‘ Crucible of creativity’, Senegal’s Black museum opens in Dakar

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Dakar: A museum showcasing black heritage from the dawn of time to the modern era opened in the Senegalese capital Dakar on Thursday.

The opening came as African countries press harder for the restitution of artwork from their former colonial masters — and as France made its first steps in that direction, pledging to return artworks to Benin.

The Museum of Black Civilisations will foster the “dialogue of cultures” and offer a “new view of Africa and its diaspora, which recognises our part in the great human adventure,” Senegalese President Macky Sall said as he

The opening came as African countries press harder for the restitution of artwork from their former colonial masters — and as France made its first steps in that direction

opened the museum.

“Today rekindles in us the precursors of panAfricanism and African identity,” Sall said after cutting the symbolic ribbon at the ceremony. Among the guests was Chinese culture minister Luo Shugang, whose country financed the project to the tune of 30 million euros ($ 34 million).

Spread over 14,000 square metres ( 150,000 square feet), the museum has a capacity to house 18,000 pieces, said museum director Hamady Bocoum.

Both Bocoum and the museum’s lead scientist Ibrahima Thioub said the collection, which includes megaliths dating back more than 1,700 years ago alongside contemporary art, would both honour the past and look to the future. It should not be “a place of nostalgia but a crucible of creativity, a factory of self- esteem,” said Thioub, rector of Dakar’s Cheikh- AntaDiop University.