The best museums Dakar

It was the precious dream of Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegal's first president, to endow the country's capital with an exceptional museum, dedicated to the black peoples from the dawn of humanity to the present day. A promise that has now been fulfilled with the opening of the Museum of Black Civilizations in December 2018. Opposite the Grand Théâtre National, the circular building, inspired by the traditional Casamance impluvium hut, is now a landmark in the capital's landscape, at the gateway to the administrative and business district. It took seven years of work, begun under the mandate of Abdoulaye Wade, and an investment of more than 30 million euros, financed by the Chinese, for its construction and development. With a surface area of 14,000 m², it can accommodate up to 18,000 rooms, presenting the history and evolution of the African continent. Archaeological remains, objects of worship, photographs and contemporary creations are exhibited on two floors, around a gigantic metal baobab (4.5 metres high), created by the Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié. Today, this fascinating museum only presents temporary exhibitions, fed by the collections of partner museums such as the Quai Branly, and which rotate regularly. At a time when the debate on the restitution of works of African art is being revived, this museum offers itself as an ultramodern infrastructure to host them.

Installed on the Place du Souvenir africain since 2015, the Henriette Bathily Women's Museum is dedicated to the Senegalese women of yesterday and today and their stories. Through objects and accessories, it reveals the role and place of women in Senegalese society. The emphasis is also placed on women who have left their mark on their time, such as Aminata Fall, a pioneer of jazz in Senegal. There are also quality temporary exhibitions honouring women.

Nicknamed the "teeth of the sea", the house of Léopold Sédar Senghor was converted into a museum in 2014. He lived there with his wife Colette, after his presidential term, from 1981 until his death on December 20, 2001. As you walk through the front door, you are plunged into the intimacy of the president-poet, from the reception room to the "pink room" where he received his guests. On the shelves, books and travel souvenirs. A touching visit, frozen in time.

Built in 1931, it is THE museum of primitive arts of Senegal and even of all West Africa! It is also known as the IFAN (Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire) museum, which is located within the Cheikh Anta Diop University. The permanent collection presents, on the ground floor, pieces from all over the continent: masks of the Diola from Casamance or the Senoufo from Ivory Coast, statuettes of the Bambara from Mali, musical instruments. Dance helmets, clothing, wood, fibre, cowries, raffia, feathers, etc., are also on display. The West may have plundered Africa of its artistic riches to put them in its own museums, but there are still some beautiful pieces to be admired. The originality here: small staging of traditional life, which, far from being kitschy, seem very much alive - the celebration of harvests among the Gourounsi of Burkina Faso, entertainment and social control among the Géré of Côte d'Ivoire, the appeasement of mothers among the Yoruba of Nigeria, the initiation of women among the Mende of Sierra Leone, etc. - are all original. It is a pity that all this is sorely lacking in explanations. On the walls, a few signs give indications on the history and social organization of these different tribes, but in such an austere way that one quickly stalls. Upstairs, more modern temporary exhibitions are organized, often in collaboration with western museums.