15th March, 2018
The National Museum of Unity, Ibadan, has opened a new exhibition centre called ‘RE-ORG’, to boost tourism in Oyo State and Nigeria at large.
The exhibition with the theme ‘showcasing the unseen treasure within the National Museum of Unity collections, Ibadan’, is in addition to four other exhibition centres at the museum.
The list of objects on display in the centre, include Shigidi figure (Yoruba), woman hairstyle figure, Mumuye head mask (Taraba), Ekoi Head Dress (Rivers), carved stool with relief-carved figures (Benin).
The others were Benin Rooster Bronze, Metal Bells (Edo), Bronze head (Ife South-West), Sango staff standing female figure (Ose Sango), Ifa divination vessel, among others.
The Museum Curator, Dr Amos Olorunnipa, told NAN on Thursday that the exhibition centre was a product of the Re-org Nigeria home project of the Ibadan museum.
Olorunnipa said the project was in collaboration with the United States Ambassadors Funds for Cultural Preservation, National Commission for Museums and Monuments and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He added that the project started at the National Museum Jos, with a two week workshop in May, 2017 in which 11 museums participated.
Olorunnipa noted that the Re-org was mostly concerned with standardising the museum storage collection and using the collections to communicate to the public.
According to him, the exhibition will increase public awareness, museum patronage, allow appreciation and understanding of the artistic ingenuity of the past generations by the new generations.
“It’s hoped that it will contribute to unity in diversity and the significance our culture represents, it will improve access to and conservation of Ibadan museum collections,” he said.
He further remarked that one of the major aspects of Nigerian culture lied in the fact that it drew inspiration from the traditional heritage property.
“These outstanding indigenous and contemporary objects that unite our cultural diversity are housed in the museum, some of which have never been exposed or exhibited to the public.
“Therefore, the exhibition aims at showcasing the unseen treasures within the National museum, Ibadan storage collection,” Olorunnipa said.