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Welcome to the ICOM & UNESCO CAMEROON website
ICOM is the international organization of museums and museum professionals committed to preserving, sustaining and communicating the value of the world’s cultural and natural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.
Our objectives
Encourage international contacts
- For example, by organizing trinational conferences with ICOM committees in neighboring countries (the Bodensee-Symposium with ICOM Deutschland and ICOM Österreich and the Rencontres du Léman with ICOM France and ICOM Italia)
- For example by encouraging its members to participate in international projects (European reference system for museum professions)
- By actively participating in the improvement of ICOM’s central structures, in particular during general assemblies and annual meetings of the Advisory Committee
Reinforcing ethics in museum work
- For example by reminding its members of certain contents of the ICOM Code of Ethics
- For example by integrating the theme of ethics into all courses organized or supported by ICOM Switzerland
Ensuring the quality of training
- For example by organizing vocational training courses
- For example by participating in the establishment and operation of the Master in Museum Studies of the Universities of French-speaking Switzerland
- For example by launching an ICOM quality label for third-party training offers
Created in 1946 by representatives of 14 countries, including Switzerland, ICOM is a non-governmental organization in formal association with UNESCO and enjoys consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. With more than 28,000 members in more than 150 countries, ICOM constitutes a global network of museum professionals from all disciplines and specializations. With more than 1700 members ICOM Switzerland is one of the most important national committees.
International Museum Day 2022: Message from the President
Dear members and friends of the museum community, Every May 18 since 1978, the international museum community has come together to dialogue with its public and underline the importance of the role of museums as institutions at the service of society and its development. This celebration was created by ICOM with the aim of raising awareness of the fact that museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures, development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace between peoples. Today, this objective is more relevant than ever. The theme for International Museum Day 2022 is “The Power of Museums” and focuses on three ways they can transform the world around them: the power to foster sustainability and climate justice; the power to innovate in digitization and accessibility; and the power to strengthen community through education. To date, we have recorded nearly 5,000 activities organized by museums around the world to mark this special occasion and unleash their transformative power. However, the celebrations don't stop on May 18: the global museum community will come together again, this time in August, for ICOM's 26th General Conference in Prague. Still under the Power of Museums banner and for the first time in a hybrid format, this international summit will mark the direction of the museum sector for the next three years. I invite you all to join ICOM and its network of nearly 50,000 members in celebrating the transformative power of museums on International Museum Day and ICOM Prague 2022! THE POWER OF MUSEUMS: ICOM PRAGUE 2022 The power of museums will also be the theme of ICOM's next general conference: ICOM Prague 2022. The triennial general conference, now in its 26th edition, is one of the most important global events dedicated to museums and their professionals. Since 1948, an ever-increasing number of participants from all continents have come together to discuss and share ideas on current issues facing museums. For the first time in ICOM's history, ICOM Prague 2022 will explore a new hybrid conference format, providing attendees from around the world with full remote access to the scientific program of ICOM Prague 2022.
The President of ICOMOS, Ms Teresa Patrício, attended the G20 Culture Ministers meeting in Rome on 29 and 30 July 2021. Her intervention aimed to ensure that culture and heritage are taken into account in the fight against climate change, as they are both threatened by its impacts while being part of the solution. “Your leadership in making climate action a priority theme in your ministries and supporting the climate focus among culture and heritage operators in your countries will be crucial. » Teresa Patrício, President of ICOMOS ICOMOS thanks the Italian Presidency of the G20 for the opportunity to participate actively in the preparatory work for this meeting and in the drafting of the Final Declaration which was adopted by the Ministers of Culture of the G20 at its closing.
June 21, 2020 Farewell message from former President Suay Aksoy
Dear ICOM colleagues, dear members of the international museum community, With this message, I wish to inform you of my resignation from my position as President of ICOM. I presented the reasons for this decision in a letter addressed to the ICOM Board on June 19, 2020. Serving ICOM in various positions and as President, as well as being part of this huge and diverse professional community, has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I am happy to be able to say that I have defended throughout my mandate at ICOM the same values: democracy, transparency, respect for the diversity of opinions and different visions of the world, as well as the defense of the truly independent character of an international non-governmental organization. I believe I have succeeded in leading ICOM down a progressive path which, I am convinced, cannot be easily reversed. I have always been proud to be part of a professional network, with a broad representation from South to North and from East to West, which aspires to learn and grow. I would like to believe that my resignation will serve the internal growth of our organization. I want to reiterate that for me, leadership is not a position but an attitude. I sincerely hope that my decision will contribute to the common good of our organization, for which my commitment remains stronger than ever. Dear colleagues, your tireless dedication to ICOM and our firm belief that we can do better, make you the leaders we need. I am certain that you will continue to carry ICOM forward, alongside my future successors. I thank each and every one of you for walking this path with me and I wish you the best in your future work for ICOM. I send you my most sincere greetings. Suay Aksoy
New call for applications to host the 27th General Conference of ICOM in 2025
Deep crises of the type caused by Covid-19 change paradigms, reverse perspectives and accelerate processes already underway. Cultural institutions have faced the sudden need to rethink the physical experience of culture, the viability of funding models, and the role of culture in community empowerment. This is why ICOM has completely redesigned the format and application procedures for its flagship event, the triennial General Conference. The new format of the conference, which is therefore the subject of this extraordinary call for applications to host the 27th General Conference of ICOM in 2025, aims Define a sustainable event , paying particular attention to environmental, economic and social issues; Include a digital dimension to the traditional in-person event, by organizing a hybrid event, ensuring equal opportunities for ICOM members to participate in the event; Provide ICOM members with an inclusive event that everyone can attend, virtually or in person, depending on the budget they can invest. To achieve these goals, the Questionnaire and Application Support Manual released on March 5, 2020, have been fully updated. Active ICOM National Committees wishing to apply to host the 27th ICOM General Conference in 2025 should submit the new questionnaire by email to the ICOM Secretariat at Conference@icom.museum, before the extended submission deadline of April 30, 2021 (00:00 Paris time: GMT+1). The documentation is currently only available in English, but will be available in French and Spanish after the Christmas holidays. The 27th ICOM General Conference aims to be better suited and more achievable in terms of budget, size of the in-person event, length of the event, number of activities and which incorporates a digital dimension to the event. in-person event that is able to meet attendee expectations in 2025. The new ICOM General Conference will differ from traditional conferences in three ways: reducing the duration of the event ; Format of the event , the conference can take place in one of the two different formats offered by ICOM at the choice of the candidates: Option A – Hybrid format: Hosting a hybrid event, adding a digital component to the in-person event held in the host country, with on-site and online participants; Option B – Digital format: organization of a fully digital event, with participants exclusively remotely; Application modality : Applicants may choose to submit their application individually or jointly according to the following options: Option 1 – Individual Applications: Applicants can apply individually to host the 27th ICOM General Conference Hybrid or Digital Option 2 – Joint Bids: Two bidders can join forces and run as a team to organize the 27th ICOM Hybrid General Conference (one National Committee will be designated as the organizer of the in-person conference in its country and another National Committee as organizer of the digital conference) or come as a team to organize the 27th Digital General Conference of ICOM; but the backbone of the event will remain the same, the new ICOM General Conference will be constituted by: an international symposium, a scientific congress bringing together specialists and addressing the theme of the conference, which is held one year before the conference; a very varied scientific and cultural programme, as well as the statutory meetings and the elections of the ICOM Executive Council and of the President and Vice-President of the Advisory Council; a Museum Fair and Exhibition Forum to showcase innovations and advancements in the museum field and profession.
