[Épinglé] April 2023 Anglophone Topic of the Month: The New African Museum

Greetings all.

I think an ideal museum of the future for Africa should amongst others be embraced by an increased visibility of Africa's rich diversities. Idendifying and understanding those diverse resources by our community members are equally important in this improvement process. It will mean where need be and possible, some narratives of Africa's cultural and artistic elements be re-designed. Starting at community level will help promote diversity and inclusion of different sectors that shape Africa's rich heritage. It will further enhace usage of museums so that they carry their purpose and relevance into the future. 

Also to enhance the usage of our African museums, there is another important aspect for an ideal New African Museum Model. Whilst the modern museum will continue to serve its purpose to collect, preserve, interpret, and display objects with significant cultural and artistic values, the accessibility of its facilities and physical spaces also remain key. The new African museum model should embrace developments coming with Architectural Acts in order to offer comfortable and efficient visit for people with a broad range of abilities, ages, reading levels, learning styles, languages, cultures and other characteristics. It is equal access that can enhance increased usage of our museums.

Hello everyone,

Museums embody memories and evoke memories, and the question facing African museums is which version of whose memories should be preserved and whose culture should be represented. So, the answer here is evident that there is a need to decolonize African museums. As African, we must acknowledge that we needed to “kill” the Western model of the Museum by putting ourselves at the forefront of our Museum.

A modal of African museums should represent an actual image of African range from/through addressing and incorporating various aspects/ingredients that will make African Museum alive and grow. These can range from the active involvement of the locals, the use of new technology, having an ongoing discussion concerning the repatriation and institutions, accessibility to the museum and exhibition for all, representing/telling stories in a way Africans want them to be told and represented.

I also think all the discussions and insights we have had since the beginning, if incorporated and put into practice, will help formulate a new modal of African museums.