East Africa
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of 508 objects from Eastern Africa, which date from 1892 to 2005. This collection comprises a broad range of cultural artefacts. It includes ceremonial masks, wooden carvings, weapons, domestic items, charms, smoking paraphernalia and regalia. There are also tools, agricultural implements, body ornaments, costume, textiles, furniture, furnishings, musical instruments, contemporary art and ritual objects. The collection contains examples from originating cultures rarely found in museums, such as the Kikuyu and Nandi material from the Marian Scott Stevenson collections, and a unique early Kenyan beaded ceremonial cape of colobus monkey skins, made during the period when the Imperial British East Africa Company administered the territory. There is a significant collection of material associated with the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. A substantial collection of contemporary material ranges from 19 Makonde carvings acquired in 1991 to a mixed media sculpture by Sithabile Mlotshwa, the only UK commission by the Zimbabwean artist. Eastern Africa is comprised of 19 territories, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The region has been explored and colonized by Arabs and, principally, Europeans since the 16th century and has been plagued by political instability. Glasgow’s collection from Eastern Africa is mainly connected with the missionary involvement within the region known primarily as the former British East Africa.
- Broader term