This%research%began%with% a% collaboration% with%the% SLNM,% located%beneath% Freetown’s% iconic%cotton% tree% at%the%junction% of%Siaka% Stevens%Street%and% Pademba% Road,% each% the% namesake%of%one%of%Sierra%Leone’s%‘national%heroes’%(Kabba%1988:%12+94).%Although%this% l o c a t i o n% m ay% i n s p i re% n a r ra t ive s% o f% n a t i o n% b u i l d i n g% a n d% ‘ p o l i t i c a l% museumising’% (Anderson% 1983:% 182),% its% current% capacity% to% ful?il% this% role% is% questionable% (Basu% 2012:% 163).% Critical% accounts% of% colonial% museum% making% might% suggest%that%this%is%due% to%the% ‘colonial% legacy’%of%such% museums%being% ‘born% as%elitist% and%paternalistic%institutions...alien%to%local%populations’% (Fogelman%2008:%19;%See% also% Eyo% 1994;% Cohn% 1996;% Adedze% 2002;% Ardouin% 1996).% However,% as% Basu% (2012)% has% shown,%the%Sierra%Leone%Museum%(renamed%the%Sierra%Leone%National%Museum%in%1967)% was%the% product% of% the% personal% enthusiasms%of% a% select% number%of% both% British% and% Krio% individuals,% rather% than% an% example% of% orchestrated% colonial% ‘technologies% of% rule’%(Dirks%1996:%ix).%A%report%written%in% 1966%by%Dr.% M.%C.%F.% Easmon,%the% ?irst%curator%
of%the%Museum,%notes%how%the%development%of%a%National%Museum%for%Sierra%Leone%was% met%with%considerable%obstacles%(Easmon%1966).%He%comments:
% We% had% to% overcome% the% following% hurdles:% no% premises,% no% trained% staff,% no% % furniture,% no%exhibits%and% no%money.%The% Central%Government%let%us%have% at%a% % pepper%corn%rent%of%£1%per%annum%a%building%previously%the%telephone%exchange,% % and% before% that% a% Mineral% Water% Factors% and% a% railway% station% of% the% old% % Freetown%to%Hill%Station%railway.%(Easmon%1966:%2)
Easmon% goes% on% to% list% the% donations% made% by% various% governmental% bodies% and% civil% society% institutions% in% Freetown,% including% £400% from% the% Central% Government% for% ‘furniture,% shelves,% cupboards,% exhibition% tables,% of?ice% furniture% and% store% cupboard% and...a% telephone’% (ibid).% The% Freetown% M u n i c i p a l i t y% d o n a t e d% t h e% a r e a% surrounding%the%Museum,%fenced%in%by%a% hedge% funded% by% the% Horticultural% Department.% The% exhibits% themselves% came% from% the% Monuments% and% Relic% Commission,% along% with%‘various%private% sources% on%loan% or%as% gifts’% (ibid).% Basu% (2012:% 158)% notes% how%the% MRC’s% collections% were%temporarily%displayed%at%the%British%Council%library%with%a%future%museum%in%mind.% Initially%planned%to%be%a%temporary%measure,%the%National%Museum%still%occupies%the%old% Freetown% railway%station% building% today,% although% a% second% building% was%?inanced%by% the%German%Embassy%in%1987.%A%further%extension%is%also%currently%underway,% ?inanced% by%a%recent%donation%of%$20,000%by%a%company%trading%in%Sierra%Leonean%palmCoil.%
Figure 4. The Sierra Leone National Museum’s dilapidated sign post, 2011. Photo: author.
