Description
Book SynopsisIn November 1927, Kenneth Crosthwaite Murray (1902-1972) left his family home in West Sussex, England, to develop the art program in the British colony of Nigeria. As he travelled the country, Murray saw the cultural practices and craft production of Nigerian visual material under threat and decided to collect these pieces in order to preserve, understand, and, perhaps, console during a period of great change. Murray and a few of his colleagues, including Edward H. Duckworth, Bernard E.B. Fagg, and Ekpo Eyo and the antiquities department that they founded, built seven museums before independence, established export policies, began calling for the return of cultural heritage, and developed excavation protocol. This book captures the life and legacy of Murray, whose efforts helped foster an understanding of Nigerian art and culture and explores the tension that arose among the colonial government, officers, and Nigerians who sought to build these cultural institutions during the twilight years of the British Empire and the transition to a newly independent Nigeria.
Table of ContentsList of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: K.C. Murray and E.H. Duckworth Find Their Blue Ocean
Chapter 2: A Case for a Nigerian Antiquities Department
Chapter 3: Never Enough Surveys
Chapter 4: The Guiding Mission of the Antiquities Department
Chapter 5: Building National Museums
Chapter 6: Building Regional Museums
Chapter 7: The Independence Decade
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author
