The best museums Mali

A small museum featuring the habitat, costumes and tradionnels objects of the Tuareg and the Songhai peoples. See if you have some time.

Although it has existed since 1953, the current museum, funded by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, was built by the French architect Jean-Loup Pivin in 1982. After extensive renovations, the museum was inaugurated in October 2003, in the presence of the Prince Aga Khan and Amadou Toumani Touré. It is now the second largest museum on the continent, after that of South Africa. Inspired by Djenné style buildings, this is an architectural success. On 1 700 m ² it houses splendid collections of art and ethnographic artefacts in Mali. Three permanent exhibitions allow you to have an idea of the diversity of Malian culture. The first, «the Mali Millennium», presents archaeological collections, results of excavations conducted in the country since the 1950 s. In addition to the prehistoric and tellem objects, you will discover the beautiful terracotta statuettes of Djenné and its region. The second room is devoted to traditional sculpture (statuettes and masks of Dogon, Bamanan, Senufo, Bwa, etc.) produced most often in the context of initiation societies whose rituals embody the life of the individual and society. The guide will explain the role of these objects in the initiation societies. Among the most beautiful pieces are the bobo androgynous statue representing happiness and prosperity, the sénoufo sénoufo, a symbol of fertility, the zoomorphes bamanan and sénoufo masks, whose role is to terrorize the envoûteurs, the ciwara dance crests, male and female, representing the antelope, the symbol of agility, and hommage and senufo. In the third room, on 600 m ², there is a remarkable exhibition of old and recent textiles, which gives an idea of the weaving and dyeing traditions in use in Mali. From basin to wool vêtements, you will find the entire range of textile production in the country. Some key pieces, such as the tilbi tilbi (embroidered embroidered, originating in Timbuktu and Djenné, demanding 3 years of work!), the large peuhl peuhl drapes and beautiful tellem and dogon pieces from the Falaise cliff. The museum hosts various temporary exhibitions and organizes screenings of films, workshops, musical entertainment every Thursday from to, free entrance…

Provide a tip for the guide. It also sells crafts, books, posters and postcards. You can enjoy lunch and drink fresh drinks.

In October 2010, the brand new national park was inaugurated. A huge green area through shady alleys, benches and fountains. We almost forget that we are in Africa. 1 500 FCFA the entry.

One of the finest jewels of Sudanese colonial architecture. This building houses the ancestral know-how of the artisans of Mali. It is also a hotbed of new talents of artisans and artists influenced by our modernity and culture. In front of the craftsmen's house is the féticheurs market, where you find monkey heads and hands, buffalo and antelope paws, panther and hyena skulls, teeth and lion urine bottles, porcupine quills, in short, everything the sorcerer needs to get rid of the enemies of his or his customers. happiness and prosperity.

Located near the city hall of Bamako in the city centre, this is a new exhibition place.

Financed by Saudi Arabia, the mosque, with two futuristic minarets, can visit, but it is better to be accompanied by a Malian.

This little museum, devoted to Malian women, is really interesting. Through various traditional objects (jewelry, clothing, furnaces…), the museum presents the daily lives of women in the traditional villages of the country.

Designed by the Memory of Africa Association, this museum traces the history of the mysterious city from its origins to today.

Khailil Ibrahima Touré is a man of culture. His love of tradition led him to display in this house dating from the th century traditional objects from the Arab-Berber culture. From the women's room to the kitchen, through the arms room, here is a perfect rebuilding of the old way of life. Dames, cowries of divinations, musical instruments, not forgetting arms, handcuffs of traditional prisoners and costumes, the visit is interesting and well explained. It is the most beautiful museum in Timbuktu.

The museum opened in 2010. It shows an exhibition called "Sikasso: Crossroads of civilizations», composed of objects of rites, ceremonies and also of everyday life. Through its various parts, this museum recounts the history and customs of civilizations that founded the Sikasso region as it is now: green attic in Mali, mainly sénoufo, but not only.

Kola is a small village situated less than 10 km from Bougouni towards Sikasso, 1,5 km from the tar. This museum, all in the nubiennes valley and vaults, houses old fetishes of ceremonies, old masks and tam tam, and other weapons and grey-grey chasseurs. There is a warm welcome and a lot of legends. The villagers have not set entrance prices to the museum, so it is the visitor's goodwill.

Kola is also a site of traditional merchants.