The Yale University Art Gallery has been awarded the 2022 Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) grant to implement the project: ‘Sustaining a Partnership in Wood Conservation between the National Museum, Lagos and the Yale University Art Gallery.’ The project will train Nigerian museum professionals in wood conservation, documentation, and storage. The project is in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Bámigbóyè: A Master Sculptor of the Yoruba tradition,’ currently on view at the Yale University Art Gallery through January 8, 2023. 

The partnership was formally launched in January 2020 when President Peter Salovey traveled to Nigeria as part of the Africa Initiative, a University-wide effort to prioritize and expand Yale’s commitment to African institutions. With James Green, the Frances and Benjamin Benenson Foundation Associate Curator of African Art, he met with colleagues at the National Museum, Lagos. 

One of the main goals of the cooperation between the Gallery and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments was to organize in-person workshops on wood conservation for managerial-level conservators from museums across Nigeria. Through the project, the Yale University Art Gallery will conduct training workshops on wood conservation for National Museum Lagos conservators, helping them preserve Nigerian historic artifacts through advanced storage, documentation, and treatment techniques. 

Delivering remarks in Lagos during an MOU Signing Ceremony earlier this month, U.S. Consul General Will Stevens said “We hope that the partnerships initiated through this project will continue far into the future and serve as a lasting example of the partnership between the United States and Nigeria to protect Nigeria’s cultural heritage. 

“This grant will support workshops in wood conservation and breakthroughs in sustainable conservation practices that are mutually beneficial for the National Commission for Museum and Monuments and the Yale University Art Gallery,” Wiles said. 

Working in collaboration with the National Commission for Museum and Monuments, the AFCP project will take place at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut and at the National Museum in Lagos. 

A Partnership in Wood Conservation: The National Museum, Lagos, and the Yale University Art Gallery 
To watch a video that describes the partnership, click the image below: