{"id":10322,"date":"2022-08-25T17:33:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T15:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/?post_type=humboldt&p=10322"},"modified":"2026-06-01T11:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T09:35:26","slug":"the-post-colonial-museum-rethinking-the-past-collecting-the-present","status":"publish","type":"dcntrdebates","link":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/dcntr-debates\/debate-3\/the-post-colonial-museum-rethinking-the-past-collecting-the-present\/","title":{"rendered":"The Post\/Colonial Museum: Rethinking the Past, Collecting the Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

A conversation with Dr. Silvie Memel-Kassi, former Director of the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations, Abidjan, and currently Directrice G\u00e9n\u00e9rale de la Culture de C\u00f4te d<\/b>\u2019Ivoire, Nanette J. Snoep, Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Cologne and Martin Zillinger<\/b>[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Nanette J. Snoep (N.J.S.) & Martin Zillinger (M.Z.)<\/i>: In your work you\u2019ve always stressed that the museum is a space of memory for communities and individuals alike. Museum objects are meaningful objects, they affect, as you once put it, the soul of the community and relate to questions of identity. Perhaps we should start our conversation by thinking about the mnemonic function of the museum.<\/p>\n

Silvie Memel-Kassi (S.M.K.)<\/i>: The museum is indeed a place of memory. I think it is quite clear, considering the definition given to us by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). The museum is this truly permanent institution, a non-profit institution, in the service of society and open to the public. It acquires, preserves, studies, displays and transmits material and immaterial world heritage to provide for study, education and delectation.<\/p>\n

Beyond this definition, we must also understand that the museum is the site par excellence where one goes to discover and learn about history, traditions, civilization, and the ways of life of peoples in their evolution. The Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations, which I direct, is an ethnographic and archaeological as much as an iconographic museum. It contains 15,000 pieces, from every region of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. They form a testimony to the four cultural areas of the country and deal precisely with the material and immaterial culture of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. The history of the peoples that preceded us is gathered together under one roof.<\/p>\n

It is important to see how the people that come to the museum can not only discover themselves as specific and distinct entities, enriched at the sight of their diversity, they can also find inspiration for themselves as artists in the creation of traditional artwork. The museum is at once a catalyst both for creative potential and for a change in mentality for groups that are unaccustomed to visiting this space. Running an institution that has suffered violence and numerous crises over the last 20 years, we are quite aware of the magnitude of our project. This is why the permanent exhibition that we have at the moment was devised to engage with the topics of pride, symbolism and identity. Pride, because the different traditional, artistic creations exhibited essentially constitute the pride of the people of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Symbolism, because the artefacts \u2013 given their intrinsic value on an historical, archaeological and anthropological level are themselves symbols. They symbolise the cultural foundations of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Identity, for its part, speaks to the identity of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 1: Main Entrance of the Exhibition Hall. 2021. Photo: Museum of Civilizations, Abidjan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Fig. 2: Objects in Showcases, Permanent Exhibition. 2021. Photo: Museum of Civilizations, Abidjan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We put this exhibition together in collaboration with all of the actors concerned and with the universities in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. We included anthropological, technical and archaeological expertise in the making of the exhibition, in order to create a space in which people realise that their way of life depends on the choices that they make. For that reason, we also decided to include the Ivorian constitution in the exhibition. As you know, constitutions are a controversial subject in Africa. We displayed the text of the 2016 constitution so that Ivorians can genuinely understand its essence and its importance, but also to have the museum play a stabilising role in Ivorian society. We also wanted to put an emphasis on royality in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire in this exhibit, that is to say, on traditional political management in our communities. For that reason, I would say yes, we do discover our identity in all of these material and immaterial expressions.<\/p>\n

N.J.S & M.Z<\/i>.: Perhaps it is fair to say then, that the museum is not only a space of memory, of archiving and memorizing a past, but a mnemonic space, which lends itself both to remembering a past and to remind us of our positionality in the present. It seems that the importance of Macron\u2019s speech in Ouagadougou speaks to the importance of the past as well as the powerful discourse in postcolonial societies that demands a re-definition of the present.<\/p>\n

