The oldest museum of Islamic art on the African continent

25 April 2022

The National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art is the oldest museum in Algeria and Africa. The collection was set up in 1835, five years after the French occupation, by Governor General Marshal Clausel, who was appointed by Adrien Berbrugger as first curator.

 

The oldest museum of Islamic art on the African continent

 

From 1838, the museum displayed exhibits of Algerian origin from antiquity through to the Ottoman period. Between 1838 and 1896 this museum moved constantly to different locations until it settled in the beautiful park located on the Mustapha Pasha hills, now known as Freedom Park, where it was officially opened in 1897.

 

Since then, these two sections of the museum’s collection – antique and Islamic – continued to grow, adding new unique pieces. Today, this collection presents the history of Algiers from its Libyan-Punic era to the XX century. The exhibits are displayed in two separate buildings: one of them houses the pre-Islamic collection, the other one – the collection of Islamic art, which was inaugurated in May 2003.

 

The ancient collection is very rich and includes items made in different styles – mosaics, sculpture, and ceramics. Libyan and Latin inscriptions, coins and medals, bronze, ivory and woodwork are of particular interest.

 

The Islamic section was formed largely by exhibits from the first collection of 1854, which included Algerian and Oriental items. Gradually the exposition was enriched by objects discovered during archaeological excavations carried out throughout the country. This extensive collection today includes sculptures from the X century Sedrata, XI century Kala marbles or plaster sculptures from Beni Hammad, as well as chairs from the XI century Almoravid mosques in Algiers and the XII century mosque in Nedrom.

 

North African furniture art is also well represented in this museum. Ottoman-era broidery, clothing, ceramics, weapons, jewelry, embossed brass and handicrafts from both urban centres and the rural areas can be seen in the showcases. Manuscripts and miniatures perfectly complement the collection and are objects of fascination not only to regular visitors, but also to African explorers all over the world.

 

A separate room – the reading hall – is devoted to the museum’s extensive numismatic collection.

 

Unfortunately, in March 2019, Algeria was rocked by protests that led to the looting of the museum. According to the Algerian Ministry of Culture, criminals broke and stole some exhibits, set fire to the administrative offices and destroyed some of the registration documents. However, Algerian authorities soon announced that the artifacts stolen from the museum were returned and that only the wing that had been closed for repairs was damaged by the fire.

 

 

Ilmira Gafiyatullina

Photo: Creative Commons