Museum of Black Civilisations: a 1966 dream that opened in 2018

You do not visit the Museum of Black Civilisations as you would a museum of old objects, but as you would read a thesis: that Africa is not only the cradle of humanity but one of its continuous creators. The idea was born in Dakar in 1966; the building opened on 6 December 2018, more than half a century later. In between lies a story of abandoned projects, architects’ plans left in the drawer and objects reclaimed from Europe. If you know this as you walk through the door, you will never look at the galleries in quite the same way.

At a glance

Resident or visitor: two different visits

If you live in Senegal, the museum is probably a building you often drive past on the way to the port without ever going in. That is a pity: it is one of the few places in Dakar where you can spend a cool afternoon with the family, with children who ask questions. The museum charges different rates by category, lower for nationals and residents, and the temporary exhibitions change, so coming back once or twice a year makes sense. It is also the right stop when family or friends visit from abroad. Rather than telling them about the country, show them this story, then carry on to Gorée or the Médina.

If you are a visitor, put it at the start of your stay, not the end. The museum gives you a key for reading everything else: the masks you will see at the market, the fabrics, the place of Islam and Christianity, the links with the Caribbean, Brazil and the United States. Do not expect a tight, European-style chronological route; the museum makes no apology for its themed galleries, sometimes uneven, and for its large share of contemporary art. Treat it as a conversation rather than a textbook. And wear light but respectful clothing: you will cross paths with whole school classes and Senegalese families on an outing.

A museum fifty-two years in the waiting

1966: Senghor’s idea

In April 1966, Dakar hosted the first World Festival of Black Arts, championed by President Léopold Sédar Senghor. It was in this moment of pan-African enthusiasm, carried by the Négritude movement, that the project for a great museum of Black civilisations was born: a place that would show Africa not through the eyes of colonial collectors, but through its own questions.

The 1970s: a Mexican plan left in the drawer

The project took shape over the 1970s. With UNESCO’s support, an architecture competition was held and the winner was a Mexican, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, the architect of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Senghor then imagined a full cultural complex. The plans never saw the light of day: after Senghor stepped down in the early 1980s, Senegal entered a period of austerity and the museum slipped down the list of priorities. This is the story few visitors know: the building you see today is not the one that was dreamed of, but its second life.

From the 2000s to 2018: the revival

The idea came back under President Abdoulaye Wade, among the series of major cultural projects in Dakar that also includes the Grand National Theatre, just opposite. The building work, financed by China for around thirty million euros, was completed under Macky Sall, who inaugurated the museum on 6 December 2018. It was then headed by the archaeologist Hamady Bocoum, a researcher at Cheikh Anta Diop University. A few months later, the American magazine Time named it one of the World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2019.

An impluvium house on the scale of a city

From the outside, the building is a large circular volume. The reference most often cited is the impluvium house (case à impluvium) of Lower Casamance, the round Diola house whose funnel-shaped roof collects rainwater in the centre. Some also see an echo of the enclosures of Great Zimbabwe. Inside, the layout revolves around an atrium where a monumental metal baobab stands, the work of the Haitian artist Édouard Duval-Carrié: an African tree sculpted by an artist from the Caribbean diaspora, the whole purpose of the museum in a single image.

El Hadj Omar’s sabre: a restitution in two stages

The museum opened just as the question of restitutions was stirring Europe: the report submitted to the French president in November 2018 by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy even cited the museum as one of the institutions able to receive returned works. The first concrete case was the sabre attributed to El Hadj Omar Tall, the 19th-century Toucouleur religious and military leader, held at the Musée de l’Armée in Paris. Lent for the opening exhibition, it was handed over in Dakar on 17 November 2019 by the French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe to President Macky Sall, initially as a five-year loan to the Museum of Black Civilisations. The French law of 24 December 2020 then authorised its definitive restitution to Senegal. The sabre has become the symbol of a much wider debate: that of the tens of thousands of African objects held in European museums.

Key facts & figures

Getting there & official fees

The museum stands on Place de la Gare, at the junction with the extended motorway (autoroute prolongée), opposite the Grand National Theatre, on the edge of the Plateau, a stone’s throw from the port and Dakar railway station. The simplest option is a taxi: ask for the “musée des Civilisations noires” or the “Grand Théâtre”, and every driver will know it. If you are coming from the suburbs or the airport on the TER (Regional Express Train), Dakar station is very close. From the Gorée ferry terminal, allow a few minutes by car.