S.M.K<\/i>: The museum has often been a theatre of anti-humanist acts, when we consider the theft and pillage involved. As far as President Macron\u2019s speech goes, we could call it an historical speech because the issue of returning objects is of central importance for former colonies. The speech at the University of Ouagadougou was grounds for general euphoria; it was a central concern for African people. Everybody was waiting for that moment, which is why \u2013 once the euphoria had passed \u2013 African states started organising themselves. They did so individually and collectively, that is, at both national and regional levels, with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is composed of 15 member states, including Ivory Coast. First, there was a summit in December 2018 attended by certain members of governments and the heads of state who had decided to speak together with one sole voice and to combine forces against the complexity of the issue of restitution. This was followed in July 2019 by a meeting in Cotonou, Benin, organised by the ECOWAS Commission, which brought together the ECOWAS Ministers of Culture, who reflected on a plan for the return of cultural goods. The meeting resulted in the elaboration of two tools. Firstly, a regional cultural policy, i.e. a sort of white paper in which major axes regarding the return of objects \u2013 as the points on which all member states should speak as one \u2013 were defined. Secondly, the 2020\u20132022 action plan. The action plan is a kind of road map that was given to each country so that, on both a local and national level, concrete action could be taken with a view to preparing for the return of cultural goods.<\/p>\n

Any conversation about C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire should clearly state that the issue of restitution\u00a0neither emerged nor took shape with President Macron\u2019s speech. The issue of return has always preoccupied African states. As early as 1987, Amadou-Mahtar M\u2019Bow provoked public outcry when he spoke of African states\u2019 need to recover symbolic objects being kept in the West. The same issue was addressed in correspondence between Ivorian president F\u00e9lix Houphou\u00ebt-Boigny and his Senegalese counterpart Pr\u00e9sident Senghor in 1977. Indeed, the despoliation of cultural goods is an ethical and moral issue because people have the right to enjoy their heritage as they see fit. For me, restitution is, as such, a work of justice and humanity. We need our objects because of the purpose they served and which is crucial for the balance and stability of our societies.<\/p>\n

N.J.S. & M.Z<\/i>.: You are the director of a museum which was founded by French colonial officers. The collection was part of the colonial project to administer C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, similar to other places on the continent perhaps, whether it was German, English or French policies that framed the endeavour of collecting, documenting and classifying humans, artefacts and objects of nature. But despite the rhetoric of salvaging culture for educational purposes and for the people of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, thousands of objects were brought to France during and after colonial rule. How does this problematic and violent history impact your work in the museum?<\/p>\n

S.M.K.<\/i>: To give you a concrete example, there is a sacred drum belonging to the Ebri\u00e9 community, that is to say, to the people in the department of Abidjan, which is the economic capital of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, where we currently find ourselves. The sacred drum is considered a cultural asset by the Ebri\u00e9. The talking drum was stolen by the colonist in 1920 while he was looking for workers to build the railway lines in the colony. What happened is that every time the white man came to the area, it seemed no one could\u00a0 <\/span>be found, it was deserted; because of the drum. The instrument was used as a means to communicate, to sound the alarm that the colonist was about to arrive. It wasn\u2019t until some time later he realised that this drum, measuring three and a half meters in length, was the informer. So it was that the drum was torn from the community in 1920. Some years later, in 1930, it was found in the collections of the Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019Homme. Today, it\u2019s part of the collections of the Mus\u00e9e du Quai Branly.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 3: Djidji Ay\u00f4kw\u00e8 \u00c9bri\u00e9 Drum in the possession of the Mus\u00e9e du Quai Branly. 2021. Photo: Mus\u00e9e du Quai Branly, Paris.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Museum management was exclusively carried out by European conservators during the colonial period and even during the first years of African independence. The men were adept at creating networks through which the museum collections from colonised countries would flow. In that business of dispossession, it is not difficult to remember the quite significant role played by French ethnologist, and former director (1947\u20131978) of the Abidjan Museum, Bohumil Holas who helped transfer collections from the Mus\u00e9e National d\u2018Abidjan (which was the former name of the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations de C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire). During one of our visits to the Mus\u00e9e du Quai Branly in June 2007, we were shocked to see an impressive donation of a thousand objects from C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire to France, for which Holas was responsible.<\/p>\n

