The Proposed National Art Museum Lagos

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

ON

THE PROPOSED NATIONAL ART MUSEUM LAGOS

WITH EMPHASIS

ON

THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT ON ANTIQUITIES

BY

OMOBULEJO OLUSOLA OLUMIDE

ARC/01/0455

M-TECH ARCHITECTURE

COURSE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

ARC 805

LECTURER

PROF. O.O. OGUNSOTE

APRIL 2008.

TABLE OF CONTENT

1.0INTRODUCTION

2.0STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

3.0JUSTIFICATION FOR STUDY

4.0AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

5.0HYPOTHESIS

6.0SCOPE OF THE DESIGN

7.0LITERATURE REVIEW

8.0METHOD OF RESEARCH

9.0EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE

1.0INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MUSEUM

The Lexicon Webster Dictionary (Volume 1) traces the meaning of museum from its Greek origin.Museum was originally meant to be a temple of muses. Muses were the Greek goddesses that presided over the arts. However, its English meaning is a Building or an area used for exhibiting objects connected with literature, Arts and science. A museum presents reminders and proofs of either past times or of a passing time, a type of arresting a past period so as to give people a close look at the period.

The percentage of the word “Museum” can be traced to the Greek and Latin derivations. The Greek form, Museum” means seat of the muses and designated a philosophical institution or a place of contemplation. The Latin form “museum” appears to have been restricted mainly to places of philosophical institution or a place of contemplation. The Latin form of “Museum” appears to have been restricted mainly to “places of philosophical discussions”.

The origin of the twin concepts of preservation and interpretation, which form the basis of the museum, lies in the human prosperity to inquire and acquire. Collection of objective has been found in Paleolithic burials. While evidence of inquiry into the environment and communications of the findings could be seen in the cave and military art of the same period. A development toward the idea of the museum certainly occurred early in the second millennium B.C at Larsa in Mesopotawa, where copies of old inscriptions were made for use in the schools.

The word museum” was revived in 15th century in Europe to describe the concepts of comprehensiveness rather than denoting a building. By the 17th century “museum” was being used in Europe to describe collection of curiosities.

The first of the corporate museum to receive such a collection, erect a building to house it and make it publicly available was the University of Oxford. The building was its Asmolean museum opened in 1683.

2.0STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Museum lighting is a complex subject, it is important in Art museum to determine a clear policy on the approach to natural and artificial lighting.

The problem statement is the control of Natural lighting on collections initiating chemical change in vulnerable materials.

3.0JUSTIFICATION

Direct sunlight must not fall on any collection item and UV radiation must be effectively eliminated from all light reaching a collection item. The eye has a limited ability to adapt to changes in brightness, and as the visitor moves through the museum sudden changes in lighting levels and extreme contrasts of brightness is not good for comfort. This project is justified because if the collection is not put in museum; it may be difficult to preserve the collections in their natural form for future generation.

4.0AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

AIMS

To design a National art museum of International Standard with cost effectiveness where our cultural and tradition artifacts can be preserved for coming generation.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of speculating a museum for the town includes the following:

1. To provide a building that would function as a museum where the public’s various socio-cultural needs can be catered for
2. To provide facilities that will encourage cross-culturisation, instilling unity between the people of Lagos and the other tribes.
3. To provide an architectural edifice reflecting the works of art of the Lagos and the other tribes
4. To provide a serene atmosphere where the people can enjoy the works and beauty of art through recreation and relaxation.
5. To relate educational services and stimulate creative activities of the various ethnic cultures.
6. To create and protect public interest in museums
7. To establish a source of income for the government as well as job opportunity for the people like the talented craftsmen. Skillful artists, painters and other people in the field of arts.
8. To provide a place where the past can be linked to the present and the future.

5.0HYPOTHESIS

Below is a set of preliminary assumptions which account for a set of facts; taken to be true for the purpose of research and testing a theory light controls on collections in museum.

Ho1Direct lighting on collection does not have any negative effect on them.

Ho2Direct sunlight cannot cause chemical change tovulnerable materials.

Ho3UV radiation must not be eliminated from every light reaching a collection.

Ho4Sudden change in light levels and extreme contrast of brightness is good for comfort of visitors

6.0SCOPE OF THE DESIGN

The proposed museum is within the limits of the requirements of the National Commission for Museums and Monument to bring unity to the diverse culture in the country. Hence the proposed museum will include the following:

1. A gallery and an exhibition hall
2. A library (Education/information)
3. A multipurpose hall
4. Administrative offices
5. The craft village
6. Archaeological department and research unit
7. A sculpture garden
8. Workshops.
9. Art Studio

7.0LITERATURE REVIEW

7.1ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF MUSEUM IN BRIEF

The origination of the museum can be traced back to the 2ndcentury B.C.

