MUSEUM OBJECTS AS CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION

By Henry Moore (Lecturer, Institute of Archaeology and Museums Studies, Jos, Plateau State)

In Nigeria, there are very strong indications that over the years, museum managers and operators have conducted and concentrated efforts in Museum activities and development in such a way and manner that have led Government at various levels, Museum admirers and followers, and other members of the public, to narrow, their opinion, understanding and knowledge of Museum functions, to Acquisition, Conservation and Exhibition only. This obviously erroneous impression has confined the Museum, which by every intent and purposes; is a repository of national wealth, capable of contributing significantly to job creation, poverty reduction, wealth generation, community development and lots more, to a mere passive project.

The Nigerian style, is evidently inconsistent with the definition of the museum, when considered for example the one offered in 2007 by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), which states succinctly that “A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibit the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment”.

A careful look at the definition above, reveals at least two hidden but very important functions of the museum that have been neglected, or rather downplayed, by museum practitioners in the Country. These two functions, are: Research and Communication.

The ICOM definition, considered together with the practice in some countries, e.g. France and England, shows that focus and efforts in museum functions and operations have shifted considerably to emphasize the two functions of Research and Communication and others, such as service and the development of the society. A similar move by every stretch of imagination, portends good for a country like Nigeria, with very rich culture and tradition, vast deposits of monuments and other forms of Antiquities, tested, proven, accepted and as a matter of fact, highly rated as museum objects.

It is on the basis of the above, that the attention of Government, Museum managers and operators in the Country, is drawn to the fact that a shift in museum functions to embrace uncovered areas of activities will do Nigeria a whole lot of good. The truth is; Nigeria stands to benefit maximally from the abundance of opportunities that include increased revenue earnings, job creation and poverty reduction, which will emanate as a direct consequence of opening up the system, especially in the face of dwindling revenue, rising unemployment, youth restiveness, rural urban migration and others.

Writing on museum communication, Armand in 2010,  wrote: “Seen from the perspective favoured in the ICOM definition of Museums, Museum communication would appear to be the sharing, with different publics, of the objects in the collection and the information resulting from research into them,”. His writing, and the definition of a museum offered by ICOM, no doubt provided not only the basis but equally the motivation for this work, having considered the two instructive and deserving of further discourse.

A better perspective of communication, in the context of this discourse will emerge, as we bring to the fore, the term “communication” according to key concept of museology (2010), which states, “Communication is the action of conveying information between one or several emitters (E) and one or several receivers (R) through a channel (the ECR model)”.  Fundamentally speaking, the term “communication” has two usual connotations, which have been found to be of different degrees in Museums: 

1. Whether it is reciprocal (E C R).  
2. Whether it is not reciprocal (E          C        R). 

In the first instance, communication is said to be interactive while in the second, it is unilateral. When communication is unilateral and operates in time, and not in space, it is called transmission. Debray (2000). Communication can also be seen as the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbol.

However, communication in the museum is most often unilateral, that is where there is little or no reply from the receiving public and it could be non- verbal but it works through the sensory presentation of the objects exhibited. This implies that the public or visitors depend on their sense of vision, aural or tactile language to appreciate museum objects which communicate to their senses.

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