N.J.S. & M.Z<\/i>.: What do you think restitution would look like?<\/p>\n

S.M.K.<\/i>: The restitution of cultural goods is a complex issue. What form of advocacy should be used? What strategy should be put in place in terms of an official demand for the reinforcement of the legal framework? What approach should be adopted to successfully meet the challenge of restitution? Up until a few months ago, one could speak of two blocks in Africa regarding this question. There was a block in favour of immediate and unconditional restitution and another advocating a consensual approach based on diplomacy. Today the states at the heart of the ECOWAS have come to understand that the process adopted by the French government, where each country\u2019s request is examined case by case, could well take some time, hence the need to consider a strategy through which member states do not emerge as losers. I agree with B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Savoy\u2019s emphasis on the need for cooperation between all parties involved in the process of restitution. This is not an issue for state agencies alone. In point of fact, restitution demands cooperation between experts and others, such as conservators at museums, people working on heritage, academics, legal experts, representatives of traditional communities, artists, and so on. The other main difficulty is undoubtedly that of the precise number of cultural goods currently stored overseas, which is difficult to ascertain given that African museums did not keep inventories of their collections during colonial times. This, in turn, has grounded the need for bilateral or multilateral cooperation to encourage the creation of formal chains of exchange.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 4: Masque Zambl\u00e9 (Gouro). No. Inv. 50.2.918. 2021. Photo: Museum of Civilizations, Abidjan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For our part, we enjoy positive relations with the Mus\u00e9e du Quai Branly whom we know well and with whom we have shared experience. We should not forget, however, that it is thanks to the tremendous work of B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr that we are aware of the 3,951 pieces from C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire at the Mus\u00e9e du Quai Branly<\/p>\n

N.J.S. & M.Z.<\/i>: How do you evaluate these objects, how do you classify what it is that you want to recuperate?<\/p>\n

S.M.K.<\/i>: President Macron was right to suggest that we first give priority to symbolic objects. These are landmark objects that have gone with worlds, that have gone with wisdom, that have gone with lives, and so you understand that having gone, these objects have created a void in their communities of origin, in their original setting, and this has structurally disrupted the life of these communities. Take the Krou W\u00ea people as an example. Unlike other peoples of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire \u2013 such as the Akan, Gour, or Mande, who organise around court cultures and the institution of the king at its centre \u2013 the Krou W\u00ea have no central power. Authority in the village is linked to the mask, which is handed down from father to son. In times of crises, it is the mask that intervenes to regulate the life of the community, it therefore functions as a guardian, a protective mask. Hence, to the extent that these objects have been removed, you understand that the power of the customary chiefs and the overall established order has also taken a blow. The mask was feared because it had power, when the mask appeared, everyone was reminded of the need for coherence, to re-adjust. If there was a wrongdoer who didn\u2019t respect the established rules, the mask had the power to send a disease, even death. As long as the mask was there, order was respected, and once it was removed there was an imbalance. So if we talk about choosing objects for restitution, we need to talk about these landmark objects, these symbolic objects. Also, for the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations, there is concern around the fact that we do not currently represent all the cultures of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. We call it the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations and yet there are entire regions that remain unrepresented in the museum\u2019s collections. It should be clear \u2013 precisely because the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations is a vestige of the colonial administration \u2013 that the regions, which came into contact with colonial administrators early on, are precisely those whose cultural goods were taken. Our main concern is for the lagoon regions and the south of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, which do not have enough traditional objects in the national collections. In my opinion, works from these regions ought to reappear.<\/p>\n

N.J.S. & M.Z.<\/i>: Thank you Silvie! Let us please talk about the wonderful project that you have put in place called La Collection fant\u00f4me. What is a Collection fant\u00f4me? And how do you make it tangible through an exhibition?<\/p>\n

S.M.K.<\/i>: La Collection fant\u00f4me, that was our way of reacting to the looting of the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations. The creation of this multifaceted cultural project allowed us to de-dramatise the acts of violence committed against the country\u2019s national collections. La Collection fant\u00f4me is, as such, a collection of artistic responses to the issues raised by the phenomenon of illegal trafficking of cultural goods, of which the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations was a victim in 2010. La Collection fant\u00f4me, and the manifesto accompanying it, aim not only to address and prepare mentalities as regards the return of original goods that had been kept overseas, it also seeks to establish an impulse among the communities for the pres- ervation of cultural goods. French and Ivorian schools alike have seen the implications of the pedagogical content. So what really happened? Our museum is located besides the Ministry of Defence and was hit by a shell that shook all of the buildings. We only just had the time to close the doors and run. 121 pieces were stolen, including the gold collection of the first president F\u00e9lix Houphou\u00ebt Boigny. The gold of the Akan people is sacred. It also a precious good for distinguishing certain individuals (generally royal families) and corresponds to social, political and economic power. Hence, when the looting occurred, it was really quite disastrous. With the disappearance of the objects, a part of the culture was erased. We spoke a lot about the subject in the media. Unfortunately, the investigation hasn\u2019t gone anywhere.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 5: Signing of the manifes- to La Collection fant\u00f4me by His Majesty Toubo Taho Maurice, Supreme Chief of the W\u00ea, surrounded by his notables. 2018. Photo: Museum of Civilizations, Abidjan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

