Nigerian National Museum

The Nigerian National Museum is a national museum of Nigeria, located in the city of Lagos. The museum has a notable collection of Nigerian art, including pieces of statuary and carvings and archaeological and ethnographic exhibits.[1] Of note is a terracotta human head known as the Jemaa Head (c. 900 to 200 BC), part of the Nok culture. The piece is named after Jema'a, the village where it was uncovered.[2] It is located at Onikan, Lagos Island. The museum is administered by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.[3]

Nigerian National Museum
View of the museum's exterior
Established1957
LocationOnikan, Lagos Island, city of Lagos
CollectionsNigerian art, including pieces of statuary and carvings and archaeological and ethnographic exhibits
FounderKenneth Murray

History

In July 1948, the first architectural sketches of the museum were submitted to a conference on museum policy in Nigeria.[4] The museum was founded in 1957 by the English archaeologist Kenneth Murray.[5][6] The purpose with the construction of this museum was to preserve different historical artifacts of Nigeria.[7] Kenneth Murray had collected several traditional masks from Cross River State, these masks were displayed in the museum.[8] During the first decade of the museum's existence, the British Museum gave the Nigerian National Museum two plaques and other artifacts.[9][10] In 2018, a virtual tour of the museum was added using an adapted version of Google Street View along with other tourist sites in Nigeria.[11]

Collections

The museum contains collections of artifacts belonging to different cultures of the ethnic groups of Nigeria, estimated at 47,000 objects[12] of different materials such as wood, ivory, metal and terracotta, among the artifacts include masks, textiles, drums, dane guns and wooden figures.[13] Among the artifacts, in the Yoruba section, the museum includes Egungun costumes and clay pots.[14] The museum has a collection of statues dating from different periods of Nigeria's history.[15] The museum also contains traditional musical instruments such as sansas, fiddles and flutes.[16] The museum contains divination bowls and ancestral figures made of wood, in this section are Mumuye figures that are used by communities in Adamawa State, Ikengas wooden figures that are part of the Igbo culture, in addition, the museum also contains a collection of masks including Ekpo masks from Calabar and Gẹlẹdẹ wooden masks.[17] The museum contains jewelry and crafts, as well as a collection of textiles including Akwete cloth and other textiles from the Okene, Bida and Western States areas of Nigeria.[18]

The museum has contained works of art by Nigerian artists such as Nike Davies-Okundaye, Abiodun Olaku, Djakow Kassi, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Bolaji Ogunwo, Yusuf Durodola, Nosa Iyobhabha, Duke Asidere,[19] Ben Enwonwu, Nathaniel Hodonu,[20] Northcote W. Thomas, Kelani Abass[21] and Elizabeth Ekpetorson.[22] In 2012, the museum presented an exhibition featuring artwork by artist Ndidi Dike.[23] In November 2019, the museum organized an exhibition with art pieces by German-Nigerian artist Ngozi Schommers.[24] The museum contains ancient crowns, Royal regalias, artifacts belonging to the Kingdom of Benin, cultural objects belonging to the Ibibio people, Igbo-Ukwu bronze artifacts, stone monoliths of the Oron culture[25] and terracottas belonging to the Nok culture.[26] The museum also contains photographs of the different presidents of the states of Nigeria.[27] In the textile section, there is a collection of batik fabrics.[28] The museum also has Ere figurines.[12], photographs on the colonization of Nigeria[29] and exhibits related to the culture of Ifẹ, an ancient Yoruba city.[16]

The museum contains a variety of sculptures among them are the grave sculptures of the Dakakari people who inhabit Sokoto State, the purpose of these sculptures are used in graves to commemorate the death of an important person such as a warrior, social leader or a chief. The museum also contains a sculpture of a Sukur woman in traditional dress from Adamawa State. At the entrance of the museum, also with a sculpture of a deity called Chukwu, of Igbo spirituality. The museum also houses stone sculptures of the Ekoi people.[20] The museum also has sculptures of animals that are used in different cultures of the ethnic groups of Nigeria.[30]

