The National Ethnographic Museum of Guinea-Bissau

The National Ethnographic Museum of Guinea-Bissau is one of the two main museums in the country.

The museum began collection actions between 1985 and 1986, having been officially inaugurated on May 31, 1988 in facilities located in the Ajuda District, together with the National Archive, receiving about a hundred pieces from the ethnographic collection and national archives of the Portuguese Guinea Studies Center, active between 1946 and 1975.

During the 1998-1999 civil war, the museum building was used as a base for the Senegalese Armed Forces. The ethnographic collection and the National Archives suffered irreparable damage. Many objects and documents were permanently lost, including an important photographic property documenting the museum’s early years of activity between 1996 and 1990.

During the visit to the city, the marks and cultural mixtures can be seen in the National Ethnographic Museum, which brings together a large collection of art, crafts, archaeological records and other objects that show the rich and varied culture of local tribes and european influence on the customs of the region.

The building located at the left side of the Palace is the National Ethnographic Museum of Bissau. The square fills up on weekends with families strolling, children playing, young couples dating on park benches and as a hot spot and a meeting point.