Museum of Black Civilisations

The Musée des Civilisations Noires opened in 2018 in a circular building on the Place de la Gare, and it was conceived decades earlier by Léopold Sédar Senghor as a museum of the black world rather than of Senegal alone. Its galleries run from human origins in Africa through the continent's civilisations to the diaspora and to contemporary art, and it has been at the centre of the debate about restitution: it has large amounts of space and has openly offered to receive works held in European collections.

What you actually see

• The circular building - a modern rotunda with a full-height central space.
• The origins galleries - human evolution and early African civilisations.
• The diaspora rooms - the Americas and the Caribbean as part of the story.
• The contemporary art - changing exhibitions of work from across the continent and beyond.

When to go

Year round, since it is indoors and air-conditioned. Mornings are quietest. It closes on Mondays and on public holidays.

Honest expectations

The building is large and the permanent collection does not fill it, which is deliberate and part of the restitution argument but reads as empty space to some visitors. Labelling is largely in French. Photography rules vary by gallery.

Nearby

The IFAN museum is elsewhere in central Dakar, and the Grand Theatre is next door.