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Nigeria's National Museum Lagos Embraces Interaction to Attract Youth
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia /Culture & Society

Nigeria's National Museum Lagos Embraces Interaction to Attract Youth

From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Nigeria's National Museum Lagos has remodeled one gallery to allow visitors to interact with artifacts and take photos, aiming to engage younger audiences.
  • The modernized space features immersive displays and allows gentle touching of some exhibits, including 16th-century elephant tusks and Nok terracotta.
  • The gallery also includes an installation prompting repatriation of looted artifacts, with empty cases bearing messages to foreign museums.

The National Museum Lagos is drawing younger crowds by transforming a gallery into an interactive space. Curator Nkechi Adedeji told AFP that the museum reversed the usual ban on touching exhibits and allowed unrestricted photography to engage visitors, especially the youth.

You can touch them gently

— guideat Nigeria's National Museum Lagos, referring to 16th-century elephant tusks on display.

The "Echoes of the Past" gallery now features a modernized design by interior designer Tinuke Odunfa, who aimed for an "intentional" and "immersive" presentation of Nigerian history. Visitors can gently touch some artifacts, like 16th-century elephant tusks, while Afrobeats plays softly. The collection includes Nok terracotta dating back to the 5th century.

Everything was intentional in terms of how the space should be experienced, in terms of the colors, how the space leads you

— Tinuke Odunfathe interior designer of the gallery, explaining the concept behind the modernized space.

Since its April reopening, the gallery has seen increased visitor numbers, particularly "content creators" and young adults sharing their experiences online. Adedeji noted that "Youths are coming in droves now."

They come here, do content and before you know it, it is all over the place. Youths are coming in droves now

— Nkechi Adedejithe curator, describing the impact of social media on the gallery's popularity.

In a pointed display, three empty cases in the gallery bear the message "British museum, how far??" This installation serves as a call for the repatriation of Nigerian artifacts held in foreign museums. While some Western institutions have returned artifacts, many remain abroad.

I love the way the artefacts are displayed. I learned a lot of things... where the artefacts are from, what they represent.

— Oyin Isioyea 25-year-old photographer visiting the museum.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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