La Collection fant\u00f4me, or the collection of disappeared objects, is both a cry from the heart and a lament, because neither the country nor the communities that produced the objects will be able to forget. This project exists to remind us that the objects will always remain in memory, even if they have disappeared. It\u2019s like losing a limb. Even if you amputate an arm, you can still feel its absence when you move the remaining one. We thought that the best place for this project to germinate was in schools. This would give it an educational and pedagogical dimension. We turned our attention to schools so that the children of tomorrow could grow up with a museal awareness, defending their culture. In Africa, you often have the impression that no one is interested when you talk about culture. For my part, I am convinced that this is largely the result of the fate inflicted on Africa since the disastrous geographical division imposed on the African continent at the Berlin Conference<\/p>\n

It is for this very reason that we need to raise our voices as much as possible, so that not one single person in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire can avoid hearing about the Collection fant\u00f4me. The project has brought together representatives of the cultural world, local partners, Interpol\u2019s National Central Bureau, the UNESCO bureau in Abidjan, the Ivorian National UNESCO Commission, prefects, mayors, police, customs, regional directors of culture and customary authorities, in short, all those concerned with the issue of heritage preservation or the security of museum collections.<\/p>\n

For the next step in seeking to fight illegal trafficking, it was important to make the campaign international. On Kader Attia\u2019s invitation, we went to la Colonie in Paris, with the fant\u00f4me collection under one arm. Kader Attia later joined us in Abidjan, as well as the French artist S\u00e9bastien R\u00e9my, who was in residence at the museum for two months to work on the Collection fant\u00f4me. All within the framework of this project, there were exchanges with the Ivory Art Centre, which led to a partnership with the Bingerville School of Applied Arts and the Art Department of the F\u00e9lix Houphou\u00ebt-Boigny University.<\/p>\n

The theme of the work for the Paris group was Ceux qui nous regardent (those who watch us). It was about inverting the colonial gaze. Know that Africa is watching you! Let\u2019s just talk about your so-called universal museums that are filled with our cultural goods. The question on the African\u2019s lips is this one: These collections \u2013 preserved in public collections in the West \u2013 for whom are they important? For the countries of origin or for those who took them? The campaign for C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire is Non \u00e0 la culture du vide because the mobility of cultural goods on the continent is our responsibility too.<\/p>\n

We hope that in time these efforts will culminate in a major exhibition on the Collection fant\u00f4me. When the project was launched in 2017 in Abidjan, we dressed mannequins in white cloth with holes in the eyes to look like ghosts. We set up empty showcases and convinced visual artists to provide contemporary creations, while other artists recited poetry. We would love to work with musicians for this project too. We need to get people to come together so that the issues of return and the preservation of heritage are shared by everyone, and so that looting and trafficking can no longer occur as they do today<\/p>\n

N.J.S. & M.Z<\/i>.: In Germany, the institution of the anthropological museum, with its enormous collections, has come under siege. As we know, only a fraction of the collections are ever exhibited, not to speak of the research. More and more people talk about de-collecting, opening up the archives, releasing objects from the depots. The repatriation of objects is only one element in your reflections on linking the Museum of Civilisations, comprehensively, with the different communities. You also mentioned issues of representation, which are important for how you manage the collections and exhibitions in the context of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. Does the question of collections also extend to the present, is there a collection of the present \u2013 or, in short, what might a postcolonial collection look like<\/p>\n