  • Benin mask; ivory
  • Bronze ceremonial pot; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • Bronze ceremonial vessel in form of a snail shell; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • Bronze ornamental staff head; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • Bronze pot; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • Bronze pot; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • Cresentric bowl; bronze; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • Bronze intricate ornamental staff head; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • Intricate bronze ceremonial pot; 9th century; from Igbo-Ukwu
  • the car in which Murtala Mohammed was assassinated

See also

References
  1. Nations Encyclopedia
  2. Atwood, Roger. "The Nok of Nigeria". Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  3. "National Museum and challenges to boosting tourism". Nigerian Tribune Online. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  4. Silverman, Raymond; Abungu, George; Probst, Peter (30 August 2021). National Museums in Africa: Identity, History and Politics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-42864-3.
  5. Adio, Segun (12 February 2011). "History on display at the National Museum". National Mirror.
  6. Robson, Emily (April 2010). "Featured Artist: Benedict (Ben) Chukwukadibia Enwonwu". University of Chichester. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  7. Brusius, Mirjam; Singh, Kavita (7 September 2017). Museum Storage and Meaning: Tales from the Crypt. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-65942-0.
  8. Nicklin, Keith (1974). "Nigerian Skin-Covered Masks". African Arts. 7 (3): 8–92. doi:10.2307/3334855. ISSN 0001-9933. JSTOR 3334855.
  9. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments Announce the Return of Three Works of Art to the Nigerian National Collections". Metropolitan Museum of Art. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  10. Stoilas, Helen (10 June 2021). "The Met will return three African art objects to Nigeria". CNN. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  11. Chiazor, Juliet (26 July 2018). "Google for Nigeria: Making the internet more useful for more people". Google. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  12. Ojoye, Taiwo (28 May 2019). "How 47,000 artefacts are wasting away in ageing national museum". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  13. Abiodun, Michael (2016). "Cultural Heritage Preservation Through the Preventive Conservation Methods in the National Museum in Lagos" (PDF). Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  14. "National Museum | Lagos, Nigeria Attractions". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  15. Wiseman, Blaine (1 August 2015). Nigeria. Weigl Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4896-3061-2.
  16. Museum (Lagos), Nigeria National (1960). Guide to the Nigerian Museum, Lagos.
  17. "Nigerian wooden sculptures and their preservation in the National Museum Lagos, Nigeria" (PDF). Anistoriton Journal. 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  18. Okereke, Dominic (2012). Africa's Quiet Revolution Observed from Nigeria. Paragon Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908341-87-7.
  19. Omokhapue, Paulina (20 September 2020). "SNA Lagos holds October rain exhibition". The Guardian Nigeria News. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  20. "National Museum of Lagos: 8 Must-See Masterpieces". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  21. "In Dialogue with History: A Review of an Exhibition by Kelani Abass & Northcote W. Thomas | By Roli O'tsemaye". The Sole Adventurer. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  22. "Ekpetorson's Different Shades Of Being opens in Lagos". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 13 June 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  23. "National Museum, Lagos at Onikan presents Unknown Pleasures & Competing Tendencies by Ndidi Dike". Art Agenda. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  24. "Ngozi Schommers' 'the way we mask' at the National Museum in Lagos". The Sole Adventurer. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  25. Oladumiye, Bankole; Adiji, Bolajoko (January 2013). "Nigerian Museum and Art Preservation". ResearchGate. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  26. Onyeakagbu, Adaobi (1 July 2021). "A brief walk into the Nigerian National Museum". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  27. "Everything You need to know about National Museum Onikan, Lagos". TravelWaka. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  28. "National Museum Lagos Lagos State :: Nigeria Information & Guide". www.nigeriagalleria.com. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  29. "In Dialogue with History: A Review of an Exhibition by Kelani Abass & Northcote W. Thomas | By Roli O'tsemaye". The Sole Adventurer. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  30. Silverman, Raymond; Abungu, George; Probst, Peter (31 August 2021). National Museums in Africa: Identity, History and Politics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-42864-3.

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