Guinea: Conakry – National Museum of Guinea
Like almost everything in Guinea, the National Museum is in a state of total disarray, disintegration, and decay. The museum was originally established by the French and housed some priceless articles from the colonial past. After independence, Guinea chose Islam as the state religion and prohibited any artistic expression for the next thirty years of a brutal dictatorship, and the museum stored many traditional cultural items. By the 90s, when coups started happening almost annually, the museum lost almost all of its collections sans a couple monuments and bulkier items. Today the museum is officially closed, but a kind museum keeper showed us what’s left.
