Two museums in Africa built in the mid-twentieth century carry the name 'National Museum.' They reflect the story of their respective nation's history and are tied to notions of national identity. Both are also examples of fine architecture built on the principles of Modernism, a movement associated with nation-building in Africa. However, their inception and purpose followed very different paths. This article explores the under-reported architecture of the National Museum of Ghana in Accra and the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum.
Ghana's National Museum: A Symbol of Independence
The idea for establishing the National Museum of Ghana was initially conceived in 1940 by the colonial government of the Gold Coast, the name the country was known by at the time. AW Lawrence became the director of this proposed museum in 1951. Being an archaeologist, his vision looked more to the past and the theme of 'Man in Africa' was established, with artifacts brought from other parts of the continent and Europe to complement the local ones. As independence neared, politicians and other national leaders contributed to the debate about the museum's contents.
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The museum opened its doors in March 1957 as part of the independence celebrations. It was situated in a district of the capital, Accra, which was planned to host future civic buildings. The project was important for the country's new president, Kwame Nkrumah, who led it to become West Africa's first independent nation. Nkrumah was also fond of Modernism, which he associated with progress and a break from the colonial past.
British architect Denys Lasdun rejoined his colleagues Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew to design the museum. Fry and Drew had recently published their research on Tropical Modernism, an approach to modern architecture that responds to the hot and humid climate, and Lasdun had contributed significantly to the architecture of the Festival of Britain. Elements of both can be seen on the completed building. In plan, it is hexagonal with faceted walls angled to allow for cross ventilation and natural lighting but provide shelter from the stormy northeast. Atop the main central space is a shallow dome of reinforced concrete clad in aluminum from Ghanaian ore and reminiscent of the Dome of Discovery built for the Festival of Britain in 1951. The museum is an important civic building in Ghana. In 2015 it was closed for its first major refurbishment since its opening. It reopened in 2022 with new exhibits and it is planned to form a part of a project to boost tourism in Ghana by 2024.
The Sudan National Museum: A Modernist Design Emerging from Crisis
This civic importance can also be seen in another museum across the continent in Sudan. Unlike the National Museum of Ghana, however, which was opened as part of independence celebrations, the Sudan National Museum opened 15 years after the nation gained its independence in 1956. Thus, it was not directly related to nation-building efforts, but it would later gain much civic and national importance.
According to architect and researcher Mai Abusalih, who shared some of her to-be-published research on Modernism in Sudan, the museum traces its roots to the colonial period when the government established a small museum within the Gordon Memorial College (now the University of Khartoum) and another in a two-story house known as the Khartoum Museum. Several efforts to establish a permanent home for these archaeological and ethnographical collections did not end in fruition. The project for a permanent museum only became a reality after independence and due to external circumstances.
In 1954, neighboring Egypt put plans in place to construct the Aswan High Dam which would flood the archaeologically rich region of Nubia on both sides of the border and force the migration of tens of thousands of people. UNESCO thus launched the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia and archaeological missions from Sudan and around the world took part in extensive digs to salvage monuments and artifacts. It was this campaign that would eventually lead to the establishment of the World Heritage Convention and the concept of World Heritage Sites. The project for a national museum in Sudan was revived and architect Alexandre O. Petermuller, an Austrian national with an established firm in Khartoum was appointed. To ensure the museum was designed to international museography standards, Hans Asplund was appointed to oversee the technical aspects.
Part of the salvage project involved the careful dismantling and transporting of several ancient temples from Nubia to Khartoum. This was undertaken by architect Friedrich Hinkel from the German Democratic Republic who was appointed for the job by UNESCO. The museum, located on a former rail works site overlooking the Blue Nile River, consisted of the primary museum buildings as well as an 'archaeological garden' designed by Hinkel to accommodate the relocated temples and other large objects. The new location in Khartoum was rainier than in Nubia, so telescopic aluminum shelters were constructed for them which could be retracted in the dryer months.
The museum buildings designed by Petermuller included the laboratory building to the south and the main gallery building to the north, facing the entrance pavilion and the archaeological garden. The gallery building, the main visitor attraction, is a long, rectangular, 2-story building with expressed piers and upstand beams of reinforced concrete which Mai Abusalih finds reminiscent of the Crown Hall at IIT by Mies van der Rohe. Behind the north-facing curtain wall is the access ramp to the first floor and the main double-height exhibition space which displays exhibits from the Stone Age, the Kerma culture, and the Kingdom of Kush. The upper story primarily contains frescoes from the church of Faras during the period of Christian Nubia.
Petermuller was a stalwart of Modernism in Sudan. He spent many years in the country designing for corporations and multinationals as well as public bodies. Training in his office was Elamin Muddathir, one of the first graduates from the School of Architecture of the University of Khartoum. Muddathir would go on to design the Entrance Pavilion of the Sudan National Museum in typical Modernist fashion, with pilotis, ribbon windows, and expressed concrete beams. The interior of the pavilion included murals by Sudanese artist Kamala Ibrahim Ishag.
Political change and a campaign of nationalization at the end of the 1960s led to Petermuller leaving the country before the project's completion. At its opening in 1971, the museum was largely regarded as a success, although some building elements had to be omitted due to budget constraints. Although not built as part of a nation-building project as the National Museum of Ghana was, the Sudan National Museum and its contents continued to contribute to national identity over the decades, and references to the history it contains made their way into poetry and the arts. The museum received minor refurbishments between 2005 and 2008, but a major refurbishment project began in 2018. As a testament to its importance, when the statue of Taharqa had to be moved from one side of the hall to the other, the ceremony involved the Music Corps and was televised. As with most buildings in Khartoum, the museum's status is unknown while it remains in an active war zone and reports have emerged of looting incidents.
This article is part of an ArchDaily series called "Rediscovering Modernism in Africa." Many buildings from the Modern Movement in Africa are of high architectural quality. Despite being several decades old and historically important, they have only recently gained attention in international discussions. This series explores this rich history. As always, at ArchDaily, we greatly appreciate our readers' contributions. If you have a project you think should be featured, please submit your suggestions.
