Introduction and Historical Background
The first East African museums, like other early museums in Africa, were introduced during colonial times. They were started either by amateurs or professionals interested in particular scientific disciplines such as earth sciences, botany and zoology, archaeology and paleontology, and ethnography or by colonial governments as places of study, collecting and exhibiting nature, and/or local people’s cultural heritage.
The museums in East Africa were at the beginning all located in the big capital cities notably Nairobi in Kenya, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and Kampala in Uganda. These often took the form of natural history museums with strong ethnographic component to depict “the natives and their cultures,” the geology and land forms, and nature in “its raw form” of animals and plants. This was mostly for the colonialist administration and settler communities’ consumption and enjoyment.
The museum was seen as a mirror of local traditional society...
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Further Reading
Abungu, G.H.O. 1996. Forte Jesus de Mombaça: Poder, autoridade e conflito. Oceanos 28: 96-102.
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Farah, I. 2006. National museums of Kenya, in G.H.O. Abungu & L. Abungu (ed.) Africa: a continent of achievements (UNESCO Museum International 229-30). Paris: UNESCO.
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Abungu, G.H.O. (2014). East Africa: Museums. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1249
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