ICOM Webinar | Preparing for the reopening of museums A recent survey by ICOM estimates that 95% of museums around the world have remained closed for an extended period in recent months. While the direct economic and social consequences of the pandemic on the cultural sector are still being analyzed, it is essential that cultural institutions correctly approach this phase of gradual reopening. By appealing to their essential social role, museums must be guaranteed adequate support during the recovery process that lies ahead in the months and years to come. On June 24, ICOM's webinar "Preparing for the Reopening of Museums: The Consequences of a Pandemic" will engage all participants in a discussion to take stock of what has happened during these long closing months. , evaluating innovative projects that have proven useful for the future. After an introductory speech by Dr. Peter Keller, Director General of ICOM, the main debate will bring together four international experts from the museum sector, under the coordination of Vinod Daniel, moderator of the webinar. The discussion will assess the overall impact of the current pandemic on cultural institutions – with its short and long-term consequences on museums – while focusing on the delicate actions to be taken in the next phase of reopening. Drawing on their extensive professional experience, participants will present to the public examples of museum initiatives that have proven their effectiveness in the current context. Wednesday, June 24, 2020, 3 p.m.-4.15 p.m. (CEST) . The webinar will be streamed live on . Speakers : Laishun An . Vice President of ICOM, Vice President and Secretary General of the Chinese Museum Association and Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Museum magazine, An is a professor of museum studies at three universities in China. Elke Kellner . Journalist, radio and television producer and curator, Kellner is a graduate in art history and archaeology. She is Managing Director of ICOM Austria and Board Member of Blue Shield Austria and ICOM Europe. Cristina Lleras . Chief curator of the Museum of Bogotá, Colombia, Lleras was previously curator of art and history at the National Museum of Colombia and directed the museology department of the Museum of Memory of Colombia. Christian Nana Tchuisseu . Director of the Musée de la Blackitude and the Galerie d'Art de Dieu in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Nana Tchuisseu was recently elected President of ICOM Cameroon and Vice-President of the ICOM Advisory Council. Moderator : Vinod Daniel . An internationally recognized museum expert, Daniel is currently Chairman of the Board of AusHeritage (Australia's Heritage Industry Network) and a member of the ICOM Board. Introduction : Peter Keller . Appointed Director General of ICOM in 2017, Keller had been Director of the Salzburg Cathedral Museum (Dommuseum), Austria, since 2002. He previously served as Treasurer of ICOM, President and Secretary of ICOM-DEMHIST and board member of ICOM Austria. For more information and any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact Elsa Urtizverea, ICOM Heritage Protection Coordinator. *** Since the beginning of the crisis, ICOM has wanted to help its members and the international museum community to find solutions that could effectively respond to the multiple problems facing global cultural institutions. By regularly updating the section of the website dedicated to COVID-19, we are committed, with the collaboration of several key partners, to taking into account the different aspects of this crisis which affect the work of museums and museum professionals.
September 7, 2019 ICOM Kyoto 2019 Extraordinary General Conference postpones vote on new museum definition
ICOM leads and will continue to lead the discussion on what a museum is.
After a thorough and healthy debate among ICOM members, the Extraordinary General Assembly decided to postpone the vote on the new museum definition. The decision received 70.41% of the votes in favor of this postponement.
“It has been one of the most democratic processes in ICOM’s history,” said ICOM President Suay Aksoy. “The discussion continues and the MDPP standing committee (Committee for Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials) will continue its work by interacting with all national and international committees to discuss the implementation and adoption of these new ideas. as they will probably appear in the new definition that will be proposed and in the amendment thereof. This is not the end, it is simply a new beginning in this process of redefinition. I invite all members to participate in the discussions as they move forward. ”
Since the creation of ICOM in 1946, the definition of the term museum by ICOM has evolved according to the main societal changes and the realities of the world museum community.
According to ICOM’s statutes, adopted at the 22nd General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, on August 24, 2007:
“The museum is a permanent non-profit institution, at the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, preserves, studies, exhibits and transmits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment to purposes of study, education and enjoyment. »
This definition is a reference in the world museum community.
Following the 2016 ICOM General Conference in Milan, a new Standing Committee was set up to study and amend this definition. The Committee for Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials (MDPP, 2017 to 2019) aims to provide essential insight into the current definition as an international framework shared by all.
On September 7, 2019, the 34th General Assembly of ICOM, held in Kyoto, Japan, adopted the following 5 resolutions:
- Sustainable development and implementation of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Transforming our world - Commitment to the integration of Asia
into the ICOM community - Commitment to the concept
“Museums, cultural platforms” - Measures needed to safeguard and improve
the conservation of collections in reserve around the world - Museums, communities and sustainable development
Friday, November 23, 2018, the President of the Republic received Mr. Felwine SARR, professor at the Gaston-Berger University of Saint-Louis (Senegal) and Mrs. Bénédicte SAVOY, professor at the Technische Universität of Berlin (Germany) and holder of a an international chair at the Collège de France, on the occasion of the presentation of their “Report on the restitution of African cultural heritage. Towards a new relational ethics”.
This report was commissioned by the President of the Republic last March, following his speech at the University of Ouagadougou on November 28, 2017, in which he hoped that “within five years the conditions will be met for temporary or permanent restitution of African heritage in Africa”. The President of the Republic praised the work of memorial reflection on colonization, which sheds new light on the circumstances of “heritage capture” and on the specificity of the case of African heritage.
When submitting the report, the President of the Republic entrusted the Minister of Culture and the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs with the responsibility of taking the next steps, which are decisive for achieving the objective set for this approach: that African youth have access in Africa and no longer only in Europe to their own heritage and to the common heritage of humanity. In accordance with his commitment, the President of the Republic wishes that all possible forms of circulation of these works be considered: restitution, but also exhibitions, exchanges, loans, deposits, cooperation, etc.
The President of the Republic has invited museums to play an essential role in this process: identify African partners, organize any restitution, circulation and distribution of works, deploy the necessary means, with the collaboration of teachers and researchers specialized in this area, to the rapid establishment and online publication of an inventory of the African collections they keep, integrating a systematic search for provenance. The need for in-depth work with the other European States which preserve collections of the same nature acquired in comparable circumstances was also underlined.
In line with the approach undertaken, and on the proposal of the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac and the Ministry of Culture, the President of the Republic has decided to return without delay 26 works claimed by the authorities of Benin, taken from the war by General Dodds in the palace of Béhanzin, after the bloody battles of 1892. These works may be presented to the Beninese public and to the international public within the framework of the ambitious museum project carried out by the Republic of Benin. He would like to thank the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac for supporting this restitution. Operational measures, and where appropriate legislative, will be taken so that these works can return to Benin, accompanied by the know-how of the museum which has preserved them until now.
The President of the Republic proposes to bring together in Paris in the first quarter of 2019 all the African and European partners to build this new relationship and this exchange policy together. The President of the Republic, in line with his speeches in Athens, Abu Dhabi and Algiers, recalled his wish to deploy a heritage policy for the future, based on the search for the universal, and on the inclusion of works of art within a common heritage of humanity.
In February 2016, ICOM’s Strategic Allocation Review Commission (SAREC) met in Paris and awarded grants to 8 special projects out of the 16 applications submitted to ICOM by its committees.
Grant applications must fit within the organization’s Strategic Plan. They must also be in accordance with the budget allocated to Network Support as voted each year by the ICOM Executive Council.
This year, 8 projects were selected from among the 16 presented, in a wide variety of fields: from the financing of workshops to that of publications, via support for specific training sessions.
The Commission has in particular valued projects inducing partnerships between different committees, contributing to a broader influence of ICOM, beyond the symbolic borders of the network. Thus, the project jointly organized by the International Committee for City Museums (CAMOC), the Committee for Regional Museums (ICR) and the Commonwealth Museums Association (CAM), on the role of museums in the process of integration of migrants, was particularly appreciated. A 4-day workshop entitled “Specifications of Museum Management in Post-Soviet Countries”, organized by the Committee for Staff Training (ICTOP), as well as by ICOM Armenia and ICOM Croatia which are cooperating for the very first time, will also object of financing.