The origins of the time concepts of preservation and interpretation which for the basis of the museum lies in the human propensity to inquire and acquire. The idea of the museum certainly occurred early in the second millennium B.C at Larsa, in Mesopotamia, where copies of old inscriptions were made for use in schools. The criteria were met by Sir Leonard Wooley’s discoveries in the sixth century B.C Babylonian city of ours. The great Museum at Alexandra founded by Ptolemy Soter late in the 3rd century B.C. with its college of scholars and its library were more of a prototype university than an institution to preserve and interpret material aspects of the heritage.

In 1675, the collection, having become the property of Elias Ashmole were transferred to the University of Oxford and the building constructed to receive it were opened to the public in 1693. This was later known as the AsmoleanMuseum.

The first of the corporate bodies to receive such a collection publicly available was the University of Oxford. The building was its AshmoleanMuseum, opened in 1683. The Ashmolean later moved to another new building which was occupied by the museum of the History of Science (called from Macro Britannica Encyclopedia Vol. 24 page 478-480).

7.2MUSEUM IN NIGERIA

In Nigeria, attempts begun as early as the late 1930’s by some British officers namely, Messer K.C. Murray, E. H Duckworth and A Huntcooke, to establish museums. This was borne out of the need to preserve cultural items in the country against the threats of destruction. C Publication of National Commission for Museum and Monument.

Today, museum movement has increased in scope and types.Apart form antiquities and ethnography museums, museums in Nigeria now include museums such as natural history and modern arts.

Museums have been established in the principal cities of Nigeria by theNationalMuseums and Monuments Commissions to assist in developing cultural identity and promoting national unity. The Jos museum, one of the National Museums, also administers a museum of traditional craft while others have developed workshops, where traditional crafts can be demonstrated. (EncyclopediaBritannica Vol. 24 page 483.)

The Yoruba people inhabit a large part of South Western Nigeria. Their art traditions are of considerable antiquity. Excavations at Ife, in central Yoruba land, have shown that naturalistic sculpture in brass and pottery was being produced by the 12th century A.D. The sculpture mass represents royal figures and their attendants, and life-size portraits head in brass were perhaps used as part of funerary offices.

Traditions assert that the Yoruba town of Ile-Ife was the centre from which this art and the type of monarchy that supported it spread to other parts of the region. Modern archaeologists have found nothing to contradicts this and have moreover provided evidenced for existence in Yoruba land of a high degree of urbanization by at least the 11th century.

The archaeological evidence of the NOK culture shows that the inhabitants of central Nigeria engaged in agriculture and were using iron and other metals by about 3000B.C It is generally accepted that the terra-cotta sculptures associated with NOK as processors of the latter colour sculpture of South Western Nigeria. (Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 24 page 816).

In Nigeria the museum is being controlled by the national and monuments commission, under the umbrella of Federal Government of Nigeria. This commission has however, through its unrelenting efforts assisted in developing cultural identity and promoting national unity by establishing museums round the floor corners of the country. The commission has undoubtedly established museums in the following towns and cities – Lagos. Jos, Kano,BeninCity, Kaduna, Owerri and Abuja, while it is still being propounded for more cities and towns.

Lagos museum at Onikan is the National headquarter for the Commission while the museum is the first of its king in the country established in the year 1934. But the Jos museum is the center for field Archaeology Jos museum also administers a museum of traditional building, while others have developed a workshops where traditional crafts can be demonstrated.

7.3TYPESOF MUSEUM

Classification of museum is uncertain. This uncertainty is by virtues of the origins, varying philosophies and differing roles in society. Nevertheless, different opinions were made for speculations. In its own contribution, Britannica Encyclopedia (macro) concluded and classified museum as follows:

1. Art Museum:- The art museum (called an art gallery in some places) is concerned primarily with the object as a means of unaided communication with its visitors. Aesthetic value is therefore a major consideration in accepting items for the collection. Traditionally, these collections have composed painting sculpture and decorative arts. A number of art museums have included the industrial arts since the 19th century, when they were introduced particularly to encourage good industrial design. Some art museums have turned to the earlier custom of hanging paintings in order to exhibit more of their works.

Another factor in the display of art objects concerns their continued preservation. Because of the sensitivity of some of the materials used in their creation, it is necessary to control within narrow limits the temperature, humidity and lighting to which they are exposed. In addition sophisticated security precautions are necessary for items of high value.

1. HistoryMuseum:- The term “history museum” is often used for a wide variety of museums where collections are massed and in most cases, are presented to give a chronological perspective. Because of the encompassing nature of history museums this type may well hold so many objects of art and science that they would more properly be called general museums.
2. EthnographyMuseum:- This museum collects and exhibits material on ethnographic view point. As the term suggest, emphasis is placed on culture rather than chronology in the preservation of the collections. The ethnography museum is common among the newer national states of Africa and Oceanic, where it is seen as a means of contributing to national unity among different cultural groups. In many cases, the collections reflect country’s trade or colonial connections. Common are museums concerned with preserving urban and rural traditions, these have rapidly increased in number with the pace of technological progress.
3. ArchaeologicalMuseum:- Increasing interest in antiquities led to the excavation of loan archeological sites and had an impact on museum development.
4. General Musuem:- Certain general museums reflect the influence of cultural contact made through trade. Some museums hold a number of important specialized collections that would qualify them to be grouped in more than one category of specification. This is true particularly of many of the large general museums, which may have collections in one or more fields equal to, if not exceeding both the quantity and quality of material exhibited in a specialized museum.

