G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive

Since August 2022, the G.A.S. Library and Picton Archive have grown from a single stack of books into a rich collection of nearly 2,000 cultural research materials. It contains the Picton Reference Collection and Archive, a gift of 1,500 volumes covering the visual arts of Sub-Saharan Africa (sculpture, masquerade, textiles), publications dealing with history and archaeology (including Saharan rock art); as well as African American and Black British arts, and more.⁠

It was generously donated by Emeritus Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, John Picton and his wife, former ethnographer at the Nigerian Museum Service, Sue Picton. The collection was born during John’s tenure as curator for the National Museum Lagos in 1961, and began its homecoming journey almost 60 years later. Today the full Picton Collection and Archive is available to our residents with ambitions to make it accessible to the wider cultural community in Lagos and beyond.