S.M.K.<\/i>: It\u2019s an important issue. How do we create a post-colonial collection now that we\u2019re the ones running things, rather than those Western anthropologists from the pre-independence period? Well, when I arrived at the museum, I had my own idea of museum management I have to say, and it\u2019s not necessarily one shared by other Africans. Once I\u2019d made my way to the top of the museum in 2006, I realised that an awful lot was missing. The state budget for the museum, which is a public museum, was really quite insufficient for its status. What\u2019s more, there was no protocol for the acquisition of objects. Apart from that, it was clear to see in the inventory that certain regions were nowhere to be seen in the museum\u2019s collection. We decided to identify those regions and start classifying their cultural and artistic wealth. We turned to academic researchers and started working a lot with archaeology and history departments in the universities here. We drew up a list of objects that ought to be integrated into the museum.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 6: View into the Depot. 2021. Photo: Museum of Civilizations, Abidjan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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How was the collection carried out? When we identify a region, we send a letter to the customary administrative authorities and do what\u2019s called a pre-collection, a pre-project, we go out and meet with the community we\u2019re interested in. You know, of course, that speaking with a community means speaking with the chief, with the nobility. You cannot simply go see some individual or other and say: \u00bbthis is what I\u2019m interested in\u00ab. Well, we typically go there and meet with the relevant authorities and explain the situation to them. We talk to them about the merit of the project, that the museum is this place where they and their children will be able to come and see the objects that are in the museum. We emphasis the risk of losing these objects, due to illegal trafficking or corruption, if the objects remain there with them. The fact is that wherever people are poor in Africa, there\u2019s an elevated risk of illegal trafficking.<\/p>\n

Let me tell you about something that happened to me not so long ago and that is significant in this respect. In 2015, we received a visit from Mr Kouam\u00e9 who came from the Toumodi region in the centre of the C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. He came to tell us about two men who\u2019d come to his village during the night. They had arrived at two in the morning, went straight to the oldest man in the village and said: \u00bbWe want you to give us the sacred mask that is in your house\u00ab. This sacred mask emerges every seven years for atonement ceremonies or whenever the eldest person in the villages passes away. When the old man refused, they took out their phones to talk to someone who knew the house and who told them the location of the sacred mask, which was kept in a suitcase under the bed. Once they\u2019d committed their crime, they left. To this day, the mask has never been found. For us, it was a clear sign that we cannot work alone. We must work collectively if we\u2019re to curb the scourge of theft.<\/p>\n

As such, working with communities means alerting them to the risks of losing their objects, letting them know they do have a choice. The objects we offer to safeguard are authentic objects, if it\u2019s a mask, it must be a mask that has actually danced. But we certainly don\u2019t ask for the central mask, we don\u2019t say \u00bbgive us the mask that is the subject of all the libations, all the incantations\u00ab. Instead, we suggest another that goes along with it. To be sure that one has also its importance and may be crucial for the community. But the practice of simply demanding the most valued object was at the centre of museum work in colonial times, and continued well after the colonial period.<\/p>\n

In terms of the history of the museum, I can remember the institution that houses the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations being a festival hall originally. During the World War, the governor at the time made the space available to Ivorian artisans so they would come and display the best samples of their artistic works. After the war, the disused festival hall was turned into a museum and those best samples were kept there, as well as authentic objects collected in the communities. We explain all this to the communities who then generally respond: \u00bbWe understand, yes, we\u2019ve taken careful note, and it\u2019s our wish that the names of our communities be perpetuated through our cultural goods, for posterity\u00ab.<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s important that we don\u2019t impose our will, and we let the communities decide for themselves. Generally speaking, this policy works exceptionally well, given that after some time and reflection, the communities themselves give you the best of their artistic works. They\u2019ll tell you, for example, that such and such an object is very important because it belonged to the greatest of the warrior chiefs or to the founder of the community. After that, once weve agreed on which works are to be taken, we go on to the next phase. We go back out with the technical team, equipped with all the necessary equipment and in certain cases with payment for the purchases.<\/p>\n

This cooperation in collecting is equally important as an epistemic practice, so to speak. Certain ancient works in Western collections contain erroneous information. The fact is that in certain traditional societies during colonisation, the white man was considered a stranger. He did not have access to accurate information. They would respond to his questions with fake answers that would have the whole community giggling as soon as he\u2019d turned his back. It\u2019s clear to see from the names that were given to certain villages or towns of African peoples. Essentially, when a stranger comes, we don\u2019t give him all the information, we just tell him what he wants to hear. I realised that while I was visiting two great museums in \u203athe West\u2039. A significant part of the information displayed on the labels or in the explanations was inaccurate.<\/p>\n

