What is being exhibited at the British Museum's new African galleries

A. On 3 March 2001, the Sainsbury's African Galleries were opened at the British Museum, London. Funded largely by the Sainsbury supermarket family, along with a donation from the Henry Moore Foundation, the galleries are the latest phase of the Great Court project to be completed. They are dedicated to the sculptor Henry Moore, whose work was heavily influenced by African art. Further ethnographic galleries focusing on Asian, Central American, European and Pacific cultures are due to open at the museum from 2003 onwards.

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Q. Where have the British Museum Ethnographical Collections been
A. For the last 30 years, the British Museum's African Collection and other ethnographical exhibits have been housed at the Museum of Mankind in Piccadilly. With more space being made available at the British Museum, with the move of the British Library to St Pancras and the covering over of the Great Court, the collections are now returning to their home in Bloomsbury.

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Q. So what�moves into its place at the�Museum of Mankind

A. It is thought that the British Museum will have removed all of its contents from the Museum of Mankind by 2004. At this point, it is thought that the Royal Academy of Art will use�the vacated building for gallery space.

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Q. What is on display at the new British Museum galleries
A. The African Collection totals 200,000 items from all over the continent, but with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa - particularly Nigeria - and Madagascar. The display on show comprises 600 exhibits, some archaeological, but mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries, art pieces as well as everyday domestic items.

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Taking pride of place is a brass head of a Yoruba ruler from Ife, Nigeria, along with fine collections of Asante goldwork from Ghana, Benin brass castings from Nigeria and Afro-Portuguese ivories dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Talbot Collection of masks and carvings from southern Nigeria and the Torday Collection of Central African sculpture, textiles and weaponry are also part of the display.

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While the collection might appear to be very much a product of colonialism - many of the artefacts were gifts from retired public servants throughout British-ruled Africa - there are many modern exhibits, including pieces from some of Africa's foremost living artists. Striking examples of contemporary work are four brightly painted coffins from Ghana constructed in the shapes of a car, a gun, a bird and an elephant, which dominate the entrance into the galleries.

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Q. No shades of the Elgin Marbles
A. As with all ethnographic collections that arose out of colonialism and, in recent years, the big business surrounding ethnographic artefacts, there has been scrutiny of the legitimacy of the export of some of the items in the collection. However, nothing as yet of the level of the Greek government's claims to the marble friezes from the Parthenon or the Nigerian government's current dispute with the Louvre in Paris over two 2,000-year-old Nok terracottas, which were allegedly looted from the Nigeria.

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By Simon Smith