Contemporary art in Africa is lively and diversified, overflowing with artists that use their work to express the continent's rich cultural variety, natural beauty, and historical history. Despite the lack of official exhibition facilities in many African nations, an increasing number of great independent art galleries are promoting and displaying the finest of contemporary African art.  As varied and numerous as the region's various civilizations, museums on the African continent serve as repositories for cultural artifacts and contemporary arts. If you want to be transported into a world of culture and art, here are five museums to visit.

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

Visitors interested in modern and contemporary art may find it at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. In terms of contemporary African art, this museum is one of the biggest in the world. Modern African art has evolved significantly over the years because of the museum's extensive collection and exhibition of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Cape Town-based construction features 6,000 square meters of exhibition space in 80 gallery spaces, a rooftop sculpture garden, advanced storage and conservation facilities, a bookstore, a café and bar, and reading rooms. According to Archello, additionally, the museum has centers for a costume institute, photography, and curatorial excellence, as well as centers for performance and art education. South African artists such as Frances Goodman, Mary Sibande, and Athi-Patra Ruga; Kenyan artists Cyrus Kabiru and Ghada Amer; Beninese artists Julien Sinzogan and Kudzanai Chiurai; Zimbabwean artists Nandipha Mntambo and Njideka Akunyili Crosby; and Nigerian artists Njideka Akunyili Crosby are among those represented here. It's an incredible collection that covers painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media, and it's a must-see for art fans and anybody interested in the breadth of cutting-edge works being made on the continent and in the diaspora today.

Figure 1 - Architecture Photograph of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. Source - Google

The Pretoria Art Museum

The Pretoria Art Museum is a world-renowned institution dedicated to South African art. They aim to acquire, record, and conserve exceptional specimens of mostly South African art, to study and curate exhibitions from the permanent collection, and to present significant national and worldwide traveling exhibitions, reinforced by educational initiatives. On October 19, 1962, the Pretoria Art Museum's foundation stone was set. In recent years, the museum has placed a greater emphasis on modern South African art. This includes urban, rural, and traditional art. While South African art remains the museum's primary emphasis, the institution collects sculptures and paintings by internationally renowned artists whenever feasible. According to South Africa.net, the museum's permanent collection contains works by famous South African painters such Pieter Wenning, Henk Pierneef, Frans Oerder, Anton van Wouw, and Gerard Sekoto. The Pretoria Art Museum now concentrates on urban and rural art, including paintings, sculpture, graphics, tapestries, photographic prints, and ceramics. It contains numerous exhibition spaces that are used to house concurrent displays of works from the permanent collection as well as temporary local and international exhibitions.

Figure 2 - Photograph of The Pretoria Art Museum. Source - Google

National Museum of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is teeming with ancient sights and museums that will steal your energy as you inhale sharp breaths of wonder and awe. Ethiopia's National Museum is one of the greatest venues to spend some quiet time with humanity's overwhelming history. The National Museum of Ethiopia, founded in 1944, has fossil remnants of early hominids, old Ethiopian archaeological artifacts, regalia and relics from past monarchs such as Emperor Haile Selassie, and artwork spanning from traditional to modern. Indeed, the Ethiopian art exhibition is a mesmerizing sight. It encompasses anything from medieval parchment paintings to twentieth-century contemporary art. Though the National Museum of Ethiopia has several significant collections, it is most known for housing Lucy, a fossilized specimen of Australopithecus Afarensis, an early hominid species that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago. She was called ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’ after the song most commonly played at the dig site where she was discovered, however, she also has an Amharic name, ‘Dinkinesh’, which means "you are magnificent." According to Lonely Planet, the collection includes an intricate bronze oil lamp depicting a dog pursuing an ibex from before the first century AD, a remarkable 4th-century BC rock-hewn chair embossed with mythological ibexes, and ancient Sabaean inscriptions. The room's center section is devoted to a spectacular display of royal regalia, including Emperor Haile Selassie's massive carved wooden throne. On the first floor, a vibrant exhibition of Ethiopian art features works ranging from early parchment to twentieth-century canvas oil paintings by notable contemporary artists. The second floor has a secular arts and crafts collection, which includes traditional weaponry, jewelry, kitchenware, apparel, and musical instruments. 

Figure 3 - Photograph of National Museum of Ethiopia. Source - Google

Rwanda Art Museum, Kigali 

Formerly the Presidential Palace Museum, the Rwanda Art Museum in Kigali is a new museum that features modern artworks from Rwanda and throughout the world. The museum's mission is to educate visitors about the uniqueness of Rwandan innovation. It examines the evolution of art from antiquity to the current day, examining how traditional and modern ideas may coexist and mix. According to their official website, the presidential jet's FALCON 50 flying wreckage from the April 6, 1994 crash remains in place in the garden, which will remain a national historic monument. Although it is the country's sole modern art museum at the time, it is not the country's first art museum. From 2006 until 2018, the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda ran an art museum at Rwesero-Nyanza in a structure constructed in the 1950s for King Mutara III Rudahigwa as a new royal palace. Inside the museum, visitors are met by artworks that were originally shown at Rwesero, as well as new acquisitions from other Rwandan artists. The museum's walls are home to 127 artworks created by 51 different artists. The works on display include sculptures, paintings, mixed media, and ceramics.

 Figure 3 - Photograph of National Museum of Ethiopia. Source - Google

Rwanda Art Museum, Kigali 

Formerly the Presidential Palace Museum, the Rwanda Art Museum in Kigali is a new museum that features modern artworks from Rwanda and throughout the world. The museum's mission is to educate visitors about the uniqueness of Rwandan innovation. It examines the evolution of art from antiquity to the current day, examining how traditional and modern ideas may coexist and mix. According to their official website, the presidential jet's FALCON 50 flying wreckage from the April 6, 1994 crash remains in place in the garden, which will remain a national historic monument. Although it is the country's sole modern art museum at the time, it is not the country's first art museum. From 2006 until 2018, the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda ran an art museum at Rwesero-Nyanza in a structure constructed in the 1950s for King Mutara III Rudahigwa as a new royal palace. Inside the museum, visitors are met by artworks that were originally shown at Rwesero, as well as new acquisitions from other Rwandan artists. The museum's walls are home to 127 artworks created by 51 different artists. The works on display include sculptures, paintings, mixed media, and ceramics.

Figure 5 -  Inside of Omenka Gallery. Source - Google

 Anand Subramanian is a freelance photographer and content writer based out of Tamil Nadu, India. Having a background in Engineering always made him curious about life on the other side of the spectrum. He leapt forward towards the Photography life and never looked back. Specializing in Documentary and  Portrait photography gave him an up-close and personal view into the complexities of human beings and those experiences helped him branch out from visual to words. Today he is mentoring passionate photographers and writing about the different dimensions of the art world.

Read more from Anand Subramanian:

Top 5 Black Contemporary Artists Who Are Making a Cultural Difference

Every form of art has established rules and borders around its genres in the creative spectrum, but contemporary artists have shattered those borders and redefined the meaning of art. Read More » 

 

Shaping the Contemporary Art: Arthur Jafa - Artist Review

“I've pushed myself to push toward things that disturb me. I've developed a habit of recording these things because these things often disappear” - Arthur Jafa Read More » 

 

NFT and Growth of African Artists on the Platform

African art sales, even though they are on the rise, still only make up less than 1% of the $50 billion global art market. What if there was a way for African artists to keep making money... Read More »