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THE Curator of National War Museum, Umuahia, Abia State, Umebe N Onyejekwe, has been selected by the American Association of Museums for the International Partnership Among Museums (IPAM) 2003-2005 cycle, to engage in an exchange with Avery Research Centre for African American History, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

The two institutions plan to do a collaborative exhibition and workshop on the religious and cultural aspects of the Igbo people with particular emphasis on religion and ancestor worship.

The show would also highlight gender issues involving family life and the role of women; dance and its symbolism among the people of the race as well as the Igbo in Diaspora of South Carolina.

Packaged for adults and children of both countries the exhibition is a collaboration which will involve researches into various aspects of the Igbo people as well as people of other ethnic nationalities that might have migrated to South Carolina via the slave route; the study of which has reached encouraging dimensions.

A regular regime of expositions on the theme is expected to begin after the display, which would foster understanding and respect of each others religious and cultural lifestyles and enlarge the scope for cultural tourism in Nigeria as well as countries in Africa and the Diaspora.

The collaboration will also explore the impact of the Nigerian cultures that were taken to the Diaspora via the slave trade and its effects on modern civilisation, especially the American continents.

It will lead to training of museum personnel in records keeping, storage and retrieval, exchange of festivals, programmes, professional ideas among other relevant areas.

Edward H. Able Jr., a leading figure in museums' management notes that "over the past 23 yerars, IPAM has provided the unique opportinity for American museums to establish long lasting partnership and collaborations with similar institutions around the globe."

The exchanges facilitated by this program would therefore enrich the participating museum and the communities they serve. IPAM offers the opportunity of a deeper understanding of other countries and fosters respect for cultural differences.

Founded in 1980, the body established to sustain linkages between US museums and their non US museums with similar mission - through the execution of a mutually beneficial and collaborative project - has ever since been beneficial to many of the world's museologists. With the completion of this project, 266 would have taken place in 39 states and 84 countries. The museum selects a staff member to facilitate the project during the residency at a particular museum.

The body is administered by the American Association of Museums (AAM) and funded by the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). AAM addresses the needs of museums to enhance their ability to serve the public while ECA fosters mutual understanding between USA and other countries through international education exchange programs.