Inaugurated in 2018, the Museum of Black Civilizations acts as a creative hub for Senegal—and the entire African continent—to celebrate their culture while detailing the struggle that Africans faced throughout history. The museum was the vision of the country’s first president Léopold Sédar Senghor, who vowed to build an institution honoring African art and identity. While Senghor unfortunately passed before the museum opened, his legacy lives on in the curated art selections and striking displays filling the galleries.
The opening of the cultural landmark also spurred a debate amongst the art world, with many scholars calling for museums throughout Europe to return thousands of artifacts looted from Africa during the colonial period.
A little over half a century ago, Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first president of post-independence Senegal, announced his plans to build a major museum of African culture in the country’s capital of Dakar. Senghor, who died in 2001, did not live to see his dream fulfilled. Now, at long last, his vision is coming to fruition. As Kate Brown reports for artnet News, Senegal has opened a sprawling museum that celebrates black civilizations from across the globe—and experts are hailing the institution as an important step forward in the effort to reclaim African artifacts plundered during the colonial period.
The Museum of Black Civilizations, known in French as the Musée des Civilisations noires (MCN), is a 150,000-square-foot, circular structure, modelled after the traditional houses of Senegal’s Casamance region, according to Al Jazeera’s Amandla Thomas-Johnson. China was the main backer of the project, providing a $34 million funding boost, according to BBC. The country has invested billions of dollars into the continent—“China has long had an appetite for Africa’s abundant natural resources,” notes Yolaan Begbie of Africa.com—but the museum says its operations will be independent.