The Malindi Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located in

Malindi Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban centre ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. The museum is dedicated to the history of the ethnic groups of the Kenyan coast as well as the marine animals that inhabit it.

History

The museum is located in the two story building dating from 1891 also known as House of Columns. The building was constructed by Adulhussein Gulamhussein. The Bohra community sold the building for 2,000 English pounds. The building operated as an Indian trading center since its establishment in 1891. The building that houses the museum was used as Malindi's first native hospital. On the east facade there is a colonnade featuring five round pillars. The building served as a hospital and headquarters of the Department of Fisheries. In 1991, it was declared a national monument. In 1999 the House of Columns was transferred to the

National Museum of Kenya The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is a state corporation that manages museums, sites and monuments in Kenya. It carries out heritage research, and has expertise in subjects ranging from palaeontology, archeology, ethnography and biodiversity ...

and a restoration opened in 2004 as museum. The Malindi District Commissioner building has housed the Ethnographic Museum of coastal Kenya since 2009.

Collections

The museum contains various historical artifacts from Malindi. The museum has exhibits containing traditional objects such as musical instruments, tools and costumes. On the ethnographic section, the museum contains various artifacts of the

Mijikenda peoples Mijikenda ("the Nine Tribes") are a group of nine related Bantu ethnic groups inhabiting the coast of Kenya, between the Sabaki and the Umba rivers, in an area stretching from the border with Tanzania in the south to the border near Somalia in t ...

who are ethnic groups inhabiting the Kenyan coast, including wooden totems, as well as ancient artifacts that belonged to Arabs who settled in Malindi. In addition, the museum features artifacts from other communities that inhabit the Kenyan coast, as well as objects from the Swahili civilization. The museum features exhibits about fish species and the history of Malindi. The museum features temporary exhibits including famous ''Malindi Coelacanth''. The museum also contains artifacts related to the explorer

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

. The museum also has exhibits from the Portuguese period of Kenya's coastal zone, as well as photographs of some of the country's archeological sites. In addition, the museum owns the Webb Memorial Library which has books on the history and culture of the Kenyan coast.

References

Museums in Kenya Malindi {{Africa-museum-stub

History

Collections

See also

References