Museum

Article Outline

Introduction; Types of Museums; Museum Collections; Exhibitions; Educational Programs; Museum Staff and Organization; Professional Associations; Trends and Challenges; History of Museums; Museums of the World

West Africa

In West Africa, Nigeria’s National Museum in Lagos has masks, ancient terracotta figures, and a top collection of the famous bronze sculptures and ivory carvings produced by the Kingdom of Benin, which flourished from the 15th to the 17th century. The bronzes are regarded as among the finest achievements of African art. (Many Benin masterpieces were seized by the British army in 1897 and are held in museums abroad, despite Nigerian government requests for their return.) The Republic of Niger’s National Museum is in Niamey. Ghana’s museums include the National Museum in Accra, with its collections of African art and archaeology, the Museum of Science and Technology, also in Accra, and several regional museums and historic sites. The National Museum in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is located in Abidjan, the largest city.

East Africa

The oldest museum in East Africa is the Uganda Museum in Kampala. Established in 1908, it has a distinctive collection of African musical instruments. Kenya’s museums emphasize wildlife and prehistoric archaeology. The National Museums of Kenya, headquartered in Nairobi, is the governing agency for a network of regional museums. The National Museum of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam contains important excavated material from the archaeological site at Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania, where many remains of early humans have been found. Its collection includes the 1.8-million-year-old skull of Australopithecus boisei (originally named Zinjanthropus boisei), an early human fossil discovered in 1959 by British-Kenyan paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey.

Southern Africa

In Southern Africa, the National Museum of Namibia, in Windhoek, has collections in cultural and contemporary history, anthropology, archaeology, and natural history. South Africa’s national museums include the South African Cultural History Museum and the South African National Gallery, both in Cape Town. Exhibitions at Museum Afrika in Johannesburg explore life under apartheid as well as black Africans’ contributions to South Africa. The Mayibuye Centre at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town documents the history of apartheid, resistance, social life, and culture in South Africa.

Asia

India and Pakistan

India’s older museums, established by the British as natural history museums in the 19th century, in time acquired comprehensive collections. The Indian Museum in Kolkata (Calcutta) is the oldest and largest of its kind in the region, encompassing art, archaeology, anthropology, geology, zoology, and industry. The National Museum in New Delhi has collections of Central Asian paintings, sculpture, coins, and manuscripts. Collections of Indian textiles can be seen in the Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmadābād and the Crafts Museum in New Delhi, which also has outstanding examples of Indian folk art from all over the country.

East Asia

China has an extensive system of national, regional, and provincial museums. In Beijing, the Palace Museum, located within the Forbidden City, is the largest and most complete group of palace buildings in China. It contains a collection of nearly one million historic and cultural artifacts. The Shanghai Museum, a major museum of ancient Chinese art, is best known for its collections of bronze, ceramics, paintings, and calligraphy. Near Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, thousands of life-sized, terra cotta warrior figures have been excavated on the site of the burial chamber of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi (Ch’in Shih-huang-ti), who died in 210 bc. The Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, located on the site, is a popular tourist attraction.

Other major Chinese museums include the Museum of Chinese History, the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, and the Chinese Military Museum, all in Beijing. Hong Kong’s museums include the Museum of History and the Museum of Art. In Taiwan, the National Palace Museum in Taipei has one of the world’s greatest collections of Chinese art and objects, with holdings dating back to 3000 bc. Highlights of its collection include jade ornaments from Neolithic cultures, bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, ceramics and rare books from the Song Dynasty, and paintings and calligraphy from the Tang, Sung, and Yuan dynasties. See also Chinese Art and Architecture.

The oldest and largest museum in Japan is the Tokyo National Museum. Founded in 1871, it has what is considered the finest collection of Japanese art in the world and a representative collection of Asian art and archaeology. The Science Museum of Tokyo has interactive educational exhibits. The heritage of Tokyo and its precursor, Edo, are preserved in the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Many national, regional, and local museums preserve and interpret Japanese culture, including the National Museum of Ethnology in Ōsaka and the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura. The Kyōto Costume Museum traces fashions from the pre-Nara era in the 6th and 7th centuries to the Meiji period beginning in the 1860s. Modern and contemporary art are displayed in a number of museums, including the National Museum of Modern Art and the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. Exhibiting art outdoors is also popular in Japan; the Hakone Open-Air Museum and the Sapporo Art Park on the island of Hokkaidō are two examples. See also Japanese Art and Architecture.

The National Museum of Korea in Seoul, South Korea, has a collection of archaeological materials. The National Folklore Museum, also in Seoul, focuses on traditional and popular arts. South Korea has several outdoor cultural heritage museums, including the Korean Folk Village. See also Korean Art and Architecture.