Dundo Museum was the first exhibition centre built in Angola. It was built in 1936 by the former diamond company Diamang, now ENDIAMA, and is located in the capital of Lunda Norte, the city of Dundo.
According to Hoties Angola, the museum promoted ethnographic campaigns in the Dundo region and in more remote areas such as Camaxilo (1937), Canzar, Alto Zambeze (1939), and finally (1946), Alto Chicapa, Tchiboco, “homeland of Quiocos.” the museum tells a collective memory of the entire region of Eastern Angola.
The first gallery delineate the entrance to a typical village of the Lunda, Tchokwe People and a lion which symbolizes traditional spiritual guardian.
In 1957, the Director of Dundo museum, stated that there was a significant increase in research activities carried out by more than 260 corresponding scientists the world over. In terms of art discovery, the museum has under its guard about 9,000 objects and 30,000 specimens of natural history and has a herbarium with various samples of plants of this region some of them with therapeutic effect and an archaeological collection yet to be inventoried.
Until December 1972, the museum held about 13, 216 pieces in its various collections. Today, it has only 1,000 ethnographic objects. Few pieces have been recovered so far. They were recovered in the Kingdom of Belgium by the Sindika Dokolo Foundation, and in 2019 were delivered to the Museum of Dundo in representation of this population.
Dundo museum is one of the main destinations for scientists and tourists interested in learning about the history and culture of eastern Angola, and is considered as one of the most important cultural heritage in Africa.
