The African Museum at China's Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) is the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland with the theme of African civilization. ZJNU is also the first Chinese university to set up a comprehensive institute of African studies. The museum was completed on October 29, 2010, and open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays.

"I'm really attracted by the precious African art. They all look so enthralling to me," said Liang Zi, a Chinese photographer, on her micro-blog after visiting the African Museum.

"I hope more people come here and support the museum's development," she said. Liang frequently travels to various African countries with her camera.

On display

The museum features various traditional African art, musical instruments, divine focuses, agricultural tools, masks, sculptures and garments.

The museum has more than 500 pieces of precious artwork, most of which were donated by people from remote African villages. The exhibits maintain a deep sense of original culture.

The United African Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo is also one of the donors. Some of their donated pieces are on display now, and the others will be available to the public soon.

According to Liu Hongwu, Director of the Institute of African Studies at ZJNU, in the future, the museum will expand its scale, and branches of China-Africa history and Africa sciences are scheduled. "We will also build [an] online African museum," he said.

As of early March, the museum had received nearly 7,000 visitors. The visitors are not just from the university and Jinhua City where ZJNU is located, but also from farther surrounding areas like Hangzhou.

Liu told ChinAfrica that visitors are much more enthusiastic about the museum than previously predicted. "Many people are inspired by the exhibitions they have seen and want to go to Africa for themselves. Others are amazed at seeing so many spectacular African handicrafts and express that they plan to buy some in the future."

African art elsewhere

Besides ZJNU's African Museum, museums in different Chinese cities are presenting distinctive African art to the public.

Between January 25 and March 31, Zhengzhou Museum in Henan Province held a free-entry African art treasure exhibition, displaying nearly 160 sculptures from indigenous tribes in Nigeria, Sudan, and other African countries. This was the first time Henan had ever exhibited so many valuable African artworks at such a scale.

In an e-mail to ChinAfrica, a spokesman for the museum said, "We want more people in our province to know about African culture." It boosts understanding and friendship between the two peoples, he said. The exhibition had received more than 30,000 visitors as of early March.

In addition, from May to July, the Shanghai Museum will stage a "Congo River: Arts of Central Africa" exhibition, displaying over 90 Central African artworks collected by the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and other art institutions.