Introduction National Museum

The museum is defined as “a permanent non-profit institution in service of the society and its development, open to the general public, and responsible for doing research on, acquiring, conserving and communicating the physical evidence of Man and his environment, especially for exposition, educational purposes.

The missions of the National Museum of Burkina Faso are:

• The collecting, conserving and diffusion of national heritage objects by expositions, catalogues, and
museums
• the collecting and treatment of relevant data of the Burkinabé oral tradition
• the negociation of necessary agreements for the repatriation of cultural goods in private foreign collections, especially from ex-colonial powers and from neighboring countries and institutions whose territory was at one time that of Burkina Faso.

History of the museum

The origin and creation of the National Museum goes back to the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN).

• 1962 :	The National Museum was created by the law 42/62/AN of November the 13th 1962. It was part of the Direction des Affaires Culturelles (DAC) which later became ‘la Direction Générale des Affaires Culturelles (DGAC). This was later renamed to ‘Direction des Musées, Sites et Monuments’.
• 1981 :	Creation of the National Museum Project.
• 1982 :	Renamed ‘Direction du Patrimoine Artistique et Culturel (DPAC).
• 1982 :	Renamed the DPAC to Direction des Arts Plastique et de l’Artisanat d’Arts (DAPAA) .
• 1988 :	Renamed to ‘Direction du Patrimoine Culturel’ (DPC).
• 1999 :	The National Museum becomes an autonomous entity.
• 2003 :	Creation of the ‘Musée National en Etablissement Public de l’Etat à caractère Scientifique Culturel et Technique’ (EPSCT). The main bodies are the ‘Direction Générale’, the ‘Conseil d’Administration’ and the ‘Conseil Scientifique et Technique’.

The buildings of the museum

The museum is built on a walled compound. There are four isolated buildings of which one administrative building, two exposition halls, and a souvenir shop. The current infrastructure:

Two exposition halls of 200 square meter each. The construction was completed in 2004 for the first and the second in 2007. The exposition hall hosts temporary and travelling expositions.

The administrative building has seven offices, a meeting room, an internet room, a cafeteria, an entrance hall and two toilets.

The collections and visitor statistics

Origin and evolution

The first collections (approximately 174 objects) are dated from the colonial period and were the work of researchers of the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) – Ouagadougou section. After the independence, a collection campaign permitted the collection of roughly half of the current collection. In the 1980’s, a collection of about 250 textiles was obtained. The contemporary art works are primarily those of the winning categories of ‘Arts Plastiques’ of the National Week of Culture or ‘Semaine Nationale de la Culture’ (SNC).

There are about 5000 objects in the current collection

- 85% ethnographic objects

- 4% archeological objects

- 10% contemporary art objects

- 1% miscellaneous objects

The collections are not representative of the different cultural groups in Burkina Faso. Ten ethnic groups out of sixty are represented at the National Museum. A third of these collections belongs to the Moaga group. The main groups present are the Moose, the Gurunsi, The Bobos, the Senufo, the Bwaba, the Dagara, the Lobis, the Sans, the Bisa, the Gulmãceba, the Peuls, the Kurumba and the Markas.

Visitor Statistics

Year	Tourists	Nationals		TOTAL
		Adults	Students
2004	149	397	3047	3593
2005	354	852	4019	5225
2006	561	1009	5413	6983
TOTAL	1064	2258	12479	15801

The number of visits is increasing slightly. This satisfies management and encourages the National Museum to persevere in their endeavor. The National Museum is mainly visited by groups of students in tours organized as extracurricular school activities.

Expositions, pedagogic and cultural activities

Since two years, the museum organizes activities mobilizing schools. It is from this vision that guided visits, competitions and manifestations are organized. These activities allow roughly 2000 students and incites others to come visit the museum. Additionally, the sponsoring of the Minister of Basic Education and Alphabetization (MEBA) has favored the importance and necessity of inserting the safeguard of the National Heritage in the scholastic programs.

	Expositions realized in the year 2006 - 2007
1.	« The masterpieces of ritual arts » at the SIAO 2006.
2.	« The masks of Burkina » at the FESPACO 2007.
3.	« Origin and typology of masks: the case of the Nuni, Bwas, Mosse ».
4.	« The expression of the fertility in the Burkinabé sculptures » at the SITHO - October 2007
	Current activities 2007 - 2008
1.	Exposition at the National Museum in partnership with the USA - November 2007
2.	Exposition at the National Museum in partnership with the Swiss – February 2008
3.	. Exposition at the National Week of Culture ‘SNC’ - 2008
4.	Exposition at the National Museum in partnership with the Museum Quai Branly - April 2008
5.	Exposition at the National Museum in partnership with the Germans – June 2008

Capacity and Functioning

The main funding of the National Museum comes from Government Aid. This budget varies in accordance with annual necessities.

There are 22 people working at the National Museum.

Division	Number of people
DIRECTION GENERALE	3
DIRECTION DE LA CONSERVATION ET DE LA DOCUMENTATION	2
DIRECTION DES EXPOSITIONS ET DE L’ANIMATION	5
DIRECTION DE LA RECHERCHE, DE LINFORMATIQUE ET DE L’AUDIOVISUEL	2
DIRECTION DE L’ADMI NISTRATION ET DES FINANCES	3
SUPPORTING STAFF	7

Photo Album

Contact, Opening hours and Prices

The Opening Hours are as follows:

Tuesday to Saturday:	Morning: 9:00 - 12:30
	Afternoon: 15:00 - 18:00

Current Tariffs are the following:	Foreigners:	1000 FCFA
	Nationals:	500 FCFA
	Higher education students:	200 FCFA
	Lower education students:	100 FCFA

These tariffs are adapted to the income of the visitors and do not limit visits although nationals find the pricing prohibitive.