Many specific training courses have been honored this year. Thus, a training workshop on the digitization of West African museum collections will take place in Niger. Two training courses related to the management of crisis situations are also scheduled. The first, which will take place in Nepal, is organized by ICR in collaboration with several national committees and concerns the reconstruction of local communities after an earthquake. The second, organized by the International Committee on Security (ICMS) and ICOM Kenya, will address the issue of emergency procedures in African museums. Final financial support was granted to CAM, ICTOP and ICOM Canada for a training and publication program on museum accessibility in South Asia.
In addition, ICOM Mexico will organize a conference to evaluate the use of the Red List of Cultural Objects at Risk in Central America and Mexico, published in 2009. This year, SAREC also renewed its support for the book project commemorating 50 years of the ICOM Committee for Conservation, ICOM-CC.
We wish great success to all these projects, whose progress we will follow throughout 2016!
The looting of archaeological finds and the destruction of sites on African soil constitute an irreparable attack on the history of Africa, and therefore on the history of humanity,
by forever eliminating the possibility of reconstructing whole sections of it. The means of understanding these objects effectively disappear when they are taken out of their archaeological context and separated from the whole to which they belonged. Only archaeological excavations carried out by professionals can restore their identity, date them and locate them. As long as the demand from the international art market continues, objects will be looted to be offered for sale.
In response to the urgency of the situation, a list of categories of African archaeological objects particularly victims of looting was established during the Workshop on the protection of African cultural heritage held in Amsterdam from October 22 to 24. 1997. Organized by ICOM (International Council of Museums) as part of its AFRICOM programme, it brought together professionals from African, European and North American museums in order to set up a common policy to fight against the illicit traffic of African cultural objects and promote regional and international agreements.
These objects are among the cultural goods most affected by looting and theft. Protected by the laws of their country, they are prohibited from export and must under no circumstances be offered for sale.
An appeal is therefore launched to museums, auction houses, dealers and collectors so that they no longer buy these objects.
This list contains objects particularly at risk, but it is by no means exhaustive. In front of any archaeological piece on sale, the question of the legality of its export arises.
African Art
African art has taken its place alongside the other arts of the world
For a number of years the issue of African art objects that have left Africa legally or illegally has become a matter of concern to policy makers and African cultural heritage professionals.
AFRICAN ART
African art has for some time taken its place alongside other arts and traditions of the world.
Much has been written about African art and its impact on the works of Picasso, Derain, Braque, Matisse and other famous Western painters from the beginning of the last century.
Speaking here of African art here I will mainly talk about the arts of black Africa which are of great diversity and variety.
The most famous African art objects are for example the famous terracotta of the Nok Culture created between the second half of the BC era and the 3rd century AD in the present-day central region of Nigeria; the Terracottas of Djenné made between the 11th century and the 15th century in Mali, the famous Igbo Ikwu bronzes in Eastern Nigeria dated from the 9th century, the objects of the sacred city of Ile Ife, the bronzes of Benin city, looted by the British in 1897 who made the world better appreciate African art.
There are also the Bwaba, Bamana, Sénoufo and Baoulé masks and statuettes from West Africa, the royal seats and gold measures of the Akan, the Fang statuettes from Gabon and other masks and statuettes from Africa central.
These magnificent pieces are only a tiny part of the achievement of African culture and sophistication.
Despite these enormous and impressive artistic achievements, Africa was still considered a few years ago by Westerners as a continent without a past and without an artistic history.
But what is now called African art is not only art for Africans but is a manifestation deeply linked to the lives of the people who make and use these objects.
African art is a deep relationship between aesthetic expression, religious beliefs, social structure, and individual feelings.
In traditional African society, art is rooted in human expression.
DISCOVERY OF AFRICAN ART BY WESTERN PEOPLE
The African coasts were first discovered in the 15th century by the Portuguese who organized several voyages in search of maritime routes to the Orient. They were followed in the 16th century by the Dutch, the British and the French, who together with the Portuguese established trading posts along the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts.
At first European traders were only interested in gold, ivory and spices which they found in abundance before embarking on the slave trade.
Subsequently, these traders began to take an interest in carved ivory objects and placed orders with artists from Sierra Leone and Benin City.
These objects now called “Afro Portuguese ivories” consisted of pots of salt, spoons and forks that they exhibited in cabinets of curiosities allowed other exotic objects.
In fact, at their first contact with Africa, Westerners were immediately struck by African art objects, but not always in a positive way because many objects were destroyed as primitive objects.
However, African art objects were only known in Europe and America during the second half of the 19th century and considered as objects of curiosities. The first objects to attract the attention of the European public were the bronzes and ivories brought back from Benin city after the British military expedition of 1897.
The onset of the industrial revolution created a need to import raw materials for factories in Europe and the search for outlets for manufactured products. The Europeans who traded in spices in Africa were forced to penetrate the interior of the continent to buy the raw materials.
Many companies paid for the services of explorers for these missions. During this period followed by the partition of Africa and colonization, many objects were collected by explorers, traders, missionaries and colonial administrators and sent to Europe.
It was not until the end of the 19th century that African art began to be the subject of scientific and ethnographic investigation and well-known curators such as the German Felix von Lusban preached beauty and strength. of African art .
And at the beginning of the 20th century, African art was discovered by avant-garde artists in search of a new mode of expression, finding themselves at the center of a Western artistic revolution.
According to the versions of the time, it was in 1905 that the painter Maurice de Vlamnick bought a pair of African statuettes in a bar. After many other artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Beton collected African works of art. And the continuation was the influence of African art on the works of these artists with the appearance of cubic forms.
Western museums also began to collect important collections of African art with the organization of scientific expeditions in the 20th century . The Paris Djibouti scientific expedition organized by Michel Leris and Marcel Griaule in 1931, for example, made a profound contribution to the discovery of the study of the facts, beliefs, social organization of groups such as the Dogons and the Bamana and the richness of their art.
In the colonies, the colonizers created institutions to collect objects of the material culture of the colonized peoples. Thus IFAN was created in the French colonies, with the primary mission of collecting objects from these “barbarian” peoples to whom France brought “civilization”.
National and universal exhibitions were organized or entire collections were transported to Western cities with the subsequent creation of colonial museums such as MAAO (now closed) and Tervuren in Belgium.
HOW DID THE OBJECTS REACH EUROPE?
In addition to the colonial administrators, missionaries also played a large role in the transfer of objects to Europe.
For example, the first Senufo objects to reach Europe were made thanks to the complicity of missionaries.
A certain Massa once proclaimed himself a prophet in Senufo country and asked all Senufo to throw away or burn their objects of worship in order to be converted to his new religion. Many of them threw away or burned their masks, statuettes and other amulets, which by “enchantment” ended up in Swiss museums thanks to the missionaries present and a certain dealer named Emile Storer.
After independence and the transformation of local museums into national museums, objects continued to leave Africa through diplomatic pouches, gifts made to European officials visiting our countries and through theft and looting organized by officials, heads of museums and some members of village communities.
In fact, in recent years, several thousand art objects have been stolen from national museums, universities and directly from villages and archaeological sites, such as masks, figures, terracotta, furniture, and taken for destination Europe and the United States.
According to Interpool, the illicit trafficking of African works of art is estimated at nearly 400 million USD per year and it is only getting worse.
In several countries, museums are the first targets of thieves.
For example in Nigeria museums are frequently looted by thieves with the complicity of museum staff.
For example in 1994 the museum of Ile Ife was robbed for the third time in the same year and famous objects dating from the 12th and 13th centuries including bronze heads worth nearly 200 million DUS were taken away.