This charge is set by the museum: it is paid on site, is not included in the price of activities and is not covered by the QFS resident rate. Bring cash.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–19:00. The museum is closed on Mondays, like the Théodore Monod Museum of African Art and the House of Slaves on Gorée: do not plan your cultural day for a Monday.

What to see

The atrium and the baobab. Start by looking up. The circular atrium, the light falling from above and Duval-Carrié’s baobab set the tone for the visit: a gathering place as much as a museum.

The origins of humanity. Fossils, prehistoric tools, reproductions of hominid remains discovered in Africa: the route begins by reminding you that human history starts on this continent.

African knowledge and techniques. Iron metallurgy, ceramics, mathematics, medicine, architecture: a gallery that quietly answers the cliché of an Africa without a history of technology.

Masks, textiles and ritual objects. The “classic” heart of the collections, drawn from all over Africa but also from other continents: the museum likes to set an African mask beside one from Latin America or Asia.

Religions and diasporas. Some galleries cover the place of the revealed religions in Senegal and the links with the Americas and the Caribbean, from music to the civil rights struggles.

Contemporary art. A large share of the space is given over to temporary exhibitions by African and diaspora artists. Find out what is on: this is often where the best of the visit lies.

Nearby

The museum is the ideal starting point for a day devoted to memory in Dakar. The Théodore Monod Museum of African Art, on Place Soweto, shows the objects up close, in a 1930s building: one tells the grand story, the other the finesse of the pieces. From the nearby ferry terminal, the ferry takes you to Gorée Island and the House of Slaves. To the north, the Great Mosque of Dakar opens onto the Médina, and our page on Dakar’s iconic markets carries the visit on among the stalls. At the end of the day, the African Renaissance Monument, on the Mamelles hills, gives you the sunset. For living art, from 19 November to 19 December 2026, Dak’Art, the Dakar Biennale, takes over the whole city. And to organise it all, see our ideal 3-day Dakar itinerary and our Dakar Region page.

The right time

The museum suits every season, and that is one of its strengths: during the rainy season (hivernage), July to October, when the heat is heavy or a storm breaks, it is the perfect refuge. In the dry season, from November to May, keep the morning for Gorée or the markets instead, and save the museum for the hot hours of the afternoon.

As for crowds, weekday mornings see plenty of school classes: lively, but rarely a nuisance. At weekends, Dakar families come in greater numbers in the late afternoon. For a quiet visit, aim for a Tuesday or Wednesday in the late morning. And avoid starting after 17:00: two hours are not enough to see everything without rushing.

Practical tips

• Check the temporary exhibitions. Some of the galleries change regularly: what is on often makes the difference between a good visit and an excellent one.
• Photos, with restraint. Photography without flash is generally tolerated in the galleries; some loaned exhibitions may forbid it. Follow the signs and ask before photographing people.
• Respectful clothing. Nothing is required, but this is a public place visited by school groups and families: covered shoulders and knees are welcome.
• With children. The museum is vast and the galleries on the origins of humanity speak well to younger visitors; plan breaks, as the full visit is long for a child.
• Accessibility. The building is recent and on several levels: ask at the entrance about wheelchair access to the upper floors.
• The labels. They are mostly in French: if you do not read it, a guided tour changes everything.
• Cash. Bring enough to pay for admission in cash, in small notes.

Book an activity here with QFS

The museum is best discovered with a guide, who links the galleries to one another and to what you will see next in the city. You will find guided visits of the museum, on their own or combined with the Plateau, the Médina or Gorée, among the guided cultural tours, and more ideas for days out among the nature & culture discoveries. To move from looking to doing, the local classes & workshops offer drumming, dance, dyeing or crafts in Dakar and on the Petite Côte.

You pay 20% to secure your booking (the booking fee), and the balance is paid on site, on the day of the visit. Museum admission is an official charge, payable on site and not included in the price. If you live in Senegal, you get the resident rate: up to 30% off depending on the activity (the exact rate is shown on each listing).

Frequently asked questions