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museum

1 min read

Black Spaces Matter: A Conversation with Gia Hamilton, CEO of the New Orleans African American Museum

Gia Hamilton is the CEO of the New Orleans African American Museum (NOAAM), a cultural institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and celebrating the rich history, culture, and contributions of African Americans in New Orleans and beyond.

gia hamilton
Gia Hamilton, CEO of the New Orleans African American Museum

The museum’s mission is to educate the public about the African American experience through exhibitions, programs, events, and community engagement initiatives. NOAAM focuses on telling the stories of African American individuals and communities, highlighting their achievements, struggles, and contributions throughout history.

Gia hamilton
New Orleans African American Museum

In this interview, Gia discusses her journey to becoming CEO and her passion for preserving Black culture and history.

She delves into the challenges of funding for Black-owned institutions and the strategies her museum has employed, including building a strong business infrastructure and securing multi-year investments.

She also highlights the significance of preserving Black spaces and creating a welcoming environment for diverse visitors. Gia also discusses upcoming projects, such as exploring the pre-colonial history of New Orleans, uncovering stories of Black ownership, and renovating the museum’s campus.

 

4 mins read

World’s Largest Museum dedicated to Black Civilizations opens in Senegal

After 52 years of waiting, Senegal is finally opening what has been described as the largest museum of Black civilization in the capital, Dakar.

With close to 14,000 square metres of floor space and capacity for 18,000 exhibits, the new Museums of Black Civilizations is already capable of competing with the National Museum of African American History in Washington.

The exhibition halls include Africa Now, showcasing contemporary African art and The Caravan and the Caravel, which tells the story of the trade in human beings – across the Atlantic and through the Sahara – that gave rise to new communities of Africans in the Americas.

“Kachireme” by Cuban artist Leandro Soto finds parallels between Nigerian ancestral spirits and Native American beliefs

These diaspora communities – such as in Brazil, the United States and the Caribbean – are recognized as African civilizations in their own right.

Since the museum could contain works owned by France since colonization, Senegal’s culture minister has called for the restitution by France of all Senegalese artwork on the back of a French report urging the return of African art treasures.

senegal
Visitors look at exhibits at the newly inaugurated Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar, Senegal REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Apart from suffering from the negative consequences of colonialism, Africans have had to negotiate for the return of valuable historical cultural artifacts that were smuggled out of their countries.

These priceless monuments, which symbolize African identity are currently scattered across the world, with an impressive number in British and French Museums.

This striated kifwebe mask hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Many African countries have called for the return of these treasures but are yet to receive any positive response from these western countries, which are making huge sums of money from these objects, with some even insisting that they were obtained legally.

The museum has a pan-African focus with pieces from across Africa and the Caribbean

French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced that his country will return 26 artifacts taken from Benin in 1892. The thrones and statues, currently on display at the Quai Branly museum in Paris, were taken during a colonial war against the then Kingdom of Dahomey.

Senegal’s late president Leopold Sedar Senghor was the first to propose the idea of a museum about the civilizations of black Africa during a world festival of black artists in Dakar in 1966.

In December 2011, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade laid the foundation stone in the capital Dakar but works were suspended during a political change until the subsequent leader, Macky Sall set the project rolling between December 2013 and December 2015.

The museum was built in part to a $34.6 million donation from China.

 

Source: BBC


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