INTRODUCTION
The time period museum is from Historical Greek, Mouseoin, which implies “the position sacred to the muses.” In accordance to Greek Mythology Mouseoin was the temple of muses, the nine goddesses that presided above poetry, tunes, the arts, sciences and discovering. In Greek Mythology the 9 goddesses were the daughters of Zeus, the King of the gods and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. The Greeks thought that the muses lived on Mount Olympus with their leader, the god Apollo (American Association of Museums, 2000). In the 3rd century B.C. during the rule of the Ptolemy Dynasty, when the Greeks ruled about Historic Egypt, Ptolemy 1 Soter started an establishment for literary and scientific examine in Alexandria and identified as it a museum. With the revival of mastering throughout the Renaissance in the 15th century A.D. Italian scholars stored their collections of historical supplies in rooms called museums. The Renaissance nobles also had adorned their palaces with art, sculpture and collections of curiosities. It was a great deal later on that non-public collections handed to general public ownership and ended up put on display screen. For example Pope Sixtus IV opened the Capitoline Museum to the general public in 1447 and this was adopted by Cesarini also in Rome. The initially museum to be operated as a nationwide institution was the British Museum in 1753 followed by the Palace of Louvre in Paris in 1793.Other famous museums are the Art Gallery in which the Mona Lisa is portrayed, the Metropolitan in New York, the Prado in Madrid, the Hermitage in Petersburg (Leningrad), and the Smithsonian in Washington (Sears, 2006).
ORIGINS AND Enhancement OF THE SIERRA LEONE Nationwide MUSEUM
‘There is always some thing new from Africa’ mentioned Pliny who lived from 23-79 A.D. This large continent of Africa has some many firsts. The north of Africa is thought to be the cradle of civilization that is Historical Egypt. It was in Ancient Egypt that the first museum came into existence. More south are nearly impassible barriers of desert and tropical forests, and beyond these, lies the larger section of Africa recognised to the Arabs as Bilad-as-Sudan, the land of the Black individuals. It was in this element of Africa in the Rift Valley in East Africa also identified as Japanese Sudan that the oldest form of human life was discovered. The Western Sudan (West Africa) can boast of impressive ancient empires like Ghana, Songhai, Mali and Kanem Bornu.
Sierra Leone much too has a very prosperous and diverse heritage. She has an considerable purely natural life her archaeological web sites day back to the Previous Stone Age in Africa. Oral traditions date back to the time when the ancestors of present inhabitants settled in their respective regions. There is a fantastic range of numerous secret societies with their connected cultural elements these kinds of as the Poro, Bondo, Gbagbani, Kofo, Regbainlay and Mathoma Magic formula Societies. There are also the aged common arts and crafts monuments and relics which commemorate persons and gatherings prolonged ago. This heritage has been crafted on around the several years by the is effective of sculptors, architects, painters, musicians, blacksmiths, goldsmiths and other creators of form and magnificence. Up to 1957 Sierra Leone had no museum. The Monument and Relics Commission of 1st June 1947 provided the foundation for the protection and preservation of historic, historic and all-natural monuments, relics and other objects of archaeological, ethnographical (conventional Artwork ) and historical or other scientific desire as laid down by the Act. These historic relics had been scattered all around the country accumulating dust and mould in authorities ware properties, though her ethnographical treasures were being wrecked by climate wooden-unexciting bugs. In 1954, Sir Robert de Zouche Hall, a former Governor General challenged the Sierra Leone Modern society to generate a National Museum for the state. This museum, in accordance to the Governor, can add to the expansion of countrywide pleasure by accumulating and preserving objects and creating them obtainable for contemplation and research. This obstacle was taken up by M.C.F. Easmon and many others with the development of a Museum Sub-Committee (Cummings, 1996). The Previous Cotton Tree Railway Station was acquired and rehabilitated, with the assistance of government, and was opened on the 10th December, 1957. The National Museum, in accordance to Sir Maurice Dorman, was supposed to gather, set in purchase and protect the function of man’s fingers that was rapid disappearing from the lives of Sierra Leoneans. The National Museum, he extra, ‘should be a area where by the illiterate guy can be influenced by the exhibit of what is most effective in his culture, the two in the past and current, there-by holding a report of Sierra Leone for posterity.’
