CURATORS WITH OnFife are participating in a nationwide initiative reviewing African and Caribbean collections in Scottish museums.

OnFife has around 270 artefacts of African origin, some of which were assessed by the project’s curator during a visit last year.

Fife curators are now want to learn more about the objects’ origins and are taking part in National Museums Scotland’s Reveal and Connect project (2022-2024).

The project aims to help staff better understand and care for these artefacts, which aims to help staff better understand, care for and make use of these precious artefacts.

Often it can be difficult to source when and who donated these items if they did so before Fife’s museum service was set-up.

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This was the case with Cupar’s Duncan Institute, which acquired several African objects in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of these items were previously part of the collection of the nearby Castlehill School Museum.

OnFife collections curator Kirke Kook said: “Both institutions collected world cultures material, but, so far, we have not found an original inventory list for these collections. It’s the same with the Laing Museum in Newburgh.

“Objects in Laing Museum were bequeathed to the town of Newburgh by Alexander Laing in 1892. We know that other donors also added to the museum's collection thereafter but, as with Cupar, the original inventory eludes us.

“That makes it difficult to say exactly when or by whom each of the objects was collected but, on some occasions, articles from old newspapers have come to our aid.”

During her visit to the OnFife Collections Centre last year, the Reveal and Connect project curator viewed and photographed 40 objects more closely. Information about these artefacts has now been shared with specialist curators.

Some of the most significant material in the Laing Museum comes from Zambia and was donated by Robert Andrew Young (1867-1932). Young was born in Newburgh and moved to southern Africa in 1890.

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In 1901, he was appointed ‘Native Commissioner’, whose tasks included tax collection and hearing grievances, which brought him into contact with many local people.

He sent various artefacts to the Laing Museum, including swords, arrows, charms, cups, water bottles, and bracelets.

One of these artefacts is a Tabwa throne. The Tabwa are a Bantu ethnic group who live in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The chair is thought to be one of only eight similar objects.

Ms Kook added: “Although we hold some information about the chair, there is still so much to learn about it.

“We don’t know anything about the artisan who made it, nor its original owners, nor Young’s relationships with local people in the wider context of colonial structures.”

Some items in the collection, such as arrow heads, jewellery and cups, were acquired in such high numbers that it is difficult to match them to a specific donor.

Ms Kook said: “We’re committed to continuing our research into these collections to try and understand them better and make them more accessible to communities of interest.”