The origin of various museum collections began from gifted or donated personal collections. Particularly, cabinets of curiosities during the sixteen hundreds, from wealthy affluent men who collected various objects, predominantly religious related, from distant and exotic travels abroad; such as, natural objects, crystals, fossils, preserved plants, skeletal bones, taxidermy animals.
From 1870 onwards European museums, notably in London and France, started to ‘collect’ and display African artifacts. These objects were viewed as primitive and exotic to the public and were of great appeal to museum visitors. Notable admirers of such African Exhibits was Pablo Picasso, who was often inspired by the pieces and displayed reference in a few pieces of his work, like Demoiselles D’Avignon.
For a long time, African Art was being overlooked as art and was often associated with the connotation of being primitive but the foreigner’s view of Africa was later shed during 1960’s.
In The African Galleries, The British Museum has successfully curated ancient and contemporary objects and sculptures together cohesively, without forgetting to bring awareness to current issues (gang violence, HIV/Aids) facing Africa today. There was also a range of both traditional and modern woven textiles, on display with traditional Kanga Fabrics made using non-conventional patterns.
