The Hargeisa Provincial Museum (HPM) was established in 1977 in

Hargeisa Hargeisa (; so, Hargeysa, ar, هرجيسا) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland. It is located in the Maroodi Jeex region of the Horn of Africa. It succeeded Burco as the capital of the British Somaliland Protector ...

, situated in the

Maroodi Jeex Marodi Jeh ( so, Maroodi Jeex, ar, مرودي جيح) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in western Somaliland. It is the most populous region of the country. It is bordered by Awdal to the west, Sahil to the north, Togdheer to the eas ...

region in Somaliland. It was the first museum to be established in the country since independence in 1960.

Establishment

In the mid-1970s, a strong cultural movement arose in

. This movement was the driving force behind the establishment of the museum. The museum was a part of a cultural center in the city that consisted of a theater, a library and a provincial museum. The building consisted of two concentric rings with a meeting area and temporary exhibit room. The circular building in the center was inspired by the "mundul" which is a traditional hut used by Somali farmers. The museum was 650 m² large and was designed and built by a local contractor, Osman Dahir Adan.

Collection

When the museum was opened in 1977, it had an ethnographic exhibition, most of the parts for which had been donated by the residents of Hargeisa. The items where displayed in two 20 meters long cabinets without any glass, one in each of the halls. There were only two attendants, the gardener and a cleaning woman and both the collection and building soon started to deteriorate. Renovating was started in 1981. The two large showcases where dismantled and 23 smaller cases with glass were built. Netting was installed in front of the windows, the building repainted and the collection was cleaned. Original it had been around 4,000 items on display. However, the new exhibition was reduced to around 1.400 items, with the rest was put into storage. A special display was made for firearms used by

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Sayid Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan ( so, Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan; 1856–1920) was a Somali religious and military leader of the Dervish movement, which led a two-decade long confrontation with various colonial empires including the British, ...

and his men between 1901 and 1921.

Destruction

The museum was completely destroyed due to the Isaaq genocide in 1988.

Reconstruction

Reconstruction is taking place on the building and is set to be completed in 2012.

References

{{Authority control National museums Museums in Somaliland Museums established in 1977 Buildings and structures in Hargeisa 1977 establishments in Africa

Establishment

Collection

Destruction

Reconstruction

See also

References