In some museums thefts are more subtle; valuables are replaced with copies and sold outside.
Today it is difficult to find objects of great value in some of our museums. Also when Western experts and museums want to buy valuable African objects, they no longer come to Africa, they know where to find them in Europe and the United States.
WHY THESE THEFT AND PILLAGE?
1. Government indifference
In tropical Africa the first museums were created at the beginning of the last century by Portuguese and British colonists; they contained above all geological or mineralogical specimens, the study of which should allow the development of the territories or documents telling the story of the first settlers.
Places of memory, museums, especially in English territories, were erected in tribute to important figures of the British nation, and thus made it possible to strengthen the link between the metropolis and the colony.
First conceived as a place intended to promote the development of the conquered territories and to celebrate European colonization, the museum became, from the 1940s, a center for research on African cultures and history, to allow a better knowledge of African peoples, and thus facilitate colonial policies.
Essentially defined as a place of research, the museum was in the French and Belgian territories, a staging of colonial ethnography, based on ethnic divisions.
After independence, most colonial museums were transformed into national museums. But the will displayed by the governments in the creation of these national museums did not follow because the African governments in the majority never knew (or wanted) to set up a consequent museum policy and adapted to the conditions of our countries.
Before independence many of its museums were only reserved for Westerners. After independence many museums are still reserved for foreigners. No transformation of funds has been made to change the concept and content of African museums. The museum has therefore remained a foreign institution in our countries.
The proof is that several museums continued to be run by expatriates for a long time after independence.
2.Poverty
African people do not give the same monetary value to the art object as much as Westerners. Art for the African is sacred or utilitarian.
With the various famines and the difficult conditions of survival, the populations began to sell under the instigation of dealers all that they could sell. Also many museum employees who find themselves without a salary or with miserable wages do not hesitate to sell objects taken from the collections to unscrupulous visitors.
Today, farmers leave their fields to dig in archaeological sites in Mali, Niger, Nigeria and elsewhere. Ethiopia tries hard to protect its religious heritage, in Kenya and Tanzania post-mortuary Vivango are stolen from graves.
Thus the deepening of poverty in Africa has transformed the habits pushing the owners of objects to sell off part of their heritage.
3. Wars
Civil and ethnic wars in our regions have encouraged the systematic looting of museums and archaeological sites, as was the case in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Congo, Somalia, etc. .
Badly paid soldiers systematically loot museums and the stolen objects later end up in collections in Europe and the United States.
4. Value of African Art
Long considered a primitive art without object, today African art is recognized in its intrinsic value. This can be seen in the creation within major Western museums of sections reserved for African art.
The British Museum, the Museum of Tervuren, the Metroplitan Museum of Art in New York, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, and today the Louvre to name a few, each have a section devoted to art. African.
These prestigious institutions have given a certain value to African art, thus developing a more interested network of art collectors and dealers ready to do anything to enrich their collection and satisfy their clientele.
Governments have tried to put an end to this traffic by creating laws regulating the exit of works of art. But this has not stopped illicit trafficking and looting because the legislation is either incomplete or even violated by those who are responsible for enforcing it. Moreover, security agents (police, gendarmerie, customs) are not sufficiently trained to deal with this traffic.
In addition to government actions, other actions are being taken internationally to stem the scourge. This is how we can cite, among others, the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the measures to be taken to prevent and prohibit the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property.
Since the adoption of this convention only nearly 80 countries have ratified it.
The United States is one of the major countries to have ratified the 1970 Convention and is working to implement it. Mali is to date the only African country to have submitted an official request for protection of its cultural heritage to the American government.
ICOM’s action in the fight against the illicit traffic of cultural property focuses mainly on the international, non-governmental and professional aspects of the problem.
AFRICAN ART: Definition, Objects, Dimensions…Traditional African art, which was also called “negro art”, is subdivided into a multitude of local arts.
Since international museums have long neglected African art, most of the masterpieces are in the hands of private collectors and dealers, and some of them have made real fortunes since the 1980s.
After the various independences, many Europeans had returned to Europe with often important collections and little by little, their collections fed the flea markets and the auctions.
Objects
The plastic diversity of traditional African art shows a prodigious imagination and a magical intensity, revealing the omnipresence of the sacred – which fascinated many Western artists and collectors in the 20th century, including André Breton – and complex rites: ceremonies where the definition of pure and impure, the perpetuation of lineage, the legitimization of alliances, the strength and cohesion of the clan.
The true passion of African art must in some cases respect the object in its entirety, which therefore means, for example, accepting the existence – without being impressed – of a layer of dried blood (sacrificial crust ) collected during ritual sacrifices. According to the most passionate collectors, the traces left behind by their use give these objects a magical or aesthetic power that the others do not possess.
Among the African everyday objects one can also find handicrafts such as pulleys, attic locks, ladders, pyrographed calabashes and weapons, personal objects (maternity doll, fetish), but also objects such as statues carved ornaments for the villas of the whites in the 1950s and 1960s, or as naïve shop signs.
These objects are “fakes” for purists and “ethnics” who despise them, but these pieces, now patinated by time, reveal things, often very beautiful and very touching, of a truly popular art, witness of a time that is now over. For example, the statues known as “settlers” represent the “settler”, the white man seen by the black man, and are often statues full of humor and drollery (pith helmet, gun in the belt, hands in the pockets ).
However, today’s fakes are wreaking havoc, because in many African villages craftsmen have become masters in the art of patinating new things, especially since, according to experts, it is becoming impossible to find a work today. major on the continent. Everything is already in Europe, among collectors (like the Brussels-based Willy Mestach), in the families of former colonists or in America in museums.
Finding a ritual object having become extremely rare, there are many thefts concerning these objects, linked to the discovery of this primitive art. On the other hand, many “beaters” scour the most remote villages in the bush to encourage the villagers to sell them their usual objects such as statuettes, masks or dolls.
During the fashion for Dogon attic ladders, at the end of the 1980s, African antique dealers swept up all the village ladders and saturated the Parisian market, they did the same for Bambara locks. In the 1990s, traffickers stole hundreds of waka, carved wooden grave markers, placed on the graves of Konso clan leaders.
African governments, for their part, let it happen because they do not show much interest in the African art market and even shun it, while a resolution adopted by UNESCO has prohibited, since the beginning of the 1990s, bring masks and statues out of the African continent.
But in reality, neither UNESCO nor African governments have the means to stem the haemorrhage and protect this heritage . Moreover, certain critics have risen up against such a measure with the argument of saying: “Nothing prohibits Europeans, Americans or Japanese from selling their works abroad or from buying them. Why would this right be forbidden to Africans? “.
Africa remains, however, a natural artistic deposit of major importance, because from one end to the other of this vast continent there are thousands of thousand-year-old tombs still containing tens of thousands of objects to be discovered.
Some African museums, whose states do not have the means or the will to undertake excavations, are trying to organize themselves and offer dealers mixed or joint excavations with the aim of preserving the most exceptional pieces and at least to be able to be interested in the sales of collected objects, in order to have the means to implement a genuine acquisition policy.
Today African art is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for creators who reinterpret it, but “outside its environment, removed from its context, not only geographical but also social, the object loses its cultural identity. (…) From the panoply of the “colonial” to the wall of the “collector” associated today with contemporary art, we tend to forget the relationship of the African object with its environment of origin, disregarding the ‘obvious ethnological implication’.
Odds:
In the 1950s, many objects could be found for the price of 10 francs on flea markets in Europe. The first objects to increase in value were those from Benin because they were made of bronze, then came the fashion for objects with a black patina from the Ivory Coast, and those from Bakota from Gabon plated with copper and brass.
The large statues were worth more than the small ones, whereas most often in Africa, if they are small it is to be able to hide them more easily because they have a particular importance.
