A museum is a “permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public which acquires conserves, researches communicates and exhibits for the purposes of study, education, enjoyment, the  tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment”.

This definition speaks volumes. Besides conservation, communication, exhibition and acquisition, the definition talks about researching, which of course, is the trademark of the topic of discussion.
This brings us to the definition of Gallery. According to the Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary 6th edition a “gallery is a room or building for showing works of art, especially to the public; it can also be a small private shop/where you can see and buy works of art; a long narrow room, especially one used for a particular purpose and a level passage under the ground in a mine or cave. In all of the above definitions, one phenomenon is common and that is the presence of the public in each of the settings”.

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The museum’s gallery houses incredible and unimaginable wealth of knowledge cutting across all works of life, universally. The knowledge of the existence of a museum and what is contained in museum galleries will and can never be disadvantaged information to anyone who has it; adult or children. The limited knowledge  and publicity given to the museum as was said earlier, which has caused the museum gallery to be referred to as “Gidan Juju” “UloAgbara” or “Ulondimmuo” in some parts of the country as a result of ignorance does not make the gallery a less important place to visit. Like the Igbos will call the university “mahadum” meaning “know it all”, the museum gallery in it real sense is the “mahadum” of the world because it houses all the philosophy and knowledge of the world. Visit a museum gallery today and get wiser!

They are as follows: information about the lifestyle of the people who existed in the area as at the time of the objects inception; the texture of the soil that has housed this object which has prevented it from decay; what the object has been used for or purpose for which it was made. For instance whether it was a domestic object or a ritual or a religious object, or even an object used for farming; the reason for migration of the people of such area i.e. In case of objects discovered in an uninhabited area, i.e. whether it was a war prone zone or an area suspected to be a disappeared river like the case of Igboukwu bronze objects; the material used in manufacturing the  object i.e. whether it is made of wood, stone, bronze, clay e.t.c; the last but not the least, its age which can be discovered by thermolinescent means.

Having put all of these together, the museum researcher now certifies an object fit for exhibition. At this point, one calls to mind part of the ICOM definition of the museum which says that it is a permanent Institution in the service of the society and its development; open to the public. “Then one will ask “why is it open to the public” for the purpose of this paper the question can be narrowed down to research as it is carried out in the museum Gallery.

Day after day, thousands of /people from all works of life throng the museum all over the world seeking information, amongst whom are Historians, Anthropologists, Archeologists, Lecturers, education officers like I and YOU, science e.t.c. What do they seek? “Knowledge”

Discoveries, clues to remodeling etc. Why do they seek these in the fore-walls of a gallery exhibition? As the one time Director-General of the National Commission for Museum and Monuments would say, “Museum is the Cultural Central Bank” what does the Central Bank represent? It is the head of all other banks and co-ordinates their affairs and is like the coach, drawing the rest of the banks. Likewise, the museum represents man’s existence from his origin, lifestyle, culture, religion, profession, dressing, food, recreation e.t.c. all of these and more are found in the compressed fore walls of the museum gallery, making it a completeness in its totality. If the museum gallery houses everything about man and his existence, little wonder an archeologist would visit it to study the culture of the past and of periods of history by examining the remains of buildings and projects found in the ground.

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The museum gallery houses incredible and unimaginable wealth of knowledge cutting across all works of life, universally. The knowledge of the existence of a museum and what is contained in museum galleries will and can never be disadvantaged information to anyone who has it; adult or children. The limited knowledge  and publicity given to the museum as was said earlier, which has caused the museum gallery to be referred to as “Gidan Juju” “UloAgbara” or “Ulondimmuo” in some parts of the country as a result of ignorance does not make the gallery a less important place to visit. Like the Igbos will call the university “mahadum” meaning “know it all”, the museum gallery in it real sense is the “mahadum” of the world because it houses all the philosophy and knowledge of the world. Visit a museum gallery today and get wiser!