That is also why we prefer the communities to tell us \u00bbhere, we want you to take this\u00ab. Often it is also the first generation objects that they give us. They tell us \u00bbno, there is no problem, we will take this, take the major object, if you have it, we can rest assured\u00ab. And the advantage of this kind of collaboration is that these communities are involved in everything we do here at the museum. When we have openings or other kinds of activities we involve the customary authorities. They also frequently come to our houses. Descendants of the communities come to see the objects from their homes that are stored in our collections. For what may be called \u203ascientific documentation\u2039 we work together with history departments and archaeology departments, which send us their doctoral students, for example, who help us in doing the documentation work<\/p>\n

N.J.S. & M.Z.<\/i>: Do you see this as a new form of cooperation with the communities in the country? It seems to be redefining the task or the mission of the museum, don\u2019t you think? It is about building a museum that is there for the communities<\/p>\n

S.M.K<\/i>: Well yes, but there is still a long way to go. Material and financial resources are really crucial here. You may have the most wonderful ideas, but if you can\u2019t get them off the ground there\u2019s no use at all.<\/p>\n

When I arrived at the museum, I wanted to think the museum differently. For me, the ideal museum would be one in which communities recognise themselves. It thus needs to differ very much from the classical museum in its colonialist conception, which we\u2019ve gotten used to in Africa. Museums were institutions for receiving elitist populations, spaces dedicated to whites only. Excuse me when I say white, in Africa we understand very well that, traditionally, these spaces are dedicated to Westerners only. When I arrived in 2006, I drew up entrance statistics to see how many people attended the museum. The statistics showed that it was mostly Westerners, followed by Africans, and then the local public \u2013 and to me, that was not normal. The museum is established, first and foremost, for the people to whom it belongs. For me, running a museum without the local public is a failure, so what should be done? We\u2019ve always been told that in Africa, Africans do not visit their museums, perhaps because Africans have not yet thought of a purely African museum. For me, an African museum should be one which people are proud to visit. The ideal museum is the museum that responds to the daily concerns \u00a0 <\/span>of the communities, of the audiences that surround it, this is a museum in which the objects speak directly to those who visit. Wherever the objects are silent and there is no communication, however, I\u2019d call that plain failure. Whatever it may be elsewhere, in the context of C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, the populations must recognize themselves in this museum. As such, the museum must be inclusive, even if it looks outward, it should be inclusive above all else. That\u2019s very important for me. But to achieve this, it\u2019s really a question of political, financial and cultural support.<\/p>\n

N.J.S & M.Z.<\/i>: This is an important issue for all museums. How were you able to build this kind of support?<\/p>\n

S.M.K<\/i>: Thanks to a concept that we created, and baptised LA NOUVELLE VISION, our activities have benefited from diverse support. It was a policy that took every aspect of the development of the museum into account. I think that the development of fundraising, as well as the placements that occurred at museums in the United States, were also decisive. It was in the U.S. where we learned how to put together funding projects. The last thing to mention is the Tapa Foundation, an NGO we created at the suggestion of some American friends in 2002. And they were right: in Africa, private donors don\u2019t give much money to state institutions, they prefer to fund NGOs. I created the foundation to gather funds for African museums, and the Mus\u00e9e des Civilisations in particular. Companies would normally close their doors to me because I direct a national museum, but the same companies are quite accepting when I come in my capacity as president of the Tapa Foundation. We are thus funded from both the public and private sector. In terms of strategies, we began by choosing a museum ambassador who worked in an international financial institution. It was thanks to him that the museum was first renovated. We took over the lighting of the permanent collection in 2006 and went on to set up the permanent exhibition Identit\u00e9 et brassage des cultures. The ambassador put his address book at our disposal.<\/p>\n