In 1983, a Parisian merchant, Jean-Michel Huguenin, introduced Sénoufo seats.
In 1985, another Parisian merchant, Réginald Groux, discovered the Dogon attic ladders – from the Bandiagara cliff – and Lobi in the Mopti region (Mali). He acquires a first batch of fifty, has a base added to them and sells them in his gallery, making a nice profit. In total he will sell more than two hundred of these bicentenary objects.
In 1990, another Parisian merchant, Maine Durieux, introduced the forged irons of the Bambaras (10 cm figurines). However, if certain objects have reached high prices for a few years for largely speculative reasons, most remain at a very affordable price (a few tens or hundreds of euros), even when they are old.
- Statue of Queen Bangwa (Cameroon), $3.41 million, Sotheby’s New York, April 1990.
- Grand Byeri de Chinchoa (Gabon), 2.5 M.FRF, Drouot Paris, June 1990.
- Female Bambara ancestor statue, FRF 900,000, Paris, December 1990.
- Mukuye Punu mask (Gabon), €617,142, June 2004.
- Plate from Benin (circa 1580-1620), €503,250, June 2004.
- 16th-17th century plaque from Benin, €691,200, December 2004.
- Ngil mask from the Fang culture (Gabon), 48 cm high, in wood, representing a stylized face painted in white with kaolin, 5.9 M euros (with costs) on June 17, 2006, Drouot Paris, thus becoming the most expensive work of tribal art ever sold in the world.
- Dogon statuette representing a rider, €85,000, 2007.
- Tschokwe snuff box from the 19th century, €25,000, 2007.
- Nkisi reliquary statue, €145,000, 2007.
- Statue of a Senufo woman, €72,750, Sotheby’s Paris, June 2008.
- Yoruba statue, Mother with Child, €450,000, 53rd Brussels Antiques Fair, January 2008.
- Figure of Bangwa male royal ancestor from Cameroon, €1,017,000, Christie’s Paris, December 2009. This figure “is generally considered to be the companion of the famous Bangwa Queen, having belonged to Helena Rubinstein and today in the collections of the Dapper Museum in Paris “.
- Songye mask (DRC), €793,000 (4 times its estimate), Christie’s Paris, December 2009.
- Luba royal seat with kneeling caryatid, attributed to the master of Buli, 5.44 million euros, November 2010.
African Cultures:
- Akan, Akye, Atye culture (Ivory Coast / Ghana), hieratic heads, statuettes.
- Anang culture, ibibio subgroup (Nigeria), masks.
- Ashanti, Ashanti, Asante culture (Ghana), statuettes.
- Bafo culture, fo (western Cameroon), statuettes.
- Baga culture (Guinea) / Guinea-Bissao), statuettes, masks.
- Bambara culture, Bamana (Mali), fetish statuettes, masks, wrought iron figurines, attic locks and statues.
- Bamoun culture, bamileke, mbalekeo, mileke (Cameroon), statuettes, masks.
- Bangwa culture (Cameroon)
- Baoulé culture (Ivory Coast), fetish statuettes, masks, slingshots, looms, house shutters.
- Bassa culture (Liberia), statuettes, masks.
- Bemba culture, awemba, ayemba, babemba, wabemba, wemba (Zambia / Democratic Republic of the Congo), statuettes, masks.
- Bena-Kibeshi culture Songye sub-group.
- Beast culture (south-west Ivory Coast), statuettes, masks.
- Bijago culture, anaki, bidjogo, Bissagà (Guinea-Bissao), statuettes, animal heads.
- Biombo culture (Democratic Republic of Congo), masks.
- Boa culture, ababoa (Democratic Republic of Congo), masks.
- Culture bobo, bobo-fing, bobo-oulé, boua, bouaba (Burkina Faso / Mali), statuettes and animal heads, picture rails.
- Boki culture (Nigeria), crests.
- Boulou culture (Cameroon / Gabon), statuettes.
- Culture boyo babuye, basikasingo, buye, wabuye (Democratic Republic of Congo), statuettes.
- Culture chamba, camba, tchamba, washamba (Cameroon / Nigeria), statuettes.
- Culture chokwe, jokwe, tschokwe (Angola / Democratic Republic of Congo / Zambia), statuettes, masks, seats.
- Dan, geh, gio, grebo, we, yacouba culture (Ivory Coast, Liberia, Guinea), masks, statuettes, spoons.
- Ndengese, Bonkese, Dekese, Ndengese culture (Democratic Republic of the Congo), statuettes.
- Djimini culture (Ivory Coast), masks.
- Dowayo culture of Cameroon, statuettes.
- Dogon culture, habbe, kado, kibisi, tombo (Mali), fetish statuettes, stools, attic ladders, doors.
- Douma, adouma, badouma culture (Gabon, Ogooué region), multicolored masks.
- Ejaghem culture, ekoi (Nigeria / Cameroon), statuettes, heads.
- Eket culture, ibibio subgroup (Nigeria), statuettes.
- Eve ewe culture, krepi (Togo / Ghana), statuettes.
- Fang culture, Mpangwe, Pahouin, Pamue (Gabon / Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea), Byieri heads, reliquaries, throwing weapons.
- Fanti culture, agona (Ghana), statuettes.
- Geh culture, Dan sub-group (Liberia), masks.
- Goma culture, homa (Ghana), statuettes.
- Gouro, gwio, kweni, lo, lorube culture (Ivory Coast), masks.
- Gourounsi culture, grushi, jaman (Burkina Faso, Ghana), heads.
- Grebo culture, Dan sub-group (Liberia), masks.
- Culture war, sub-group we
- Hemba culture (Democratic Republic of Congo), statuettes, heads.
- Ibedji Yorouba culture (Nigeria), fetish statuettes, cups.
- Ibibio culture (Nigeria), heads.
- Ifé culture (Nigeria), heads of sovereigns, bronze masks, reliefs.
- Igbo culture (southwestern Nigeria), statuettes, masks, heads.
- Idoma culture (Nigeria), statuettes, masks.
- Ijo culture (Nigeria), statuettes.
- Kasaï culture
- Kirdi culture (Cameroon), shields.
- Kissi culture (Guinea and Sierra Leone), statuettes.
- Koma, Mossi, Lobi culture (Ghana), masks.
- Kongo, Bakongo, Bashikongo, Kakong culture (Democratic Republic of the Congo / Angola / Congo-Brazzaville), statuettes
- Konso culture (Ethiopia), Waka, funerary steles of carved wood.
- Koro culture (Nigeria), female statuettes.
- Kota, Akota, Bakota culture (eastern Gabon), statuettes, reliquaries, ceremonial weapons.
- Kouba, Bakouba, Bushongo culture (central Democratic Republic of Congo), masks, heads, tapestries, headrests and sculpted spoons.
- Koulango culture, Pakala (north-west of Ivory Coast), statuettes.
- Kouroumba culture, fulse (northern Burkina Faso), animal heads.
- Kusu culture, Bakousou (south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo), statuettes.
- Culture kwele, bakwele, bekwil, ebaa, kouele (Cameroon / Gabon / Congo-Brazzaville), heads.
- Kwese culture, masks.
- Landoma culture, landouman (Guinea), animal masks.
- Culture lega, balega, rega, walega, warega (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo), statuettes, masks.
- Culture Lele, Bashileele, Bashilyeel, Leele, Shilele, Kouba sub-group (Democratic Republic of Congo), masks.
- Culture lengola, balengola, mbole, metoko, yela (Democratic Republic of Congo), statues.
- Ligbi culture (Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana), kpelie and yangaleye masks
- Lobi culture (Burkina Faso / Ivory Coast / Ghana), fetish statuettes, two-headed sacrificial sculptures.
