ABSTRACT
In a letter to his mother dated 22 August 1936, British colonial officer Kenneth C. Murray expressed his concern that Nigeria’s visual heritage was disappearing quickly throughout the country. This devastation was the result of colonial regulations, a strong missionary presence, and the growth of the Atinga cult, which systematically destroyed pagan material. To combat the loss of Nigeria’s artistic legacy, Murray planned to build museums to house the work. With the help of archaeologist Bernard Fagg, who would later become curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Murray went on to become the founding director of the department of antiquities, building seven museums throughout the country. The largest of these is the Nigerian Museum, Lagos, which claims to house around 48,000 objects. This was an astounding accomplishment in light of a disinterested colonial government and a Nigerian population that had no museum tradition.
Murray’s plan for the Nigerian Museum included six large storerooms, but only one exhibition space that covered far less square footage. This, I argue, demonstrates that Murray saw the museum more as an archive than as an accessible space for Nigerians and foreigners to see the art and artefacts of the country.
As a result of Murray’s and Fagg’s collecting and archaeological work, as well as their connection to early researchers and Peace Corps volunteers, Nigeria’s art is the most thoroughly studied and prominent part of the African art canon. Moreover, the museums developed in Nigeria served as models for museums across Africa, due in part to Murray’s initiatives, associations with UNESCO, and a museological school established by Fagg in the Jos Museum. Based on archival material and fieldwork in Britain and Nigeria, ‘To Store is to Save’ will consider the role that formal museum storage played in preserving and promoting the visual culture of Nigeria.
