The US Ambassador to Nigeria, W Stuart Symington, has awarded a grant of $116,000 to launch RE-ORG Nigeria in a partnership between ICCROM, the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments and Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. The Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation grant was for one of 39 projects selected from 136 submissions from around the world. It is one of six projects selected from Africa.
The RE-ORG method helps museums around the world to regain control of their collections in storage, where it is difficult or impossible to circulate in 25% of cases. Since 2011, the method has been used in museums on every continent, in close partnership with national institutions and other technical and funding partners.
After the launch of the project at the US Embassy in Abuja on 13 February, the RE-ORG partners moved to the National Museum of Jos, one of the richest museums in Nigeria with a collection of over 20 000 objects and a staff of 130. The local team of 15 curators and conservators is laying the groundwork for the main RE-ORG training workshop, scheduled to take place in June. The size and variety of the collections, the space limitations and the lack of storage units are among the challenges to be tackled by the project, which will span over the year and involve nine key museums across the country.