Ethnographic Museum (Addis Ababa University)

Founded in the 1950s in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Ethnographic Museum is the first museum in the country whose establishment in the 1950s. Situated at Addis Ababa University, at Genete Leul Palace, the idea of a museum was initiated by the chief librarian of the College, Stanislaw Chojnaki. Its collections are from the Old Italian zoological species and donations of ethnographic pieces made by the first graduates of the college.

Its collection was split into two parts in 1963. The zoological species collection evolved into the Natural History Museum while the ethnographic collections formed the basis for the Ethnographic Museum of the newly founded Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES).

It hall has two sections: a small temporary exhibition section and a larger section dealing with the life cycle as believed by Ethiopians. The small exhibition displays ethnographic objects from the museum’s collection while the larger section deals with the richness of material cultures and ways of life. The exhibit is organized in such a way that the visitor goes through all stages of life of some Ethiopian cultures.

The second floor of the museum displays the richness of traditional art. The four walls narrate events and stories of sacred and secular themes. This hall also has a section reserved for the complete music tradition of the country in the library’s ethno-musicological unit.

The museum invites interested members of the public to join the Society of Friends of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and would greatly appreciate the support of voluntary service, gifts or financial donation.