Ogechukwu Elizabeth Okpalanozie

Biography

In summer 2023, Ogechukwu was Chief Conservator at the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), with professional interests which spanned across different aspects of conservation. Since then, she has been promoted to the position of Assistant Director.

At the National Museum, Ogechukwu works with a lot of ethnographic collections made from different materials such as wood, bronze, terracotta, textiles and ivory. She also deals with integrated pest management and scientific research. Ogechukwu’s doctoral research was on biodeterioration of cultural heritage.

Ogechukwu is working on a project entitled Igbo-Ukwu Archaeological Discoveries: Conservation and Oral History. She has studied objects excavated in Igbo-Ukwu and assessed their condition and interviewed people who were eyewitnesses to the excavation process. The result of the research showed there was a need for conservation work on excavated bronzes.

Ogechukwu’s other professional interests include community engagement, climate change, sustainability, preventative conservation, fundraising and heritage interpretation.

At the British Museum
During Ogechukwu’s time on the International Training Programme, she was based in the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas and spent her UK partner placement at Glasgow Museums.

As an ongoing project throughout the six-week programme, fellows were asked to use their existing skills and experience, and the knowledge gained throughout the annual programme, to create, develop, and propose a new interpretation for an object currently on display in the British Museum. Working in her departmental group, Ogechukwu used their object, a hunting coat made from deer skin, to emphasise the importance of working with the community of origin when displaying objects significant to that culture.

Ogechukwu’s place on the ITP 2023 was generously supported by the Edith Murphy Foundation.