- Culture louba, balouba, kalouba, urouwa, walouba, waroua (south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo), statuettes, masks (kiwebe masks), combs.
- Lula culture (Democratic Republic of Congo), masks.
- Culture lulua, bashilange, bena lulua, bena luluwa, bena moyo, luluwa, shilange (Democratic Republic of the Congo), statuettes, masks.
- Lumbo culture (south and south-west of Gabon), statuettes.
- Culture lwalwa, balualua, balwalwa, lwalu (Democratic Republic of Congo / Angola), statuettes, masks.
- Culture lwena, aluena, lovale, lurale, wena (Democratic Republic of Congo / Zambia), statuettes, masks, combs.
- Maasai culture, Masai (Kenya / Tanzania), spears.
- Mahongwé culture, hongwe (Gabon), reliquaries.
- Makonde culture (southeastern Tanzania / northeastern Mozambique), female “belly mask” worn by male dancers.
- Malinké culture, wangara, wasulunka (Mali / Guinea / Ivory Coast / Senegal), masks.
- Mama culture, katana (northern Nigeria), animal heads.
- Mambila culture, katana (Cameroon / Nigeria), statuettes.
- Mangbetu, guruguru, mangutu, monbouttous, mongbutu, ngbetu culture (Cameroon / Nigeria), statuettes.
- Mano culture (Liberia / southern Guinea), masks.
- Marka culture, warka (Mali / Burkina Faso), Mandé sub-group, masks.
- Mau culture (Ivory Coast), Mandé sub-group, masks.
- Mbagani culture (eastern Democratic Republic of Congo), Mpasu sub-group, statuettes, masks.
- Culture mbete, ambete, mbede (Democratic Republic of Congo / eastern Gabon), statuettes, vases.
- Mbuun culture
- Moba culture (Togo), statuettes.
- Mossi culture (Burkina Faso)
- Nkisi culture (Democratic Republic of Congo), fetish statuettes with nails.
- Nok culture (Nigeria), heads.
- Nyamwezi culture (Tanzania)
- Punu culture (Nigeria)
- Pygmy culture, pongos (beaten bark loincloths with complicated, rhythmic and whimsical designs).
- Senufo culture (Ivory Coast, Mali), fetish statuettes, its seats.
- Songye culture (Democratic Republic of Congo), fetish statuettes, masks and shields.
- Tschokwe culture, Chokwe sub-group (Angola), scepters.
- Tsogho culture (Gabon), masks.
- Turkana culture (Kenya)
- We culture, nguere wobo, kran (Ivory Coast / Liberia), masks
- Wobo culture, we subgroup
- Yaka culture (Congo), scarification friezes.
The Quai Branly Museum
An entire continent within reach…
The Quai Branly Museum houses one of the largest collections of African art in the world, with nearly 70,000 objects from the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.
On approximately 1200 m2, the visitor has access to a thousand works of exceptional richness and variety, for the first time brought together in one and the same place, thus allowing a fruitful relationship between styles, cultures and stories.
Krou anthropomorphic mask © musée du quai Branly.
Developed in 1999 by a working group bringing together teams from the Musée de l'Homme and the Musée National des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, the museography of African collections offers visitors two approaches: a geographical route, which invites to a journey across the continent from North to South; a more thematic route, allowing you to discover the works and consider them according to their uses and their production techniques. This approach benefits from particularly original exhibition spaces: the many “boxes” projecting from the north facade form so many small study cabinets devoted to a family of objects or to a theme, divination for example. Several essential biases also contribute to facilitating the understanding of the works and their meanings, the history of the region concerned and that of its contacts with other cultures. The contextualization uses, in the form of maps, extracts from travelogues and on multimedia supports, a large number of audiovisual and photographic documents. the different facets of northern Africa The geographical route of the African collections begins with North Africa, with a space organized into three poles. The first presents the arts of the city, through extremely rich furniture and embroidery. The second focuses on rural arts, where rugs, wooden crockery, pottery and jewelry predominate, with many objects from the little-known Berber culture. Finally, the third is devoted to nomadic arts and their links with rural civilizations and sub-Saharan Africa. Thematic windows ensure the connection and the transition between these poles, where the accent is placed, in particular, on history and prehistory, the expression of the sacred (illustrated by Koranic and Hebrew tablets), marriage, myths , Games... travel in sub-Saharan space-time... The journey continues with the collections from sub-Saharan Africa, whose heart is made up of works from Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Gabon and Congo. Two transversals bring together in this space textiles and musical instruments from across the continent and classified by technique throughout the course. The main gallery is crossed by a large statuary sequence illustrating the multiple variations in the representation of the body experienced by this region of the world. Among the other highlights of this area, the place given to the “societies of masks” or to the evocation of the Dakar-Djibouti mission led by Marcel Griaule and considered as the starting point of French ethnology. The arts and cultures of today today are also evoked thanks to the multimedia support offering a dialogue between past and present. The route continues with a third part devoted to equatorial, central and southern Africa, as well as Madagascar. The collections from Equatorial Africa are particularly old: at the origin of the Trocadéro ethnography museum, they come from famous missions, such as those of Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza at the end of the 19th century. The collections from Central, Eastern and Southern Africa received particular attention in terms of acquisitions. Ethiopia is present through a rare set of exceptional rural frescoes from the Gondar region, brought back by Marcel Griaule. This space brings together a very ancient Christianity with animist practices.
The Africa collections © musée du quai Branly, l
Cameroon – The Harter Legacy
The collection bequeathed by Pierre Harter (1928-1991), doctor and great specialist in the arts of Cameroon, constitutes a precious contribution to the heritage of the musée du quai Branly and as such occupies a privileged place within its walls.
The Harter bequest includes some fifty interesting pieces – masks and sculptures – some of which are exceptional. The succession also stipulates that the collection can only be exhibited in its entirety: a space has therefore been specifically dedicated to it within the museum.
The Africa collections © musée du quai Branly.
The Africa collections © musée du quai Branly.
Over the ages and the seasons, African art has stood the test of time. While it has its source in the traditional arts, African art is gradually positioning itself in modernity.
African art is the one that gives artists the most freedom.
Since the dawn of time, African art has been inspired by the traditions and customs of the continent. Elements of life, the traditional arts have inspired the vocation of artists throughout their pilgrimage towards the design and creation of new forms. The artist’s inspiration is created through different manifestations.
The gaze of an old man, the innocent smile of a child, the movements of the sacred in nature. Art is combined with beauty. And, the history of African arts is inseparable from this reality. “African art is one of the most amazing in the world! Rich in colors, adornments, materials of all kinds, in unheard-of textures, its manifestations are the fruit of an astounding spontaneity.
The feelings he translates or embodies navigate all the emotional ranges, from suffering to splendor, from shame to greatness. Fabulous jewelry, magnificent weavings, extraordinary masks, the wonders of artistic Africa are to be discovered…”, informed a website.
These wonders of Africa are unique in their expression, in their dimension, in their source of inspiration. In Africa, any artistic work conveys a message, a concept, a way of life.
At the beginning of the 20th century, African art, through its performances, its expressions, influenced modern art. Some thinkers say that this deal has been a reality since the discovery of Negro art.
Several theories have influenced the definition of art on the continent. On the occasion of the hundred years of literature, African thought and reflection on African arts, Babacar Mbaye DIOP, in an analysis of the theories of African art said: “For us, the representation of beauty is the only explanation possible to create shapes that are not necessary for the object to fulfill its function. Why would a craftsman embellish the outline of an object if his goal is not to make it pleasing to the eye?
If therefore the artists of traditional African art go beyond the essential forms for the instrumentality of the object, it is because they have a concern for visual quality. It cannot therefore continue to be asserted that the aesthetic intention of African craftsmen and the aesthetic impression of observers are limited to utilitarian and ritual instruments. Art is a whole.
