National Museum of Mali

The National Museum of Mali is an archaeological and ethnological museum in Bamako, Mali. It presents various permanent and temporary exhibitions of the country’s history. It displays costumes, musical instruments and ritual objects of different ethnic groups living in that country.

The museum began under French colonial rule as the Sudanese Museum. It was opened on 14 February 1953 under the direction of Ukrainian archaeologist Y. Shumowskyi. Shumovskyi had worked in the museum for nine years and gathered a portion of nearly 3000 holdings.

After Mali’s independence in 1960, the Sudanese Museum became the National Museum of Mali, with new objectives of promoting national unity and celebrating the country’s traditional culture.

It is open to members of the public from Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays) at 09h00am until 18h00pm.