Henriette-Bathily Women's Museum, Women's museum in Place du Souvenir Africain et de la Diaspora, Dakar, Senegal
The Henriette-Bathily Women's Museum is an art museum in Dakar housed in a colonial building from 1777 with two exhibition levels. The spaces display photographs, craft objects, and personal items documenting the lives and achievements of Senegalese women.
The museum was founded in 1994 on Goree Island through collaboration between filmmaker Ousmane William Mbaye and director Annette Mbaye d'Erneville. It relocated to Dakar in 2015 to serve a wider audience.
The collection displays objects from the daily lives of women across different Senegalese ethnic communities, including tools, instruments, and pottery. These items tell stories about the varied roles and skills that women have held in Senegalese society.
The place has a documentation center, audiovisual room, and garden cafe for visitors. A boutique selling locally-made goods and a cultural space for events add to the visitor experience.
The museum runs specialized training programs for women with disabilities in traditional craft techniques. These programs in cloth dyeing, batik, weaving, and embroidery give participants real job skills.
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