The Museum of Black Civilisations — Attraction in Dakar

The museum was an idea proposed by Senegal's first president Léopold Sédar Senghor over 50 years ago, and became a reality in 2015. For its sprawling size, the museum didn’t offer exhibitions worthy of its 14000 sqm.

All exhibitions, accept for the one of African woman leaders one, are in French. So non-French speakers will not find value, especially if you love to interact with the knowledge museums offer. The terrible irony is that a colonizer’s language is dominant at the expense of Senegalese languages, let alone African languages.

Very disappointing to see an exclusionary approach from space build with such grand ambitions such as decolonizing African knowledge. The Art collection was promising but couldn’t make up for the short comings of the experience. The “Hall of Fame” as you enter shows no curation but is instead reminiscent of restaurant walls with pictures of famous people.

The historical artifacts were also thin with poor storytelling. Museums with less ambitions have done a better job. There isn’t even a use of technology to support access for diverse audiences. Overall the experience was a disappointment for a museum that is about Black Civilisation. It is a sad attempt and fails to honour the rich history and contribution of the people of this continent. This museum made me angry for the...

A must in your "to visit list" in Senegal 🇸🇳.

Interesting place where you can have a very good knowledge of the past (and somewhat present) African civilisations, their history, their achievements, contributions, architectures, discoveries, cultures and customs, etc.

Also differents findings of the skeletons of past civilisations are exposed as well as the art cratfs from different African countries.

Paid entry (at entrance) of CFA 3000 for adults and CFA 500 for children (residents and non residents). Free parking available or very easily accessible by taxi.

There is a staff who will give you a virtual of the museum as soon as you enter, however, you can hire a guide ONLY if you come in large groups. I dont think someone, especially tourists, will mind paying a guide in order to have a better explanation and enhance his first visit (though there are much details on the posters exposed).

It is closed on Mondays and public holidays and open the rest of the week from...

Malheureusement assez déçu. L'architecture est superbe, mais l'exposition permanente est présentée de manière peu inspirée et sans grand intérêt. L'éclairage est catastrophique, une grande partie des spots sont cassés ou éteints. Les vitrines présentaient parfois des traces de doigts et de la saleté de l'intérieur sur les vitres. L'exposition temporaire de l'Institut Goethe était bien organisée, disposée et présentée, ce qui en faisait le point fort du musée. Conclusion : le contenu peut être fortement amélioré, l'artisanat est vraiment mauvais pour un musée de renommée internationale. Ce n'est pas ainsi que je veux être présenté, ni la civilisation noire dans son ensemble ! Un petit conseil : peut-être que la formidable scène créative de Dakar devrait se charger de la curation. La Biennale est l'occasion d'atteindre un niveau d'exposition international élevé.

Unfortunately quite disappointed. Great architecture, but the permanent exhibition is presented in a rather loveless and uninspired way. The lighting is catastrophic, most of the spotlights are broken or switched off. Some of the showcases had fingerprints and dirt on the inside of the panes. The temporary exhibition by the Goethe Institute was well curated, arranged and presented, making it the highlight of the museum. To summarise, the content could be greatly improved and the craftsmanship was really poor for an internationally renowned museum. This is not how I would like to be presented as part of, nor should the entire Black civilisation! A little tip, perhaps the great creative scene from Dakar should take over the curation. A high international exhibition standard is also achieved at the Biennale.

Leider ziemlich enttäuscht. Tolle Architektur allerdings ist die Dauerausstellung ist ziemlich lieblos und uninspiriert präsentiert. Katastrophal beleuchtet, ein Großteil der Spots sind kaputt oder aus. Bei den Vitrinen waren teilweise Fingerabdrücke und Schmutz von innen a den Scheiben. Die temporäre Ausstellung von Goethe Institut war gut kuratiert, arrangiert und präsentiert und somit das Highlight des Museums. Fazit, inhaltlich stark ausbaufähig, handwerklich wirklich schlecht für eine internationale beachtetes Museum. So möchte weder ich als Teil, noch sollte die gesamte Schwarzen Zivilisation so präsentiert werden! Kleiner Tip, vielleicht sollte die grossartige Kreativszene aus Dakar die Kuration übernehmen. Zur Biennale wird doch auch ein hohes internationales...