Gazing at two large engraved 16th-century elephant tusks on display at Nigeria's National Museum Lagos, a guide surprised visitors by telling them: "You can touch them gently".
One of the three galleries at the museum in Nigeria's cultural and entertainment hub has been remodelled to allow visitors to interact with some artefacts, reversing the typical ban on touching exhibits, as well as take unrestricted photographs in an effort to engage younger audiences, curator Nkechi Adedeji told AFP.
As the group felt the texture of the elephant tusks to the tune of Afrobeats softly playing on overhead speakers, a young photographer was busy snapping away, likely for a social media post.
According to Tinuke Odunfa, the interior designer of the gallery, the plan was to modernise the space and present Nigerian history in an "intentional" and "immersive" environment.
"Everything was intentional in terms of how the space should be experienced, in terms of the colours, how the space leads you," Odunfa told AFP.
