Caring for Collections in a Changing World: case study of the National Museum of Cameroon

By Terence Besaka, IIC Fellow, Conservator and Coordinator of Collections in Storage at the National Museum of Cameroon

As the world continues to change, museums are adapting by putting in place new collection management strategies and policies in terms of acquisitions, de-accessioning, preservation, conservation and collection care. Climate change is the largest, most complex challenge facing society, calling for radical transformation in all sectors and in all countries. Museums must continue to adapt, especially in terms of climate change, conscious of the challenges they are facing due to the increasing changes in temperature and humidity, while also finding ways to become more sustainable. 

The National Museum of Cameroon is a state-owned, public and permanent non-profit institution with the objectives of acquiring, conserving, exhibiting and interpreting the rich and diverse tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Cameroon. It is a young growing museum that officially opened to the public in 2015 and is spread over four floors; the two (lower and upper) underground floors located at the backside of the building serve as storage areas while the ground floor hosts temporary exhibition spaces at the east wing and permanent collections at the west wing.  The first floor is dedicated to permanent exhibitions. The storage areas have limited access to natural air and light—conditions that favour the growth and spread of mould, insect infestation and rust. 

Environmental monitoring and integrated pest management within the Museum is challenging due to the building’s physical layout since it was originally constructed as a residence. The spaces used as exhibition and storage galleries formerly served as living areas and bedrooms as well as banquet halls, offices and a carpark of the former presidential palace, which have undergone some construction and renovation work. The building’s inadequacies as a museum negatively influence the way collections can be cared for and conserved. 

With the support of our partners, the storage areas are currently undergoing infrastructural rehabilitation and renovation work. These include the creation of more openings and air access with the addition of windows and the use of thermo-hygrometers to monitor the temperature and humidity levels of the spaces.  The National Museum of Cameroon is benefitting from the debt relief programme implemented by the French Development Agency (AFD) and by Expertise France for the modernization of the Museum. For the Museum, this relief has come in the form of technical and material assistance with a focus on collections management and renovation of the storage areas to provide adequate environmental conditions for the collections. 

History and evolution of the building and collection

1930: Construction

1931-1960: Residence of French Colonial Administration in Cameroon

1960-1982: Presidential Palace 

1988: Transformed into the National Museum 

2015: Officially reopened to the public

The Museum has two management organs; the Board of Directors is responsible for defining and guiding the activities of the National Museum and evaluating its management, and the Directorate is responsible for the administrative management of the National Museum under the supervision of the Board, to whom it is accountable.

In 2024 the National Museum of Cameroon houses approximately 10,000 objects. The collections include patrimonial and modern musical instruments; attributes and emblems of traditional authority; ritual practices, agricultural, fishing and livestock tools, crafts, paintings, ornaments and trunks; indigenous architecture; textiles; photographs; kitchen utensils; attributes and seals of political power; archaeological artifacts; traditional medicine; animals; arms; patrimonial games or entertainment and human remains.  The materials that make up the collections include wood, bronze, brass, iron, copper, clay, stone, bone, glass, limestone, animal skin, plastic, paper, plant, textile, fibre, shell, ivory, etc. 

Current practices of collections care

Caring for the museum collection requires frequent and regular control checks. At the National Museum of Cameroon, conservators and registrars carry out weekly monitoring of collections on display—especially objects that are sensitive and vulnerable to temperature and humidity fluctuations—for damage or deterioration due to biological agents like insects, human action, visible cracks or breaks and environmental effects such as temperature and humidity. 

Regulated heating of wooden objects is one of the indigenous methods used to treat insect infested objects. This is an age-old indigenous collection management practice widely used in Cameroon and other parts of the continent. Dust removal is one of the main interventions used in caring for collections. Mindful of the fact that dust can contribute to the deterioration of museum objects, the technicians of the conservation service dust regularly using appropriate equipment.  

Sacred objects play an important role in Cameroonian society and thus occupy a central place in museums all over the country. The spiritual aspect of the objects makes them living cultures. When handling, manipulating, conserving and exhibiting these sacred objects, special care and respect are given. These living cultures are alive and are respected.

Inventorying collections is an inevitable activity for the conservation and management of the collections in a museum. This activity of counting, studying and describing museum objects are currently being practiced especially with collections in storage. The museum conservation service, with the assistance of foreign partners, is carrying out a retrospective inventory of collections in storage. Inventory is an important phase in the scientific valorisation of museum collections. The techniques of inventory are both local and modern using handwritten registers and computer-based software programmes. This therefore contributes to the digitisation of the museum collections. 

