Museum of Black Civilizations

For decades, the most prominent homes for African art were within museums in Europe. That has changed, especially with the December opening of Senegal’s Museum of Black Civilizations, a repository for African art, culture and history. The $34 million project, some 50 years in the making, is designed to be a creative laboratory that will help shape the continent’s future sense of identity, according to museum director Hamady Bocoum. It also hopes to reclaim some of the continent’s lost past: the museum has room for some 18,000 artworks, but many of the galleries are not yet filled. Senegal has demanded the restitution of artworks stolen during colonial times, prompting some countries, like France, to lend pieces for the opening. —Aryn Baker