We looked for other partners, got the media involved, and drew up a partnership with the national press, so that every three months we were on the 8 o\u2019clock news. Plus, all the museum\u2019s activities were publicised, which meant that everybody started hearing about it. There was equally an historic partnership (which is still ongoing) with a mobile phone company (Fondation Orange C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire). Either annually or every two years, according to the programme, the foundation we created to support museums gets funding from our partners at Orange. We were thus able to furnish every museum in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire with IT and technical equipment (dehumidifiers or thermohydrographs). The Tapa foundation also works with several embassies including those of France and the United States, who funded the digitization process. At an international level, the NGO has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, the financial support of organisations that work on cultural heritage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We launched the project La visite des \u00e9l\u00e8ves premiers de classe to reach a wider audience. With the support of local partners who provided transport, every primary school class in Abidjan came and visited the museum. I see the children that came as their parents\u2019 ambassadors to the museum. They thus managed to have their parents come as well. There have been other projects such as the Le mus\u00e9e vient \u00e0 vous which saw the museum head out to meet the public, to organise exhibitions outside the museum walls, in schools and in other public spaces. It is quite encouraging that there are schools from the coun- try\u2019s interior that come to visit the museum now. We\u2019ve gone from 8,000 admissions in 2006 to over 50,000 today in the main hall, and on the museum site itself over 120,000 visitors before COVID-19. The museum also receives more than 200 students of diverse nationalities on placement each year. Today, we receive requests for the museum space to be used for weddings and other social events. So, you see, the museum is becoming indispensable in the lives of groups and companies. In my opinion, this is what a museum should be ideally; a museum that is nourished and enriched by diverse contributions.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 7: Pedestrian Entrance to the Museum of Civilizations. 2021. Photo: Museum of Civilizations, Abidjan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One last point on collaboration: we collaborate with the mus\u00e9e du Quai Branly at the moment, but I dream of opening our museum up to others as well. In the 38th UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, as well as their diversity and their role in society, provisions are made for cultural bridges and mutual assistance between museums in depository countries and those in countries of origin. As far as I\u2019m concerned, objects that were deported no longer belong exclusively to one country. Today, those objects have double nationality, whether we like or not, and we should endeavour to establish collaboration. Museums in Africa are very young and we should cooperate to make them grow. After all, the objects we have, the collections we manage, the works we have, they\u2019re all part of world heritage. If we want to pass on the history of the world tomorrow, and have better balance for the well-being of all our populations, we have an obligation to work hand in hand.<\/p>\n

The conversation took place on February 19, 2021. After the transcript of this exchange was revised by the interlocutors, the subsequent translation into English underwent a thorough copy-editing. We thank Michael Dorrity for the latter, and Manon Raynaud for her meticulous transcription of the conversation.<\/i><\/p>\n

The print version of this text is published in the Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Kulturwissenschaften<\/a>, issue \u201cThe Post\/Colonial Museum\u201d<\/a>, 2022, p 123-136.\u00a0In order to make the issue \u201cThe Post\/Colonial Museum\u201d<\/a> available to a wide readership, specifically on the African continent, we decided to use the long standing collaboration between boasblogs <\/a>and the Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Kulturwissenschaften<\/a> to successively publish all contributions in print and online (as DCNtR debate). We thank the editorial boards of both, the Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Kulturwissenschaften<\/a> and the boasblogs<\/a>, as much as the publishing house transcript for embarking on this project together. Furthermore, our thanks go to the participants of the conference on\u00a0Museum Collections in Motion, which was generously supported by the Global South Studies Center, University of Cologne<\/a>, the research platform \u201cWorlds of Contradictions\u201d, University of Bremen<\/a>, the Museumsgesellschaft of the Rautenstrauch- Joest- Museum<\/a> and the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. Most of all, we thank the contributors to this debate for four years of exchange, debate and intellectual companionship.<\/p>\n

\n

Footnotes<\/strong>
\n[1]<\/a>The print version of this text is published in the Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Kulturwissenschaften, issue \u201cThe Post\/Colonial Museum\u201d, 2022, p.123-136, https:\/\/www.transcript-verlag.de\/978-3-8376-5397-7\/the-post\/colonial-museum\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr. Silvie Memel-Kassi<\/strong>, Directrice G\u00e9n\u00e9rale de la Culture de C\u00f4te d’Ivoire: Biographie folgt.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nanette J. Snoep<\/strong>, Director Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum Kulturen der Welt: Biographie folgt.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prof. Dr. Martin Zillinger<\/strong>, Lehrstuhl f\u00fcr Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie, Universit\u00e4t zu K\u00f6ln: Biographie folgt.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"autor":[40,542,618],"dcntrdebates_blog":[800],"class_list":["post-10322","dcntrdebates","type-dcntrdebates","status-publish","hentry","autor-martin-zillinger","autor-nanette-snoep","autor-silvie-memel-kassi","dcntrdebates_blog-debate-3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dcntrdebates\/10322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dcntrdebates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/dcntrdebates"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dcntrdebates\/10322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10370,"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dcntrdebates\/10322\/revisions\/10370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"autor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/autor?post=10322"},{"taxonomy":"dcntrdebates_blog","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boasblogs.org\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dcntrdebates_blog?post=10322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}