By Adebola Feyikemi Adedokun
THE museum has efficiently empowered ladies, particularly ladies with particular wants, policewomen, market ladies, profession ladies and ladies in politics, amongst others, via its academic providers and coaching. This observe report of success conjures up confidence within the proposed method of utilizing cultural heritage as a car for entrepreneurship.
It should be stated that regardless of all efforts by the competent authorities to empower them, ladies usually face extreme socio-economic challenges.
To attain this aim, particularly within the present financial actuality, museum professionals suggest to make use of cultural heritage as a method of entrepreneurship.
Cultural entrepreneurship is an rising self-discipline that examines how cultural merchandise akin to artwork, theatre, literature, and cultural actions akin to sports activities, music, meals, and movie occasions affect the expansion of native, nationwide, and international economies.
It may be outlined because the distinctive actions of organising cultural enterprises and advertising and marketing cultural and inventive services that embody cultural values however have the potential to generate monetary earnings.
For instance, a gaggle of girls in a rural group may begin a pottery, utilizing conventional strategies to create distinctive and marketable merchandise. It may be an efficient method when you think about that communities are rooted of their tradition.
What makes cultural entrepreneurship worthwhile is that ladies who produce arts and crafts can specific their tradition and way of life and, extra importantly, earn a residing by promoting their merchandise, thereby contributing to their family earnings and the native financial system.
Typically, ladies are extra concerned in making crafts resulting from cultural gender norms. Making arts and crafts is usually a means for ladies to empower themselves and might develop into an essential supply of earnings for them.
The museum has a extra essential function to play within the midst of this robust financial system in Nigeria by involving ladies of their group in cultural entrepreneurship. They’ll contain ladies of their exhibitions and gross sales of artworks and even present coaching amenities.
Museums can help ladies in craft manufacturing akin to beading, cleaning soap making, pottery, wooden carving, mat making, sculpture, basketry, weaving, drawing, and so forth., to enhance their manufacturing and produce it as much as worldwide requirements in order that they’ll promote their merchandise to guests.
Museums can play an important function in supporting feminine entrepreneurship by showcasing the inventive work of girls, accumulating and preserving their merchandise of their collections, and offering an area the place these merchandise might be offered. This energetic involvement of museums can encourage the general public with the potential influence of their help.
Museums can contain ladies of their actions through the use of their merchandise in exhibitions and publications. This highlights ladies's creativity and permits ladies to take part in coaching and workshops.
Because of the efforts of museum professionals, the museum can contribute to the event of girls within the inventive arts, in order that they’ll turn into inventive, cultural arts and aesthetics and add extra magnificence and financial worth to their merchandise.
Museums ought to play a task in supporting these ladies in presenting their merchandise.
Museum workers also needs to current their merchandise to the broader society by way of the web and all different social media.
Museums can license ladies on this class to make their merchandise obtainable and accessible to vacationers visiting Nigeria and even to ladies within the diaspora.
It should even be realized that one of many efforts to realize the United Nations Sustainable Improvement Targets (SDGs) is to empower ladies. Consequently, museum professionals should do all the pieces they’ll to assist feminine entrepreneurship via cultural arts.
Adedokun is the Chief Museum Training Officer on the Nationwide Museum in Osogbo
READ ALSO: Autonomy: Arrange monitoring crew in opposition to LG officers, Dakum tells EFCC
