Khartoum (AFP)
The Sudan National Museum in Khartoum, which houses unique pieces of the history of this East African country, will be given a facelift and will reopen in early 2022 after years of neglect and neglect.
"From September 1 until the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022, it will be completely renovated thanks to Italian funding, under the supervision of Unesco and with the collaboration of Sudanese antiquities," told AFP the new director of museums and antiquities of Sudan, Haitem el Nour.
The Italian agency for development cooperation will offer a million dollars for this renovation, said Mr. El Nour: "It comes at the right time because the building really needs to be renovated as well as the displays".
The museum opened in 1970. Without air conditioning and dark, the 2,700 objects are stored in dusty display cases with typewritten Arabic and English captions.
It houses collections ranging from the Paleolithic, with pieces from Kerma, ancient Egyptian dynasties, Napata, Meroé, to Christianity and Islam.
"All the pieces are original, except for a few statues which are copies because the originals are at the Kerma museum", opened in 2008, on one of the main ancient sites of the country, located in the Northern State, added Mr. El Nour.
"Before the work, we will have to go out and store all these treasures in underground deposits to protect them from light," explains the director of the museum Ghalia Garelnabi.
When it reopens, new objects will be exhibited because over the past ten years, work in the field has revealed many new pieces.
Mr. El Nour hopes that this will promote tourism in Sudan, a country with 13 museums.
© 2020 AFP