The%museum% has% two%main% galleries.%The% ‘permanent%collections’%are% exhibited% in% the% original% museum% building% (gallery%one),%and%a%more%?lexible%exhibition%space% occupies% the% new% building% (gallery% two).% The% permanent% collections% are% predominantly% ethnographic%objects%as%well%as%a% collection% of%photographs%of%Paramount%Chiefs%taken% by% Vera% ViditzCWard% in% the% 1980s.% Gallery% two% is% often% more% historical% in% content,% recently%used%for%an%exhibition%about%the%civil%war.%In%April%2011%it%housed%an%exhibition% marking% the% 50th% anniversary% of% independence% from% British% colonial% rule.% The% new% building% also% has% a% space% upstairs% used% occasionally% for% temporary% exhibitions,% but% more% often%as%space% for%events%and% workshops.% There% are% two%storage% rooms,% a% small% library% and% two% spaces% recently% converted% into% of?ices% for% use% by% the% MRC% and% a% councillor% for% Freetown% City% Council,% who% also% works% at% the% SLNM.% The% court% yard% surrounding%the%Museum%was%cleared%in%2011%and%concreted%over%with%a%stage%at%the%far% end%for%outside% public%events.%The%SLNM%has%?ive% main%members%of% staff,% including% the% Acting% Curator,% the% Education% Of?icer,% an% Accountant,% and% an% elderly% Cleaner% and% Security% Of?icer.% In% reality,% these% roles% are% more% ?lexible.% The% Education% Of?icer% is% involved%in% %much%wider%dayCtoCday%museum%work%than%the% job%title% suggests,%likewise% the% Accountant% is% in% reality% more% concerned% with% his% political% duties% as% a% councillor.% Both%the%Cleaner%and%the%Security%are%assisted%by%a%group%of%‘volunteers’%who%are%not%on% the%of?icial%payroll,%but%bene?it%from%the%occasional%foreign%visitors%who%are%encouraged% to%make%a%Le10,000%donation%(approximately%£1.40).
The% Museum% was%initially%a% success% after%its%opening% in% 1957,% attended% by%Sir%Milton% Margai% who% was% at% the% time% Chief% Minister,% later% to% become% Prime% Minister% after% independence% in% 1961.% A% report% issued% in% 1957% claims% 10,000% people% visited% the% museum% in% its% ?irst% week% of% opening,% whilst% annual% ?igures%in% excess% of% 250,000% are% reported%until%the%1970s%(Basu%2012:%161).%The%picture%was%very%different%when%I%began% my%?ieldwork%in%early%2010,%with%only%an%occasional%weekly%visit%being%made%by%foreign% aid% workers% or% investors.% This% decline% has% been% attributed% to% a% number%of% different% causes% including% accusations%of% the% theft% and% selling% of% collections% in% the% 1970s% and% 1980s,% and% the% economic% effects%of% the% civil% war%which% ravaged% the% country% between% 1991% and% 2002.% The% National% Museum% was% left% relatively% unscathed% after% the% rebel%
incursions% into% Freetown% in% 1997% and% 1999;% examples% from% elsewhere,% such% as% the% sacking% of% National% Museum%of% Liberia% in% Monrovia% (Rowlands%2008),% suggest% this%is% somewhat%of% an% exception.% What% is,% however,% clear% is%that%the% political%and% economic% turmoil%of%the%late%1970s,%1980s%and%1990s%considerably%cut%any%governmental%support% for%the%National%Museum.%The%SLNM%is%yet%to%recover%this%state%funding%with%staff%rarely% being%paid,%and%an%absence%of%even%the%most%basic%museum%resources.%Changes%do%seem% to% be% underway,% due% in% part% to% the% recent% attention% accorded% to% it% by% the% two% international% interventions,% based% at% UCL% and% the% British% Museum,% discussed% in% this% thesis.% Despite% this,% museum% staff% were% on% strike% at% the% time% of% writing% after% nine% months%without%pay,%with%the% majority%of%the% national%budget%spent%on%campaigning% in% light%of%the%November%2012%elections.
I%spent%the%majority%of%my%time%during%?ieldwork%at%the%SLNM,%assisting%with%dayCtoCday% museum%work.%This%included%the%rehabilitation%of%objects%in%the%upstairs%storage%rooms% and%checking%objects%for%accession%numbers.%I%also%spent%many%interesting% hours%going% through% the% original% accession% registers% written% by% former% curators% and% museum% employees,% providing% useful% insights%into%the% way%certain%narratives%about%objects%are% passed%down%through%the%years.%The%SLNM%library%has%an%interesting%collection%of%moth% eaten%and%somewhat%disorganised% old%museum%?iles,%photographs%and%copies%of% Sierra% Leone% Studies,% a% publication% by% Fourah% Bay% College% which% was% discontinued% in% the% 1960s.% Staff% at%the% SLNM%often%referred% to%themselves%as%a% ‘family’,%and% welcomed%me% into%to%this%as%far%as%they%were%able.