last decade of thenineteenth century.

The situation is no different in the Republic ofBenin, where more than fifty percent of the collectionsat the Muse'e Ethnographique Alexandre S. Adande atPorto Novo are representative of the Fon and Yorubapeoples. Is this again the result of the proliferation ofYoruba material culture in the world art market? To

a certain extent it is, since these collections weremade by Europeans like J. Lombard who was familiarwith these objects in the international art market andset out to collect what he perceived to be the bestpieces, and not necessarily those that would make arepresentative collection of the territory of Dah me

On the other hand, however, the collections at theMuseum of African Art in Dakar, Senegal are morerepresentative of West Africa as a whole than they areof the modern nation-state of Senegal. This was pos-sible because the curators during the colonial periodshared the same political ambitions as the colonialadministration. Dakar was the capital of the FrenchFederation of West Africa and the museum was envi-sioned as a showcase where a piece of each territor.could be exhibited. The collections, however, werenot very systematic since the French collection policydirected by the Institut Franqais d'Afrique Noire(I FAN) was at best vague and fell largely within thesalvage paradigm.

Unlike francophone West Africa, where IFAN di-rected the creation of museums like the one in Dakar,individuals such as K. C. Murray, E. H. Duckworth,


4. Musee Ethnographique Alexandre Senou Adande, Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin, 1993. Photo: Agbenyega Adedze.

and B. E. B. Fagg were those who fought for thecreation of museums in the British territory of Nigeriaduring the 1930s (Afigbo and Okita 1985:2-9). K. C.Murray later became the director of the Departmentof Antiquities in Nigeria, and is therefore regarded asthe "founder of Nigerian museums." The NationalMuseums of Nigeria are unique in West Africa becausemost of the museums are located at the sites wherethe collections were found; notable examples are theNational Museums of Nigeria in Jos and Ife.

African movements of independence in the 1960sbrought with them a change in the personnel ofAfrican national museums—from forign adminstra-tion to indigenous control. The focus and concentra-tion of these museum collections was determinedlargely by the new ruling party and government.Although all the capital cities of African countries aremulti-ethnic, the collections in many museums reflectonly the cultural policy of the ruling government, andoften center almost exclusilevly around objects fromthe ruling ethnic group. Personality cults also comeinto play if the country is governed by a one-party

dictatorship. The archetypes of this type of politics areMobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Gnansingbe Eyademaof Togo.

During the economic boom of the 1970s, and theeuphoria of authenticity cultural policy, both Mobutuand Eyadema dropped their foreign Christian namesfor African names and obliged their citizens to do thesame. To enhance their cultural image further, theyboth created national museums. Mobutu attached theoffices of the National Museum of Zaire to the Presi-dent's Office, whereas Eyadema opened his new Na-tional Museum of Togo in the RPT (political party)headquarters. Lifesize portraits of both rulers werelavishly displayed in the museums as emblems ofauthenticity and national unity. In the case of theNational Museum of Togo, the material culture ofEyadema's own ethnic group, the Kabye, enjoyedextensive exposure.

To reinforce the fleeting image of the nation, cul-tural festivals are organized annually in various coun-tries, such as the semaine culturelle instituted by theCapt. Thomas Sankara regime in Burkina Faso. The


late revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso saw the needto promote national identity, so he instituted thisfestival where contemporary artists were promotedand prizes awarded to the best artists. These eventswere the only occasions for the artists to display theirwork, and an opportunity for the public to visit themuseum.

In neighboring Ghana, the PNDC government in1992 held a public ceremony in which the body of Dr.Kwame Nkrumah was removed from his village atNkroful to be buried in the new Kwame NkrumahMemorial Park in Accra. After the overthrow of Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, his statue was removed, and it nowlies in the courtyard of the National Museum in Accrawith a broken arm and leg; a new and much biggerstatue is now positioned in front of the giant mauso-leum. For the inauguration, dignitaries from all overthe world inspired by the Pan-Africanist ideals of Dr.Kwame Nkrumah were invited to the inauguration ofthe park. Critics of the PNDC government thought theevent was an election ploy to capture votes during themulti-party elections.

