Kingdom of Ife exhibition. Editor's Note: All attempts by NEXT to get the views and comments of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) about 'Kingdom of Ife', failed.
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A collection of exceptional importance and quality
The treasures of Ife come out of the shadows, as 100 pieces from the ancient city-state opened to the public at the British museum on March 4. A curator of the exhibition, Claude Ardouin, talked about the importance of the show.
Congratulations on the Kingdom of Ife exhibition, generally described as the biggest exhibition in London this year. Why have you brought this exhibition at this particular time?
The main and initial reason for bringing in this exhibition in 2010 was to make it a wonderful platform for the launch of our season to showcase African art and culture around the 50th anniversary of African countries (including Nigerian) independence celebrations in 2010. Seventeen countries celebrate this anniversary, of which Nigeria is a major one. The British Museum will also be creating a South Africa Landscape in the front garden this April with Kew Gardens, and celebrating Nelson Mandela Day on July 18.
The exhibition gives us also the opportunity to raise awareness of the British Museum's active partnership programme with African museums (and in this case more specifically with the NCMM), through our partnership with the Ford Foundation.
This is a ticketed show, priced at £8. The British Museum must be confident of the drawing power of these sculptures
The collection is of exceptional importance and quality, and it meets all criteria to make a high-profile exhibition that we are happy to offer to our visitors for a reasonable fee. We expect more than 50,000 paid visits, receipts are 10% above planned outcome.
The Benin Bronzes are perhaps the most famous historic collection from Nigeria. Why do you think they're better known than the sculptures of Ife?
For us, all collections are equally important. The Benin objects have been given more attention by being on public display at the British Museum since 1897, while the majority of the much rarer, earlier Ife pieces (12-15th century) are still in Ife and have only been shown to the public in Europe once for three months in 1948.
This is a touring exhibition that will not be seen in any African location. Why is this?
This is due to the specific schedule of this tour. We will eventually work with our Nigerian partners at the NCMM to show the exhibition in Nigeria. We have no doubt that there are a number of leading museums on the continent with the required capacities to host it.
Can you give an indication of how many of the 100 or so pieces are actually sourced from Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments? I know for instance that the Head of the Ooni excavated in Ile-Ife in 1910 has always been in the British Museum's collection.
The exhibition at the British Museum is displaying 98 pieces from Nigeria, and 2 from our collection. The Olokun head discovered in Ile-Ife in 1910 never came to the British Museum. The single brass head of an Ooni in our collections was excavated in 1938 in Wunmonije compound, and acquired by the Museum in 1939.
Kingdom of Ife will no doubt raise questions about African artefacts in the museums of the West. Can you comment on this?
Nearly all the objects on display in this exhibition come from Nigerian public collections. The exhibition gives a unique opportunity to celebrate and promote Ife and its stunning artistic creativity in a major venue visited every year by an average of 5.5 million visitors from all over the world. We are aware of the various aspects of the discussions about African artefacts in the museums of the West, though we consider that it is crucial that we invest the maximum of efforts to develop active partnerships with our counterpart institutions on the African Continent through training and capacity development initiatives and staff exchange.
There are also concerns about the ability of the Nigerian Museum authorities to ensure the care, protection and preservation of artefacts of this nature. What assurances are there for when these sculptures return to their original collections?
The collection has been in the care of the Nigerian Museum services and it will return there. Also the British Museum is working with the NCMM in an important training and capacity development partnership to enhance expertise and cultural exchange. The Ford Foundation is working with the National Museum, Lagos and the NCMM, on a new conservation and storage centre for the National Museum site.
What has it been like working with the National Commission for Museums to bring this landmark exhibition to London?
So far the partnership with the NCMM has been working very smoothly, and we praise our Nigerian colleagues for their hugely commendable input at all stages, including at the complex final mounting step in London. Both parties have gained immeasurably; and I and my British Museum colleagues have learnt a good deal from our Nigerian colleagues about your country and about Nigerian cultures in general.
What scope or commitment is there for more collaborations of this nature in future?
The British Museum is currently engaged with the NCMM in a long-term partnership. Working together on the Ife exhibition is only a part of that programme. That exchange will involve more collaborative activities that will benefit both our institutions. In five, 10 and 50 years time we expect to still be working closely together.
What do you hope to achieve with Kingdom of Ife?
In such major endeavours there are always various expectations. In this case we hope to bring our visitors to discover an almost unknown page of African history through the story of this ancient city-state which played in medieval West Africa a role that still remains enigmatic in many aspects. We hope to tell the story of its stunning artistic creativity and cosmopolitan society. By doing that we also hope to raise awareness about the crucial need for more research to improve our knowledge about this exceptional culture and its contribution to West African and Nigerian history, and about the crucial need to preserve this unique heritage. We also hope to raise awareness of the importance of Nigerian culture amongst Nigerians of the Diaspora, and to provide impetus for the nascent Nigerian tourist industry.
We also hope to highlight the unparalleled Ife collections of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria, whilst raising awareness of the Museum's active partnership programme with Africa.