IFAN Museum of African Arts

The Musée Théodore Monod, still widely called the IFAN museum and renamed in 2007 after the naturalist who led the institute, holds the collection assembled by the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire, founded in 1936, across French West Africa, its first object registered in 1941: masks and statuary from the Dogon, Bambara, Baule, Senufo and others, textiles, musical instruments and agricultural tools. It is a colonial-era collection and the questions that raises are live ones, but the material is exceptional and it is displayed in a neo-Sudanese building of 1931 that first housed the administration of French West Africa and was renovated in 1995.

What to look for

• The mask collection - Dogon, Bambara, Senufo and Baule pieces from across the region.
• The statuary - carved figures and shrine objects, the core of the collection.
• The textiles - woven and dyed cloth from across West Africa.
• The building - a neo-Sudanese building of 1931, renovated in 1995.

When to go

Year round; the museum is indoors. Mornings are quietest. Opening hours have been irregular in recent years, so it is worth checking before crossing the city.

What to expect

The building is tired and lighting and labelling are dated. The collection was assembled under colonial administration and the museum says little about how; that context has to be brought by the visitor. Photography is restricted.

Nearby

The Museum of Black Civilisations is a short drive away, and the Village des Arts is north.

Key facts