The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum

In 2003 The Wilson put on an exhibition exploring our World cultures collection and shared the stories of the African Art collection. Most of the African Art collection was donated to The Wilson by local people. This mainly happened between the First and Second World Wars. This is the period when British Colonial rule was ending and states were obtaining their independence from the British Empire. On their return home to Britain many people brought back African Art as ‘souvenirs’ which were later passed to museums.

The stories told in the exhibition are spread over at least six generations and chart a changing relationship between Africa and Britain. It covered British expansion through armed conflict and commercial exploitation culminating in the development of independent states and new relationships. The collection includes art from a wide geographical spread, covering the Sahara desert in the north, to the Cape in the south. There is a particular strength in the collection relating to West African Art, especially from the countries of Ghana and Nigeria. Like many British museums, The Wilson’s African Art collection profited from colonial expansion by Captain Wild and Colonel Beasley.