Future-oriented
African arts are positioned as future-oriented achievements.
The future belongs to the arts which cross time and are perpetuated from generation to generation. This option towards the future is one of the keys to the success of African collections.
In the fields of painting, masks, handicrafts, beauty takes precedence over the experience of populations.
It is rare nowadays to see works of art made with the aim of providing divinity, warding off bad luck or perpetuating a tradition. Artistic manifestations abound; realism too, in the quest for profit, profitability, survival. Art objects endowed with mystical power have been known in Africa.
We remember the famous statuette that gave women the power to overcome sterility. Stolen by traffickers of works of art and sold in a metropolis, it took years of struggle and consultation to bring this statue back to its place of origin . Thus, the tradition of African arts is inspired by the sources of life, actions and behaviors of African ancestors.
As we know, the different peoples of Africa are grouped together by region, by ethnic group, according to geography. According to our information, “in the savannah of West Africa, we discover a panorama of great beauty in terms of traditional art with the creations of the Dogon or even the Tamberma. These peoples inhabit the savannahs of Mali, Burkina and northern Togo.
Among the Dogon, for example, the structure of the village has a human form. It is divided into different sectors representing the human body. The head of the village corresponds to the box of the men; the squares of the leaders are positioned in the chest; the hands represent the boxes of the women; the genitals, the mortar and the altar, and the feet, the graves.”
The dimension of Africa, its plurality, its sacredness are reflected in his art.
African arts are testimonies of stories, of life, of ways of doing things that have transcended time. They are oriented towards the future in order to create with the other arts of the world the complementarity of a universe united in the sacred.
Like the mask, art punctuates the life of the African.
A life of ups and downs, humility and modesty, respect and solidarity.
Building peace in the minds of men and women
UNESCO strives to create the conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based on respect for values shared by all. It is through this dialogue that the world can arrive at global conceptions of sustainable development integrating respect for human rights, mutual respect and the reduction of poverty, all these points being at the heart of the mission of the UNESCO and its action.
The broad directions and concrete objectives of the international community – as set out in the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – underpin all UNESCO’s strategies and activities . Thus, UNESCO’s unique competences in the fields of education, science, culture, communication and information contribute to the achievement of these goals.
ICOM has been informed of a scam offering fake certificates for cultural goods. Some websites and scammers claim to provide, for a fee, certificates of authenticity or allowing the free import and export of African cultural heritage. This certificate is supposed to release the holder from the obligation to present any other document such as the title deed, the export license and certificate, the certificate of expertise, the certificate of authenticity, etc. These are fraudulent sites imitating the ICOM institutional site, but which are in no way managed or authorized by ICOM. ICOM and UNESCO Cameroon alone is authorized to provide and manage the documentation via our site or contact us directly without going through any third party for this, This scam has already claimed many victims, in particular concerning Cameroon. We invite you to exercise the utmost vigilance when carrying out transactions involving cultural property.
For more information, please contact us: contact@ icom-unesco-cameroun.org
Obituary: Pr. Joseph Marie Essomba is no more
The news of the death of Professor Joseph Marie Essomba former director of ICOM CAMEROON fell on 06/02/2014 at the age of 75, in the early hours of the morning. Intern at the Yaoundé General Hospital for three weeks, the famous archaeologist and historian passed away after illness. To the great astonishment of his family who did not see death take him anytime soon. At the University of Yaoundé I where he had a rich career as a distinguished teacher, the campus is already in mourning. A statement announcing his death is visible everywhere and the emotion perceptible to his companions in the magisterium. Pr. Daniel Abwa, long-time colleague of the deceased and new vice-rector in charge of teaching, professionalization and the development of technologies of the information and communication at the University of Yaoundé I, is in shock. “The death of Professor Essomba hurt me very much especially since I visited him in the hospital and he did not give the impression that he was going to leave and the doctors wanted to be reassuring. Cameroonian archeology and history have lost in him an experienced teacher. “I am proud to have known him. Thank God, he has prepared the next generation with the students he has trained and who are today scattered throughout the world”. Former Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Human Sciences at the University of Yaoundé I, Professor Joseph Marie Essomba was President of the World Organization of Museums and Civilizations. Died at 75, he continued, despite the weight of the age to frequent the campuses where he supervised students and researchers, and participated in the defense juries. It is to this former rector of the Higher Samba Institute that came the honor of receiving the will of Cheich Anta Diop during the passage of this eminent intellectual in Cameroon. Pioneer of archeology in Cameroon, he is recognized as a prolific author with several works in this discipline as well as in history and art. Born into a family of thirteen children, Professor Joseph Marie Essomba was Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and leaves a widow, five children and many grieving grandsons. Higher Samba Institute that returned the honor of receiving the will of Cheich Anta Diop during the passage of this eminent intellectual in Cameroon. Pioneer of archeology in Cameroon, he is recognized as a prolific author with several works in this discipline as well as in history and art. Born into a family of thirteen children, Professor Joseph Marie Essomba was Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and leaves a widow, five children and many grieving grandsons. Higher Samba Institute that returned the honor of receiving the will of Cheich Anta Diop during the passage of this eminent intellectual in Cameroon. Pioneer of archeology in Cameroon, he is recognized as a prolific author with several works in this discipline as well as in history and art. Born into a family of thirteen children, Professor Joseph Marie Essomba was Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and leaves a widow, five children and many grieving grandsons.
Fake ICOM certificates
ICOM has been informed of a scam offering fake certificates for cultural goods.
Some websites and scammers claim to provide, for a fee, certificates of authenticity or allowing the free import and export of African cultural heritage. This certificate is supposed to release the holder from the obligation to present any other document such as the title deed, the export license and certificate, the certificate of expertise, the certificate of authenticity, etc.
These are fraudulent sites imitating the ICOM institutional site, but which are in no way managed or authorized by ICOM. ICOM and UNESCO Cameroon alone have the authority to provide and manage the documentation via our site or contact us directly without going through any third party for this.
This scam has already claimed many victims, particularly in Cameroon. We invite you to exercise the utmost vigilance when carrying out transactions involving cultural property.
For more information, please contact us: contact@icom-unesco-cameroun.org
International Council of Museums (ICOM)
The staff of the UNESCO Office in Yaoundé
©UNESCO YAOUNDE
42 people of various nationalities work at the UNESCO Office in Yaoundé. The Office currently covers four of UNESCO’s five programmes.
The staff is made up of international staff and local staff, which is made up of UNESCO staff and seconded government officials.
The administrative unit provides support for the smooth functioning of the office on the administrative and financial levels. It also manages the documentation center, which is open to the public.
Red List of African Archaeological Objects
The looting of archaeological finds and the destruction of sites on African soil constitute an irreparable attack on the history of Africa, and thereby on the history of humanity, by eliminating forever the possibility of reconstructing whole sections. The means of understanding these objects effectively disappear when they are taken out of their archaeological context and separated from the whole to which they belonged. Only archaeological excavations carried out by professionals can restore their identity, date them and locate them. As long as the demand from the international art market continues, objects will be looted to be offered for sale.
In response to the urgency of the situation, a list of categories of African archaeological objects particularly victims of looting was established during the Workshop on the protection of African cultural heritage held in Amsterdam from October 22 to 24. 1997. Organized by ICOM (International Council of Museums) as part of its AFRICOM programme, it brought together professionals from African, European and North American museums in order to set up a common policy to fight against the illicit traffic of African cultural objects and promote regional and international agreements.
These objects are among the cultural goods most affected by looting and theft. Protected by the laws of their country, they are prohibited from export and must under no circumstances be offered for sale.
An appeal is therefore launched to museums, auction houses, dealers and collectors so that they no longer buy these objects.
