In November 1927, Kenneth Crosthwaite Murray (1902-1972) left his family home in West Sussex, England, to develop the art program in the British colony of Nigeria. As he traveled the country, Murray saw the cultural practices and craft production of Nigerian visual material under threat and decided to collect these pieces in order to preserve, understand, and, perhaps, console during a period of great change. Murray and a few of his colleagues, including Edward H. Duckworth, Bernard E.B. Fagg, and Ekpo Eyo and the antiquities department that they founded, built seven museums before independence, established export policies, began calling for the return of cultural heritage, and developed excavation protocol. This book captures the life and legacy of Murray, whose efforts helped foster an understanding of Nigerian art and culture, and explores the tension that arose among the colonial government, officers, and Nigerians who sought to build these cultural institutions during the twilight years of the British Empire and the transition to a newly independent Nigeria.
This book provides an in-depth look at the early history of museums in Nigeria through the letters of Kenneth C. Murray, Bernard E.B. Fagg, and Edward H. Duckworth, uncovering the early efforts to preserve cultural heritage, repatriate stolen art, and build institutions that would define a nation.