MUSEUM Coverage
The Sierra Leone Nationwide Museum addresses three areas: Archaeology, Background and Ethnography. In the location of Archaeology there are big steatite (soapstone) heads, the Maye Yafe or Chiefs’ devils. These are considered to bring great luck to Chiefs and negative luck to the common guy. There are figures called Nomoli, which are an enigma and are of mysterious antiquity. The curator thinks that these figures day again to the Middle Stone Age. There is a big selection of poetry and potsherds and it is considered that some of the pots on screen in the museum date back again to B.C. times. There is also an abundance of Outdated Stone Age resources these types of as choppers, hand axes, and polished New Stone Age equipment together with lots of steatite bored stones which were being when employed as forex and as digging stick weights. In the Record region the most popular item is the initial Constitution of Sierra Leone signed in 1799 by King George III by which the settlement grew to become a British Colony. There are also types of the de Reuter Stone on which the Admiral engraved his name soon after sacking Bunce and Tasso Islands in 1664. Bunce Island was a depot from exactly where slaves were being transported across the Atlantic Ocean. There are effigies of the late Sir Milton Margai, the to start with Prime Minister of Sierra Leone and Bai Bureh, the past warrior main who fought the British from 1898-1902. There is also a host of elements drawn from the colonial time period this kind of as canon, staffs of chiefs, swords, medals, coins, images, paintings and documents. In the place of Ethnography (Regular Artwork) there are totally dressed masquerading dancers e.g. Sowei of the Bondo Culture, Goboi, the regalia of Chiefs, Secret Modern society paraphernalia, exquisite carved masks, carvings in human and animal variety, indigenous musical devices like the drums which are integral in African rituals in beginning, initiation and death, textile, basketry and other crafts. The Sierra Leone Nationwide Museum has a impressive assortment of artifacts and is genuinely a keep household of the nation’s cultural treasures (Sierra Leone Nationwide Museum Prospectus, 2013).
Part OF THE MUSEUM
The Sierra Leone Nationwide Museum preserves the national heritage it is a complicated institution for exploration, schooling and society. It is an instrument of mass education, which caters for the requires of literates and illiterates, the two youthful and old. Young children of college heading age make up the greatest community served by the Countrywide Museum as a result of guided excursions. Aside from college groups specific young children go to the museum just about every day. The museum displays are appropriate to the school syllabi extra so in disciplines like History, Social Studies, Agricultural Science and Civics. So essay and poster competitions are operate by the museum for youngsters. Since Artwork is the most purely natural indicates of expression of individuals who can’t browse and publish the reveals in the Nationwide Museum are so organized that they can talk for themselves. The museum is an crucial study middle. It is investigate that brings the museum to everyday living and makes it substantially a lot more than a repository of lifeless objects. As research center the Nationwide Museum is the only area in the place wherever somebody can find these types of historic documents like the Sierra Leone Charter. Consequently students from both of those better and tertiary institutions as nicely as scientists (domestically and internationally) make substantial use of museum substance in composing their tasks. Some of the subjects widely researched on in the museum are the origins of St John’s Maroon Church, tourism as instrument of socioeconomic development, common educational facilities in Sierra Leone throughout pre-colonial, colonial and present-day instances, interment rites of paramount chiefs among the different ethnic groups in the country, and mining in pre-colonial Sierra Leone.
The Sierra Leone Nationwide Museum is not only established for elites and the scholarly group but also to provide a support for the typical public. The basic intent of the museum is to help the community to know and take pleasure in below situations of exhibit the artifacts which the establishment collects, preserves and guards. Entrance to the museum is absolutely free since it is not only a national museum but also aspect of an international agreement (Intercontinental Council of Museum) to which the Sierra Leone Countrywide Museum is a signatory should really. Sierra Leoneans are knowledgeable of the reality that the Nationwide Museum sorts an integral part of the neighborhood tradition. The specimens of the cultures represented in the museum are now in use and folks are conscious of their existence and capabilities. The museum while nationwide also pursuits non-countrywide public composed typically of European, American and Asian nationals, most of these are ignorant of African society in normal and Sierra Leonean tradition in specific. Paradoxically the museum has touched the two an informed and rather mainly illiterate as well as educated and fully uninitiated publics. The pursuing are a several remarks from the Museum’s Visitors Guide:
• It is magnificent, continue to keep it up! (A Nigerian).
• We entered into African mysteries (An Italian).
• Very intriguing! Pretty unpleasant primarily the slaves (An American).
• Most and the finest practical experience in Nearby Historical past).
• It goes a prolonged way in preserving our cultural heritage (A Sierra Leonean).
The Sierra Leone National Museum is an exhibition and interaction heart. It presents contact with authentic objects. It disseminates facts about Sierra Leonean Art. Artwork pieces are on their own documents which are eloquent. From naturalistic figures held in the museum individuals can discover about the dress of the time. A sculptured piece reveals a tiny more than the individual portrayed. For instance a carved warrior or hunter in the museum demonstrates the style of weapon applied at the time. The museum steers distinct of ethnic distribution in the place of its objects. It aims at representing rather than pointing out community peculiarities. For case in point Rhythmic Arts (musical devices), Occupations (fishing equipment, basketry and pottery), cultural objects (insignia of Chiefs and bride dollars), and Women’s Activities (ornaments, combs and cooking utensils)) are portrayed in the museum. The purpose being that equally city and rural guests are nervous to see their approaches of life mirrored in the “Ancestral Residence,” which is the museum. As local guests go round the museum they research attentively for utensils, instruments, weapons or common faces and are usually delighted or in some cases grievance to staff when these are absent. In short the Museum plays a quite crucial section at national and international degrees. It can help the general public to respect article content illustrating heritage. As repository of the nationwide heritage it can help individuals to uncover the components of their past and to receive new religious prosperity. The Museum renews in Sierra Leoneans a perception of belonging to a specifically civilization and stimulates in them the spirit of nationwide pride and cohesion which are necessary substances in nation developing.
