UNITED KINGDOM / FILE: Exhibit celebrates African money, medals and stamps that mark independence

Record ID: 454655

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM / FILE: Exhibit celebrates African money, medals and stamps that mark independence
  • Date: 2nd April 2010
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (MARCH 31, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BRITISH MUSEUM SIGN FOR "IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA" EXHIBIT CASE SHOWING DIFFERENT AFRICAN HATS AND ENLARGED NIGERIAN BANK NOTE PAN FROM "IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA" POSTER TO CLOSEUP OF ENLARGED AFRICAN NOTE SHOWING DIFFERENT TRIBES DISPLAY CASES SHOWING COINS, NOTES AND STAMPS CATHERINE EAGLETON, CURATOR "IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA", WITH COLLEAGUE LOOKING AT MAP OF AFRICA CLOSEUP OF EAGLETON'S FACE AS SHE LOOKS AT MAP OF AFRICA (SOUNDBITE) (English) CATHERINE EAGLETON, CURATOR "IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA", SAYING: "This year's really important because there's 17 different countries celebrating 50 years of independence. We wanted to show how that really impacts on money and stamps and medals and how those are miniature works of art that countries use to show their political ideas and ideologies." PAN FROM GHANA BANK NOTE TO STAMPS AND COINS - ALL WITH IMAGE OF KWAME NKRUMAH CLOSEUP OF COIN WITH IMAGE OF NKRUMAH STAMPS SHOWING IMAGE OF NKRUMAH CLOSEUP OF STAMPS BANK NOTE CLOSEUP OF IMAGE OF NKRUMAH ON BANK NOTE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CATHERINE EAGLETON, CURATOR "IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA", SAYING: "One of my favourite examples where you can see the change from colonial rule to independence is a coin of Kwame Nkrumah when he'd just become president of Ghana and instead of having a picture of the British monarch on, he put his own picture on. He said he needed to do that because so many people in Ghana could not read or write, that they had to be shown that they were free by seeing an African on the coins." FRENCH BANK NOTE SHOWING MOTHER FRANCE WITH PEOPLES FROM FRENCH WEST AFRICA CLOSEUP OF FACES ON BANK NOTE NOTE FROM FRENCH WEST AFRICA, SHOWING MOTHER FRANCE AND FRENCH WEST AFRICAN MOTHER AND CHILD FRENCH WEST AFRICAN NOTE, SHOWING AFRICAN SOLDIERS ALONGSIDE EUROPEAN SOLDIER DURING WORLD WAR TWO CLOSEUP OF SOLDIERS' FACES (SOUNDBITE) (English) CATHERINE EAGLETON, CURATOR "IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA", SAYING: "One of the other bank notes that I find fascinating is one from just after the second world war which shows an image of African soldiers fighting alongside European soldiers and that was a real catalyst to the freedom campaigns because the African soldiers went home and said to themselves 'We just fought for freedom in Europe and we are not free in our own country' and that really pushed things along through the 1950s." WIDE VIEW OF DISPLAY SHOWING COINS AND NOTES CLOSEUP OF KATANGA CROSS - PRE-COLONIAL CURRENCY OF KATANGA, FORMER BREAKAWAY STATE OF CONGO SYMBOLS OF THE KATANGA CROSS ON "NEW" STAMP WHEN KATANGA BROKE AWAY FROM CONGO KATANGA CROSS ON A COIN
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: History
  • Reuters ID: LVADR8AYR85XRC6L8LBKQE7BU3AS
  • Story Text: This year 17 African nations celebrate 50 years of freedom from European rule. To mark the anniversary the British Museum in London is showcasing stamps, medals and money from the era, calling them miniature works of art.
    Newly independent African countries produced their own money and stamps, replacing colonial imagery representing European control with new images relating to their own history, culture and political ideology.
    "We wanted to show how that really impacts on money and stamps and medals and how those are miniature works of art that countries use to show their political ideas and ideologies," said curator Catherine Eagleton.
    On display are coins, bank notes and stamps from Ghana, the first African country to gain independence in 1957. The new currency depicts the head of President Kwame Nkrumah instead of the monarchs of Britain.
    "He said he needed to do that because so many people in Ghana could not read or write, that they had to be shown that they were free by seeing an African on the coins," said Eagleton.
    In colonial times European powers enforced the use of their own money, often depicting European monarchies and languages, which the African population was expected to learn. The designs were calculated to exert political and economic control over the colonies.
    French West African bank notes show a white woman (Marianne) looking imperiously at Africans.
    Another shows an image of African soldiers fighting alongside European soldiers during World War Two.
    "That was a real catalyst to the freedom campaigns because the African soldiers went home and said to themselves 'We just fought for freedom in Europe and we are not free in our own country' and that really pushed things along through the 1950's," said Eagleton.
    Money is frequently used to project idealised national images and aspirations. A Nigerian bank note shows four smiling faces from different ethnic tribes - an image of harmony that does not reflect the country's warring factions.
    Bank notes and stamps issued post-independence often depict symbols of national identity and heritage.
    Many depict images harking back to an era of pre-colonisation as a way of linking the modern culture with the past - blocking out the generations of forced European rule.
    The 17 African nations celebrating independence this year are: DRC, Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Madagascar, Somalia, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad, Central Africa, Republic, Congo, Gabon, Mauritania, Togo and Mali.
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