7.4 THE MUSEUM OPERATIONS

THE ORGANIZATION OF MUSEUM

On the international level, the United Nations educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) forms an important link between governments for museum collaboration. Since its inception in 1946 it has been responsible for an increasing body of legislation to protect the world’s cultural property. UNESCO has aided in the return of cultural property to its country of origin and also has initiated campaigns to ensure the protection of major world heritage sites. It has provided financial assistance for the renovation of older museum, and the establishment of new ones particularly in developing countries.

7.5LEGAL ARRANGEMENT

Legislation concerning preservation of cultural property is to be found at both the national and international level, and has a considerable history. Museums may be either privately or publicly administered. The former have grown considerably in number. Some of these corporate standing under general legislation and receive public moneys. A government founded museum, usually located in the capital city, ha sits own legislation that empowers a board of trustees, independent of government, to administer the funds allocated and guide the museums policies.

The lack of well-defined legislation to outline objectives concerning the museum’s function and its administration and the variety of interpretation of the museum’s role by policy makers, has led a number of professional association to attempt self regulation through codes of ethnics and professional practice. While the codes are not normally mandatory, they have contributed toward more consistent professional standards among museums.

7.6FUNDING OF MUSEUMS

The main source of funds for museums in the public sector remain the local or national government and the funds are subject to government policies that have little bearing on the particular requirement of museums. Many museums were founded through private benefaction, and a few have endowments that help to support their routine operation.

Fund raising may be under taken by the museums, by a commissioned organization. Many museums charge entrance fees to help finance operation but some countries such as U.K. have a strong traditions of free entry to museums. Some museums charge admission fees only for major exhibitions commercial activities have become a significant feature of many museums. These may take the form of restaurants or shops that provide a service to visitors as well as incomes to the museum.

7.7COLLECTION

The history of museums and the precursors indicates influence that the existence of a collection has had on the founding of museums and therefore on the nature of their original holdings. Before the 20th century, few museums were established with the goals of making a collection, instead created to receive an existing collection.

Methods of collections reflect the fact that museum is concerned not only with collections per se but also with information inherent or associated with the. Where applicable, direct acquisition through fieldwork is made preferred. This involves collecting material through archaeological, excavation, ethnological expeditions or natural science fieldwork.

Indirect acquisition is handled through purchases, gifts and loans of objects. The disposals of museum collections in part or in full therefore normal only occur in cases where items of longer serve useful interpretative purpose.

7.8DOCUMENTATION

Documentation is a significant function of any museums whether it holds only a few hundred objects or as in the care of the large institutions, many millions of items. Quite apart from the need for records to maintain adequate control of its connections, a museums documentations system provided an indispensable record of the information associated with the objects for research. It may also include records, indirectly associated with the collections to facilitate the museum’s interpretation and work.

7.9CONSERVATION

A museum prime responsibility must be to maintain its collections and to do all possible to delay the natural laws of deterioration. The acquisition of an item almost certainly brings it into a new and potentially alien environment. Material that has been recovered from the ground through archaeological excavation may need immediate treatment to stabilize it, in many cases, it is important that some attention be given before it reaches the museum. In addition conservation involves the treatment, and where feasible, and where feasible and acceptable, the restoration of objects as ready as possible to their former condition. Most large museums have their own laboratories where preservation and restoration work is carried out, and some take on projects for the other museums as well. In some cases, for example the British museum, a separate research laboratory providing advance scientific equipment for the analysis, dating and identification of materials is provided. Some museums are served by independent conservation laboratories.

7.10RESEARCH

Because they hold the primary material evidence for a number of subjects convened with an understanding of man and his environment, museums clearly have an important role in research. The museum’s research program is related to its objectives as an institution. The research can be in catalogues or other publications, for promoting a better understanding of the region it serves.

Active research and publication on a given topic, apart from contributing to the academic standard of the institution, may attract further collections relevant to the topic.

7.11EXHIBITION

Museums have sought the expertise of a number of specialist designers, educators, sociologists and interpreters to improve communications through objects. The result has been a remarkable transformation in the presentation of information, both in permanent collections and in special exhibits. Museum concerned with a particular region have arranged tropical exhibitions to tour the area, and in places without suitable premises for display or in sparsely populated areas, exhibitions have toured in specially adapted buses or trains.

7.12EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

The contribution that museums can make to education is widely acknowledged. The majority of their clientele learn by looking at exhibition and displays. Special rooms equipped for teaching and for handling specimens are provided in many museums by allowing the study and handling of objects from its collections, the museums can give substance and form to the bare facts of art, history and science. Teaching may be undertaken by the museum’s educational staff or more often, by the school teacher, who would have been advised and instructed by the staff.