This list contains objects particularly at risk, but it is by no means exhaustive. In front of any archaeological piece on sale, the question of the legality of its export arises.
Archaeological heritage consists of archaeological properties and sites. They are material vestiges of the past left behind by humans, after the occupation of a place.
Re-enacting history
The archaeological heritage makes it possible to reconstruct the history of the peoples and individuals who occupied the territory of Cameroon, from prehistory to more recent times.
The current archaeological heritage of Cameroon covers approximately 12,000 years of human occupation.
However, the Ministère does not consider sites that were destroyed or abandoned after 1980, nor public infrastructures, to be archaeological sites.
Excavations and discoveries
Archaeological properties and sites are most often discovered during archaeological research. This work allows archaeologists to update and understand the cultural context in which properties and sites were abandoned.
Goods and sites can be:
- deeply buried, which is common in urban areas
- near the ground surface or directly on the ground, which is common in rural and natural settings
- underwater is the underwater archaeological heritage.
In Cameroon, archaeological research is governed by the Law on Cultural Heritage and the Regulations on Archaeological Research.
Examples of archaeological properties and sites
Goods
- A projectile point
- A shard of mud
- A tool
- A coin
- An art object
- A weapon.
Site (s
- The remains of an encampment or Inuit
- An industrial site
- Wreck.
Legal statutes for the archaeological heritage.
The Cultural Heritage Act aims to promote knowledge, protection, presentation and transmission of cultural heritage in the public interest.
More specifically, the Act provides for the attribution of legal status to elements of the archaeological heritage. This gesture ensures its preservation and sustainability, in addition to having many benefits for the community.
Since 1972, the National Museum of Yaoundé has depended on the Ministry of Arts and Culture. As its name suggests, the National Museum of Yaoundé is the core of all public museums in Cameroon, despite the fact that it seeks to provide itself with a space worthy of the prestige accorded to institutions of its kind throughout the world. At the moment, the Museum is on the road that leads to … the Central Hospital, next to the Ministries of Public Service and National Education.
The building was occupied in February 1973, the year in which the collections of this Museum were formed. The former living room has been converted into a permanent exhibition hall. The showcases were made in 1976 with the personal and sometimes financial sacrifices of Madame JOUDIOU, a graduate of the Institute of Art and Archeology in Paris, of the late Messrs Joseph-
Marie ESSOMBA, Lecturer in History and Archeology at the University and renovated from 2009 to 2014. The National Museum of Yaoundé reopened its doors on January 6, 2015 Placed under the direction of Mr Bernard-Patrick AYUK who becomes since January 1, 2015 Director of the National Museum of Yaoundé.
In addition, the National Museum of Yaoundé is called upon to become an ecological museum. This means that all aspects of the life of Cameroonians from all regions of the country must be illustrated in this institution, to allow future generations to have highlights the socio-cultural activities of the country.
In Cameroon, there are about twenty heritage conservation documentation centers in the broad sense which belong to major cultural or scientific institutions: some are devoted to the training of conservation and restoration students (National Heritage Institute), others to the research (National Library of Cameroon, Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of Cameroon, Center for Research on the Conservation of Collections, Research Laboratory for Historical Monuments); others support conservation activities in the teams’ daily lives. Most are open to students and professionals in the relevant field.
DOCUMENTATION CENTER IN ARCHAEOLOGY
The Archeology Documentation Center contains all the reports of archaeological interventions as well as several documents (analysis reports, summary reports, topographic maps, etc.) which enrich our knowledge of the known archaeological sites in Cameroon.
CONSULTATION
The consultation of this documentation is only done on site and by appointment. The following information is required:
- the name and contact details of the person who wishes to consult the documents
- the purpose of the visit and the nature of the project
- the list of documents to consult.
Business hours
The center is open Monday through Thursday, by appointment only.
Opening hours are 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Blackness Museum
Since October 23, 2008, the city of Yaoundé has been hosting a new museum that its founder, also vice president of ICOM (International Council or Museum) Cameroon, Her Majesty Fô Nab Ngo I Nana Sunjio Agnès, has baptized “Musée La Blackitude”. .
A member of the Bahouoc royal family, she inherited collections of works of art from her father and from the kings of other chiefdoms on the Bamileke plateau. In March 1998 she decided to carry out her museum project in order to “conserve, document, enhance and disseminate the arts and cultures of Cameroon and Africa in all their aspects”.
The museum houses works of art mostly from the Grassfields but also from the Fang-Beti ethnic groups. Today it presents a fine collection of statuettes, wooden and bronze statues, traditional dance costumes, wooden and ceramic rituals, masks, attributes of power, royal furniture, etc. Among all these objects are finds a canvas on which is painted the portrait of His Majesty Fô Nab Ngo.
But the museum also wants to be a center for research and data collection on the arts of Cameroon for students and researchers.
How to access it :
Very easy since the museum is on the road just behind the official stand on the boulevard du 20 mai.
Tips :
From an unwelcoming exterior, do not hesitate to cross the gate which accesses a small car park. The main entrance consists of a metal door without an opening that looks more like an emergency exit than the entrance to a museum.
It is possible to take pictures. The price varies according to the number of photos taken.
Legislation
Nigeria
Nigerian Prohibition Law on non-export of antiquities.
Government decrees of 1974 and 1979 ( National Commission for Museums and Monuments Decree, N° 77 1979 ).
UNESCO Convention 1970 on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, ratified by Nigeria on January 24, 1972, entered into force on April 24, 1972.
mali
Law n° 85-40/AN-RM, of July 26, 1985 relating to the protection and promotion of the national cultural heritage .
Decree No. 203/PG-RM of 13 August 1985 establishing a National Commission for the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage .
Decree No. 275/PG-RM of 4 November 1985 regulating archaeological excavations.
Decree No. 299/PG-RM of 19 September 1986 relating to the regulation of the prospecting, marketing and export of cultural property.
Law No. 86-61/AN-RM of July 26, 1986 relating to the profession of dealer in cultural property .
1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import , Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, ratified by Mali on April 6, 1987, entered into force on July 6, 1987.
Niger
Law No. 97-022 of June 30, 1997 relating to the Protection, Conservation and Enhancement of the National Cultural Heritage, Decree No. 97-407/PRN/MCC/MESRT/IA of November 10, 1997.
1970 UNESCO Convention concerning the measures to be taken to prohibit and prevent the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, ratified by Niger on October 16, 1972, entered into force on January 16, 1973.
Burkina Faso
Ordinance No. 85-049/CNR/PRES of August 29, 1985 on the protection of cultural heritage .
Decree No. 85-493/CNR/PRES/INFO of August 29, 1985 regulating the export of works of art from Burkina Faso.
1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, ratified by Burkina Faso on April 7, 1987, entered into force on July 7, 1987.
Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Property, signed by Burkina Faso when the text was adopted on June 24, 1995 in Rome.
Ghana
National Museum Regulations, 1973, of March 26, 1973.
Côte d’Ivoire
Law No. 87-806 of July 28, 1987 on the protection of cultural heritage.
1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, ratified by Côte d’Ivoire on October 30, 1990, entered into force on January 30 1991.
Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Property, signed by Côte d’Ivoire when the text was adopted on June 24, 1995 in Rome.
Chad
Law No. 14-60 of November 2, 1960, having as its object the protection of monuments and natural sites, sites and monuments of a prehistoric, archaeological, scientific, artistic or picturesque character, the classification of historical or ethnographic objects and the regulation of excavations .
Cameroon
Federal Law No. 63-22 of June 19, 1963 organizing the protection of monuments, objects and sites of a historical or artistic nature.
1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, ratified by Cameroon on May 24, 1972, entered into force on August 24, 1972.
Monument of a warrior in the sultanate of Foumban
representation of a palace which has now become a UNESCO world heritage site.
