From Colonial Display to Cultural Dialogue

Built in 1936, the Théodore Monod Museum of African Art was born out of the ethnographic gaze of empire. It served as a vessel of classification, where African objects were stripped of context and presented as exotic specimens—reminders of cultural distance, not belonging. But since assuming curatorship in 2016, Dr El Hadji Malick Ndiaye has begun the delicate and deeply political process of reimagining what such a space can become.

For Ndiaye, the goal is not to erase the past, but to reclaim and reframe it. The museum, he argues, must evolve from a static archive to a dynamic cultural dialogue—a place where historical collections can be interrogated, activated, and made relevant through the eyes of living artists and communities. What was once a colonial tool is becoming a vessel for reflection, resistance, and reinvention.

A Curator Rooted in Scholarship and Community

Dr Ndiaye is not a distant administrator. He is both an academic and a cultural agent—trained in art history and postcolonial theory, with a PhD that centres African visual thought. His previous role directing the Dakar Biennale gave him insight into the creative urgency of contemporary African artists. At the museum, he applies this knowledge with precision and care.

He understands the weight of the museum’s history, but he does not allow it to limit its future. Instead, he opens the doors—both literally and metaphorically—for African voices to engage with the space on their own terms. Under his guidance, the museum is becoming not a mausoleum of empire, but a platform for new forms of knowledge rooted in African epistemologies.

Artists as Agents of Reclamation

At the core of Ndiaye’s approach is the idea that contemporary artists are not just commentators—they are co-authors of history. Recent exhibitions have invited artists to respond directly to the museum’s collections, establishing a dialogue across time and context. From Aïda Muluneh’s photographic reimaginings to Soly Cissé’s layered reinterpretations of cultural memory, these works don’t just decorate the space—they disrupt it.

This curatorial methodology turns the museum into a site of creative confrontation. The artists aren’t asked to validate the archive—they are asked to interrogate it, intervene in it, and offer new ways of seeing. It’s a form of curating that prioritises voice, critique, and cultural repair.

Decolonisation as Daily Practice

Dr Ndiaye does not treat decolonisation as a buzzword. For him, it is a process—intellectual, institutional, and intimate. It involves revisiting the language of labels, challenging inherited narratives, diversifying access, and acknowledging the violence embedded in the very structure of the museum.

But it also means building. Through education, public programming, and collaborative partnerships, Ndiaye is cultivating a living institution—one that reflects the complexity of African identity, history, and expression. His work is a reminder that true decolonisation is not an event—it’s a commitment, renewed daily, through the labour of care and the power of curatorial vision.

Final Reflections

What Dr El Hadji Malick Ndiaye is doing in Dakar is more than a curatorial project—it is a form of cultural authorship. At the Théodore Monod Museum, he is transforming a colonial monument into a museum of multiplicity—a place where the past is neither denied nor glorified, but placed in honest conversation with the present.

In a global context where museums grapple with legacies they can no longer ignore, Ndiaye’s work offers a compelling model: one that begins with listening, centres local knowledge, and builds the future from within.