MEMBERSHIP OF Specialist ORGANISATIONS
The Sierra Leone National Museum is a member of several experienced bodies both equally at residence and abroad. It has been a member of the Global Council of Museums (ICOM) given that 1964. The Museum is also a member of the Organization for Museums, Monuments and Web pages in Africa (OMMSA), the cultural arm of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU), at the moment African Union(AU ). The Museum is represented in the Arts Training Affiliation of Sierra Leone, which in the previous arranged Artwork Festivals in colleges and colleges it is also represented in the General public Archives Fee and the Sierra Leone Affiliation of Librarians, Archivists and Facts Specialists(SLAALIP).
The Sierra Leone Countrywide Museum proceeds to appreciate cordial romantic relationship with UNESCO which has assisted in team coaching and source of machines the West African Museums Software in Dakar(WAMP),which has done many workshops on conservation and preservation of artifacts. Overseas Missions far too have contributed immensely to the enhancement of the museum. For illustration the Federal Republic of Germany in Sierra Leone erected an extension of the museum as a bicentenary gift. The French Embassy in Sierra Leone by means of the French Cooperation Technical Department rehabilitated the Aged Cotton Tree Museum Constructing. The United States of America, as a result of the Department of the United States Facts Services has on a number of occasions invited the curator to pay a visit to the Usa which has resulted to close one-way links with the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the Museum of African Art in Washington, Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Museum of Modern day Art in Chicago. The U S Embassy was also instrumental in the twinning relationship with the Museum of Coastal Background, St. Simons Island, Georgia. Via these links the Museum was supplied with the outcomes of Indiana-American exploration assignments, pamphlets, calendars of coming activities, posters and long run exhibitions. The twinning with the Museum of Coastal Background, St Simons Island, Ga, United states of america has led to the investigation of the “Trans-Atlantic Linkage-the Sierra Leone and the Gullah/Geechee Connection.” There has been a sequence of trade visits in between curators and the Excellent Spring Lecture was delivered at Fort Frederica, St Simon Island in 1995. In the exact same calendar year a joint exhibition and a symposium was held on the “Trans-Atlantic Linkage” in Georgia.
Troubles
One of the major concerns of the Sierra Leone National Museum is how to fight the theft and illicit exportation of cultural artifacts. The Federal government of Sierra Leone has formulated a thorough nationwide coverage with statutes as contained in the Monuments and Relics Ordinance of 1947. The Ordinance supplies for the preservation of historical, historical and purely natural monuments, relics and other objects of historic, ethnographical and scientific curiosity. Any individual who wishes to export from the nation any ethnographical item need to submit it to the Countrywide Museum a license will be issued which should really be demonstrated to customs officers at the level of departure. If an intended item for exportation has cultural, historic or archaeological value it will be retained in the place as component of the nationwide heritage. Any individual uncovered violating any of the restrictions is liable to criminal prosecution less than the provision of the Ordinance. If observed guilty the human being involved will have to pay a fine of two hundred lbs . sterling. In default of payment, the person will serve a prison sentence not exceeding 6 months. Nonetheless, in spite of the endeavours designed by the Museum to guard cultural residence smuggling of artifacts carries on. It is disturbing to note that in Sierra Leone educated and intelligent individuals buy, market and export shielded cultural elements just for the sake of business enterprise advertising. What is far more Sierra Leone has porous borders which people use to gain in smuggling cultural materials out of the country with impunity.
Further the general public assistance that the Nationwide Museum performs warrants general public expenditure, specially if standards are to be maintained. Regrettably government grants to the museum are meagre and this poses yet another challenge for the jogging of the museum. Usually salaries compensated to personnel are not only discouraging typically but delayed in payment. In 2014 for instance so significantly wage backlog was owed workers that workers struck and the museum ceased to operate for a while. Apart from the Nationwide Museum does not have branches in the provinces but only centered in the money city, Freetown. Team are confined in amount and ill-determined. Rarely are they engaged in capability constructing owing to lack of money. This has led to significant employees switch-over. Far more about doing work in the museum is not very well regarded nation-wide. Most folks perspective it as a task for college fall outs. Hence young individuals do not like pursuing museology as a career. Also staff members do not embark on enormous general public schooling on the worth of the museum in culture. Little surprise why school going small children sort the premier quantity of website visitors to the museum as opposed to authorities functionaries and key stake holders in the country. Even the line ministry, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, the Museum is below does not feel to recognize its relevance in nation developing. The Ministry priorities its functions and supporting the museum is not a precedence. As a result in time of economic stringency the museum is a inclined area to swindle money (Sierra Leone National Museum Prospectus, 2013). If for that reason government needs the National Museum to keep on taking part in an at any time rising role in countrywide development there is each and every will need for governing administration functionaries to give 2nd considered on how very best they can help it to satisfy this objective. Where by the issues faced by management are tackled the museum far too can help deliver the a great deal required foreign trade in addition to its preservation of the nationwide heritage.