MUSEUMS OF THE WORLD

The best way to see quality authentic African Tribal Art is to visit one of the many great museums in the world. While some of the best art remains in private collections, museums do feature some of the world’s most reknown pieces and often represent a wide selection. Below you will find a list of the best museums for African Tribal Art, each with a link to their official website. The list is organized according to the continent and country of the museums. As we have visited most of these museums personally, feel free to email us for our recommendations.

Europe

Some of the greatest museums for African art are either in France, Belgium, or England, most notably due to the involvement each of these countries had in the colonization of Africa. Even outside of these central nations there are some great museums, so no matter what capital in Europe you find yourself in, check out what they have to offer as far as African art.

France

Musée du Louvre -Paris

Musée du Quai Branly – Paris

Musée Africain – Lyon

Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Asie – Vichy

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen

Belgium

Ethnographic Museum – Antwerp

Royal Museum for Central Africa – Tervuren

Netherlands

Afrikacentrum – Cadier en Keer

Afrika-Museum – Berg en Dal bij Nijmegen

Museum Volkenkunde – Leiden

Tropenmuseum – Amsterdam

Wereldmuseum – Rotterdam

England

British Museum – London

Pitt Rivers Museum – Oxford

University Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology – Cambridge

World Museum Liverpool

Germany

Ethnologisches Museum – Berlin

Museum fur Volkerkunde – Hamburg

Museum der Weltkulturen – Frankfurt am Main

Museum für Völkerkunde – Leipzig

Niedersachsisches Landesmuseum- Hannover

Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum – Köln

Switzerland

Musée Barbier-Mueller – Geneva

Musée d’Ethnographie de Genève – Geneva

Museum Rietberg – Zurich

Musée d’Ethnographie – Neuchâtel

Museum der Kulturen – Basel

Others in European Capitals…

Vienna

Museum fur Völkerkunde – Vienna

Zagreb

Ethnographic Museum – Zagreb

Prague

The Náprstek Museum – Prague

Copenhagen

National Museum – Copenhagen

Rome

Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico “Luigi Pigorini” – Rome

Pontificio Museo Missionario-Etnologico – Vaticano / Roma

Oslo

Kulturhistorisk Museum – Universitetet i Oslo

Stockholm

Etnografiska museet – Stockholm

Lisbon

Museu Nacional de Etnologia – Lisbon

Belgrade

Muzej afričke umetnosti - Belgrade

St. Petersburg

Musée d’anthropologie et d’ethnologie – Kunstkamera – St. Petersburg

USA… and Canada

Besides Europe, the USA (with a few in Canada) features some of the greatest collections of African art. Many are scattered in University collections across the US, but the major cities have a least one museum worth taking your time to visit. The greatest experiences without a doubt lie in New York City.

New York City

American Museum of Natural History

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Brooklyn Museum

Guggenheim Museum, NYC

Museum for African Art

Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

Washington DC

National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

Los Angeles

Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA

San Francisco

Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California

Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University

Atlanta

High Museum of Art

Dallas

Dallas Museum of Fine Arts

Denver

Denver Art Museum

Detroit

Detroit Institute of Art

Baltimore

Baltimore Museum of Art

New Orleans

New Orleans Museum of Art

Seattle

Seattle Art Museum

Birmingham

Birmingham Museum of Art

Cleveland

Cleveland Museum of Art

African Art Museum of Maryland

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology

Portland,Maine

Museum of African Tribal Art

Field Museum of Natural History

Hampton University Museum

New Hampshire

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College

University of Iowa Museum of Art

University of Pennsylvania, University Museum

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Calgary,Canada

Glenbow Museum – Calgary

Montreal,Canada

Musée Des Beaux-Arts – Montréal

Toronto, Canada

Royal Ontario Museum – Toronto

Africa

Its sad to see that the Museums in Africa are not on par with collections from Europe and America due to economic instability and corruption but there are some museums worthwhile to visit. After all, not only is Africa the true home to these artifacts but also known to be the cradle of mankind.

South Africa

Museum Africa – Johannesburg

Johannesburg Art Gallery – Johannesburg

University of Witwatersrand Art Galleries – Johannesburg

Gold of Africa Museum – Cape Town

South African National Gallery – Cape Town

University of Cape Town Irma Stern Museum – Cape Town

The Durban Art Gallery – Durban

Local History Museum – Durban

Phanzi Museum – Durban

Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology – Pretoria

Sasol Art Museum – Stellenbosch