National museum
Nigerian National Museum
Nigeria · 1957
The National Museum in Lagos, opened in 1957: Nok terracottas, Ife heads, Benin bronzes and Ben Enwonwu's Anyanwu at the entrance. History and visit.
Museums in Africa
Africa's museums hold some of the oldest art in the world — the Nok terracottas in Lagos, the heads of Ife, the bronzes of Benin — and some of the newest, in museums opened since 2014 in Rabat, Cape Town and Dakar. Each guide below explains a museum's history, what it holds, which artists to look for and how to plan a visit.
Many of these museums were founded around independence, as institutions of the new nations; several are now at the centre of the return of objects taken in the colonial period, from the Benin Bronzes to the sabre shown in Dakar. For a shorter list that also covers museums in Europe and the United States, see where to see African art.
National museum
Benin City National Museum
Nigeria · 1973
The national museum on King's Square in Benin City, opened in 1973: bronzes, terracottas and cast iron of the Kingdom of Benin, and the return of looted works.
National museum
National Museum of Ghana
Ghana · 1957
Ghana's National Museum in Accra opened the day before independence in 1957. Its domed building, its collections, and its reopening in 2022.
National museum
National Museum of Ethiopia
Ethiopia · 1958
The National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa: Lucy and Selam, archaeology from Aksum, and Ethiopian painting from early parchment to Afewerk Tekle.
National museum
National Museum of Mali
Mali · 1953
The National Museum of Mali in Bamako, founded in 1953: archaeology, ritual art and textiles, a home of the Bamako photography biennale, and a park beside it.
Museum of African art
Théodore Monod Museum
Senegal · 1936
Dakar's IFAN museum, now named after Théodore Monod: about 10,000 masks, figures, textiles and objects from West Africa, on Place Soweto. History and visit.
Museum of civilisations
Museum of Black Civilisations
Senegal · 2018
Dakar's Museum of Black Civilisations, opened in 2018 from an idea of Senghor's in 1966: its circular building, its collections, returned objects and Dak'Art.
Museum of contemporary art
Zeitz MOCAA
South Africa · 2017
Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, opened in 2017 in a 1920s grain silo carved out by Heatherwick Studio: its building, collection, directors and shows.
Museum of modern art
Mohammed VI Museum (MMVI)
Morocco · 2014
Rabat's MMVI, opened in 2014: Morocco's first museum of modern and contemporary art, from the Casablanca School to Chaïbia, Melehi and Giacometti.
Museum of modern art
Museum of Modern Egyptian Art
Egypt · 1927
Cairo's museum of modern Egyptian art, on the Opera House grounds: more than 13,000 works from Mahmoud Saïd and Mokhtar to today, reopened in 2020.