International Pan-Africanist festivals have occa-sionally been organized. The Festival of African Artsin Senegal in 1966, and the FESTAC (World Festivalof Black and African Arts and Culture) in Lagos in1977 are but a few. These festivals were organized toraise the cultural consciousness of the African. Thesymbol for FESTAC was the Benin ivory mask ofQueen-mother Idiah in the British Museum. The Ni-gerian government intended to borrow this piece butthe deal did not go through amid British high insur-ance premiums that were meant to ensure its returnto the British Museum. The mask became the symbolof nationalist contestation.

How effective are institutions like national muse-ums in Africa in promoting nationalism? Do museumshelp achieve political unity in cultural diversity? Sofar, I would argue, this attempt has not been verysuccessful because "national" museum exhibitions fa-vor one ethnic group. National museums in my opin-ion should be a coordinating body of regionalmuseums. While the latter should itself coordinate theactivities of community museums. Indeed, it has beenproven that on-site or regional museums—museumsin localities where objects are found as opposed tomuseums in the capitals where objects are hauledfrom the various parts of the country—are more suc-cessful.

The Palace Museum of Abomey is a good exampleof an on-site museum. Abomey was the capital of theseventeenth-century Kingdom of Dahomey. All the

successive kings lived in the same palace, althoughthey built their rooms beside the preceding kingwhose regalia and symbols were kept in his room. Thepalace was burnt during a French invasion in the latenineteenth century. The French colonial authorities,led by the local section of Institut Francois d'AfriqueNoire (IFAN), in collaboration with the royal familiesrestored the palace and the regalia and symbols of thesuccessive kings (Lombard 1956). This effort by thelocal people and a colonial government to restore ahistorical monument is appreciated by all. The His-torical Museum of Abomey is not only a tourist attrac-tion for foreigners. Unlike most national museums inAfrica, it is considered to be a shrine to the localpopulation. The administrators of the museum re-spect the rules and regulations that bind the localpopulation in visiting sacred places. Religious cere-monies—libation or sacrifices—are held in the palaceamidst tourist sightseeing. Thus, the Historical Mu-seum of Abomey serves a dual purpose: religiouscenter and tourist attraction. The National Museumof Nigeria, Benin also shares similar background withthe Historical Museum of Abomey. It had its begin-nings in the Oba's palace in 1944 where the nucleusof the collections were established by Oba Akenzua II(Kaplan 1994:55).

To conclude, since nationalism in its Europeanconception is a fluid notion in Africa, it should not bethe concept by which museums are associated be-cause more often than not such a concept representsa ruling body that is not universally popular. Invest-ments in certain types of infrastructure and "national"festivals alienate the population (Steiner 1992), justas they are alienated from the civil service and thecentral government due to lack of confidence, legiti-macy, and non-participation at the grassroots level. Iffestivals, expositions, and museums were brought tothe local level revolving among the various compo-nents of the nation-state it might breed mutual re-spect and recognition for diversity in unity. •

Acknowledgments

This is a revised version of a paper presented at the 92ndAnnual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association.1 would like to thank Prof. Merrick Posnansky, Doran Ross,Philip Ravenhill, and Christopher Steiner for their commentswhich have significantly improved this essay. I am responsiblefor any errors.

Notes

I. As Doran Ross, Deputy Director of the Fowler Museumof Cultural History at UCLA remarked, it is easier for aGhanaian or I voirian to identify with their national soccer


teams (Black Stars or Elephants, respectively) regardlessof the ethnic composition of the team (Ross 1994).

2. A few objects in the National Museum in Accra wereexchanged from other West African countries and fromEgypt (see Myles 1981).

3. This booklet instructed those in the colonies to collectanything that they found curious and to have it sent toIFAN in Dakar (see IFAN 1938).

References

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AGBENYEGA ADEDZE is a doctoral candidate in theDepartment of History at the University of California,Los Angeles.

museums as a tool for nationalism in africa

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