Tunisia: Unchain The Bardo Museum

The doors of the Bardo Museum, considered the most important museum in Tunisia and a world-class icon of ancient culture, have been closed to Tunisian and foreign visitors for more than a year and a half, amid questions about the state’s real reasons for the shuttering.

Political  events seem to have hastened the closure of the most famous of Tunisian museums, depriving students, local visitors and foreign tourists of a must-see collection of archeological treasures.

The museum is surrounded by an impressive military cordon, which also guards the adjacent seat of Tunisian parliament, closed by President Kais Saied in July 2021 as part of his exceptional measures.

(AFP)

The first Bardo, an Hafsid palace was build in the thirteenth century some four kilometres from the original Tunis. It was rebuilt and renovated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its name comes from the Spanish word “El Prado” meaning garden or field.

An official source at the ministry of culture told The Arab Weekly that “experts have used the period of the museum’s closure to carry out maintenance and restoration work in the absence of tourists, which facilitated the task of the staff inside.”

The same source added that “the process of reinforcing the wooden ceiling pillars of the Great Hall of Carthage in the museum was carried out in cooperation with the ministry of defence,” pointing out that “the restoration process was the first in the history of the museum since its foundation.”

The Bardo Museum itself was officially opened on May 7, 1888. It hosts the second largest collection of Roman mosaics in the world, spread over 5,000 square metres. It also boasts some of the rarest archeological artefacts in the world. It is one of the most important museums in the Mediterranean basin and the second museum in the African continent after the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with exhibition space spanning an estimated area of ​​20,000 square metres.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has put the museum on its World Heritage List, citing its unique archaeological treasures, such as statues and mosaics, which number more than 4,000 pieces and reflect the succession of civilisations throughout the history of Tunisia.

Many Tunisian history buffs bemoan the continued closure of the Bardo without having any clear idea of the reasons and motives of its closing.

Tijani Haddad, a former minister of tourism, said, “The authorities should reopen the Bardo Museum to visitors considering its importance as a cultural heritage icon in the world.” He added, “The museum was a draw for tourists and provided important hard currency income for the Tunisian state.”

He called for its reopening “as soon as possible because it is an essential pillar in the Tunisian tourist landscape”.

“We have not yet understood the reasons that led to its closure and the state must explain the motives for its decision,” he further told The Arab Weekly.

Until the independence of Tunisia, the museum was called the Alawi Museum, in reference to Ali Bey Bin Hussein, the monarch who ruled Tunisia from 1882 to 1902. At that time the Bardo area was the place of residence of the beys.

Tunisian historian Abdellatif Hannachi said, “We regret that this historical and cultural landmark has remained closed until now. It was the source of important financial revenues to the Heritage Institute (which oversees cultural sites) and the ministry of culture. Its closure is prejudicial to tourism. This was in fact the reason terrorists targeted this monument in 2015.”

Talking to The Arab Weekly, he added, “Students and history and heritage experts used visit the museum to discover its cultural and historical riches and learn from them.”

He pointed out that the closure decision “will harm Tunisia’s image and there is widespread ambiguity and silence about the decision on the part of the political and cultural leaders of the country.”

Minister of Culture Hayat Guetat, commenting on the reasons for the museum’s continued closure, said that “there are circumstances beyond the ministry’s control that prevent the resumption of the museum’s activities.”

She told a local radio station, “there is no intent to ​​close it permanently,” noting that “the restoration and inventory operations are continuing despite the museum’s closure and employees are carrying out their work as normal.”

A trade unionist source at the Heritage Institute said, “the closure of the Bardo National Museum continues for political and security reasons, considering that it is adjacent to the Assembly of People’s Representatives (parliament)  and shares with it an external iron fence.”

The trade unionist source expressed the belief that technical solutions could be considered to address the security concerns of the authorities while reopening the site.

He said that “this closure has adversely affected the state of the artefacts on display inside, although maintenance teams were allowed to enter the museum to work on ancient relics and mosaic panels,” but added, “This should not continue.”

The museum is of historical importance, as it witnessed important events in the country’s history during the Husseinite era in the 19th century. The three floors of the museum embrace different architectural and artistic styles and techniques reflecting legacies from the Maghreb, Turkey, Italy and Andalusia, intertwining in great harmony, to represent what looks like a summary of the architectural art in Tunisia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Khaled Hedoui is a Tunisian writer and contributed this piece to the Arab Weekly.