ABSTRACT
Togo Rural Village Art Museum created the concept of ‘A Museum without Walls’, based on notions of social empowerment in the lives of villagers through the introduction of a range of artistic initiatives. In this chapter Lai asks how a museum that attempts to revitalise a village can actually respond to the needs of the community; how much change does art bring and is it, in the end, beneficial?
The process of connecting rural art, museum and social empowerment is of growing interest internationally, and is rarely easy or straightforward. Lai gives valuable insight into the questions raised by both locals and government, and ultimately the local people themselves. Yet, Lai underlines in the chapter how a joint commitment to focusing on collaboratively changing the diminishment of a rural village through the force of community, combined with the adoption of an artistic approach that holistically integrates authentic aspects of rural village life, might itself be empowering.
