Africa Hub
Museums are supposed to know everything about the collections they care for. But, sometimes, the reality is very different.
Africa Hub is a new type of gallery, where we’re looking for you to help us to uncover the stories that museum records cannot tell or have suppressed.
The Museum cares for more than 40,000 objects from across Africa, collected during the period of Empire, many stored for decade and displaced from their cultural contexts. Museum records can tell us when these objects arrived and sometimes who donated them, but much of their story remains untold. The makers, original names, uses and the meanings these items held in their communities are often unrecorded and the connections between people and objects lost.
So we’re laying this lack of knowledge bare and inviting visitors to join us in a process of open reflection to better understand object histories and reconnect collections with people today.
We want to hear your stories, experiences and perspectives. You’re welcome to view the objects, either in the gallery or online, before sharing feedback with our team as a way of helping to create richer narratives and make decisions about how collections can better be used to inspire future generations. That could mean returning them to communities of origin but could also mean collaborating with diaspora communities to display them in new ways that will enrich the experience of people in Manchester.
At the heart of Africa Hub is a community collaboration that speaks to the essence of this work. Igbo Community Greater Manchester (ICM) have worked with Manchester Museum on a collaborative research project focused on objects that have significance for their community and have chosen a selection of these objects to represent Igbo cultural heritage as part of a co-curated display.
Most exhibitions represent an ending, a culmination of years of research and creative thinking, but Africa Hub just the beginning. We’re excited to embark on this process with you, as we continue to rethink the role of museums in the modern day.