Musée africain de l'île d'Aix, African art museum in Île-d'Aix, France
The Musée africain de l'île d'Aix is housed in former fishing houses on the island, with two angular gallery spaces inside. The rooms display taxidermied African animals, ethnographic objects, and dioramas that recreate landscapes such as Mount Kenya, Kilimanjaro, and Sudanese savannas.
Baron Napoleon Gourgaud founded this museum in 1933 to display items collected during his three African expeditions between 1913 and 1931. The collection reflects early 20th-century interests in exploring distant lands and presenting their cultures in Europe.
The collection displays masks from Gabon, traditional knives, and shields that reveal how different African communities crafted and used these objects. These items show the artistic skills and daily practices of the people who made them.
The museum sits near the pier on Rue Napoleon in the southern part of Île-d'Aix. Its interior preserves the original 1930s design, which adds character to your visit and helps you move easily between the gallery spaces.
The museum preserves a dromedary that arrived from Egypt in the 1930s, remaining an unusual specimen for a European location. This taxidermied animal stands as a reminder of how early collectors sought to bring distant wildlife into their exhibits.
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