Exhibition: Reanimating Cultural Heritage in Sierra Leone

 

Location: University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK

Dates: 9 January – 17 February 2012
Opening times: North Cloisters (Mon-Fri: 09:00-22:00; Sat-Sun 11:00-20:00); North Lodge (Mon-Fri: 09:00-17:00)
The exhibition is free and open to the public.
An associated event will be taking place between 17:30 and 20:00 on 2 February 2012 in the Old Refectory, UCL. Speakers include Paul Basu, Ruth Phillips, Bill Hart, Zachary Kingdon, and Sierra Leone’s Director of Cultural Affairs, Fodah Jalloh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reanimating Cultural Heritage in Sierra Leone is a multimedia exhibition marking the culmination of a three-year research project and the launch of the www.sierraleoneheritage.org digital heritage resource. Led by Dr Paul Basu, Reader in Material Culture and Museum Studies at University College London, the project has been concerned with the ‘digital curation’ of Sierra Leonean collections dispersed in different museums, and with exploring the capacity of cultural heritage to contribute to civil society strengthening in the developing world.
The exhibition is split across two sites at UCL. In UCL’s North Cloisters is a vibrant display of large format photographs documenting different aspects of Sierra Leone’s cultural heritage, alongside an exhibition of iconic objects from Sierra Leone from the collections of the British Museum and Sierra Leone National Museum. This includes displays of traditional masks associated with the female Bondo or Sande initiation society, fine examples of 19th-century Mandingo leatherwork, rarely seen stone ‘nomoli’ sculptures, and magical garments worn by the Kamajor militia during Sierra Leone’s recent civil war. In the North Lodge at the main entrance to UCL on Gower Street is a audio-visual installation, showing a continuous loop of short documentaries made by the project and its Sierra Leonean partners. From different music, dance and masquerade traditions to weaving and basket-making, these provide a glimpse into the wealth of Sierra Leone’s little-known culture and heritage. These displays are accompanied by various image and text panels describing the project, its objectives and activities in greater depth.
UCLTV video about project