For pest management, the Museum has used fumigation, which treats collections by eliminating or killing local wood-eating insects (termites, woodworm, carpenter bees and ants, moths, cockroaches) and other pests, like rats, using the insecticide aerosols. The indigenous practice of using smoke from burnt tree leaves, tree barks and other items (including cypress and eucalyptus, among others) and the smell it produces kill or drive away insects from objects. For example, the burnt leaf and bark techniques are used during the harvesting season in cereal granaries. However, due to the scarcity of such indigenous products in city centres, insecticide aerosols, such as Zerox One Shot are used for fumigation. These insecticides are made of synthetic chemicals and are generally hard to find and very costly for museums with a limited budget.  

Anoxia is a technique of eliminating insects in and on an object by depriving them of oxygen. Infested objects are put into airtight bags for weeks, and the absence of oxygen kills the insects in all its forms of development (egg, larva, adult, etc). This is an indigenous practise still in use today in Cameroon. However, due to the large volume of objects that currently require intervention, the Museum has shortened the time period for anoxia by using oxygen absorbers placed inside the bags with the objects.

Changing climate and its effects on collections 

Today climate change is among the most significant and fastest growing threats to people and their cultures. The National Museum of Cameroon is located within the equatorial rain forest area at an elevation of 707.4 meters (2320.87 feet) above sea level and has a tropical wet and dry climate (classification: Aw). There are four seasons or climatic regimes in the capital, Yaoundé, comprising a light rainy season from May to June, a short dry season from July to October, a heavy rainy season from October to November, and a long dry season from December to May. 

The effects of climate change, including rising temperatures and relative humidity, along with increased precipitation, have affected the collections, especially items containing organic materials such as wood and bone, as well as some inorganic materials like ceramics and metal. These changes in environmental conditions favour the growth, reproduction and spread of insects, mould and corrosion in and on objects both on display and in storage. These are the most common agents of degradation found within these collections. There has been some seasonal shift due to climate change in terms of prolonged and heavy rains leading to floods during the rainy seasons and extreme dryness during the dry season. However, these new weather pattern shifts are also more unpredictable; the dry season usually starts in December, but this past year, we experienced heavy rains in early December. 

High relative humidity due to the changing climate has encouraged the growth, multiplication and spread of insects and mould. We are currently facing humidity challenges due to the nature of the museum building. Insect infestation, mould and rust are the most common agents of degradation observed in collections of the National Museum due to the frequent and heavy rainfall. Rust is commonly found on metal objects where there is infiltration of rainwater. With the more dramatic and frequent rise and fall in temperature, wooden collections are vulnerable to damage; these objects generally shrink and develop cracks as well as breaks under such conditions.

Conclusion

As most museums in Africa, and Cameroon in particular, contain temperature and humidity-sensitive collections, caring for these objects becomes more and more challenging. Collections care and conservation staff require the kind of resources (technical and material equipment) generally in short supply in Africa. These include temperature and humidity control equipment like humidifiers, dehumidifiers, silica gels, modern shelves, deep freezers and online database applications for collections management.  Climate change—through high temperatures, humidity and heavy rainfall—have affected the collections, especially wood, textile, bone, ceramics and metal. These changes in environmental conditions favour the growth, reproduction and spread of insects, mould and rust in objects on display and in storage. If serious mitigating actions are not taken, there may be a greater number of objects at risk, and sensitive objects could spend less time on display due to the changing climate. Museums therefore should be concerned and obliged to provide a suitable climate for the display, storage and transport of objects. We must recognise that changes in the external climate influence shifts to the indoor climate of the Museum. 

There is need to (re)adapt indigenous practices of collections management without leaving out or abolishing the modern techniques.  Indigenous practices have often proven effective in managing resources and maintaining ecosystems as they are adjusted to suit specific local conditions but may not be suitable for modern contexts, especially in the face of climate change and other challenges. These practices are not meant to replace modern techniques, but rather to complement and enrich it. Therefore, a combination of both approaches can lead to the most sustainable, effective and efficient management practices.

 Author Bio

Terence Besaka is a Cameroonian and a postgraduate in archaeology and cultural heritage management and holds a masters’ degree in tourism management. Terence is currently working as a conservator and coordinator of collections in storage at the National Museum of Cameroon. He is a member of the Scientific and Cultural Council of the National Museum and an IIC Fellow.

Read the whole article in the August-September 2024 "News in Conservation" Issue 103, p. 12-19