Conakry National Museum, National museum in Kaloum district, Conakry, Guinea
The Sandervalia National Museum occupies a park in the Kaloum district of Conakry, near the Ignace Deen Hospital. Its permanent exhibition is divided into three parts: worship, arts and economic activities. To the right of the entrance stands a masonry box built in 1896 by Aimé Olivier de Sanderval, a concrete arch sometimes used by artists to display paintings.
The museum's roots go back to 1936, when colonial authorities proposed IFAN centre museums; Georges Balandier began ethnographic collecting in 1947, and the first public display opened in 1950. The museum itself was founded in 1960, after independence, and in 1993 became a general directorate under the culture ministry. The masonry box to the right of the entrance was built in 1896 by Aimé Olivier de Sanderval.
The museum's name comes from the Sandervalia quarter, itself named after Aimé Olivier de Sanderval, the French explorer who built the 1896 masonry box by the entrance. In the courtyard, colonial-era statues of figures such as Almamy Samori Ture stand among musicians and a fisherman with his family, and the cafeteria occupies a hut topped by a giant colonial helmet.
The museum stands in the Sandervalia quarter of Kaloum, near the Ignace Deen Hospital off the 7th boulevard, inside a park where only one of the original large trees remains. One wing was restored with support from the Embassy of Japan. The 1896 masonry box to the right of the entrance is sometimes used informally by artists to show paintings.
In the museum courtyard stand statues of historical figures from Guinea's past, showcasing important people from the country's history. Next to these is a cafeteria building with an unusual design shaped like a colonial military hat.
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