The Cercle Africain, also known as the African Circle Museum opened in 2018 is the only museum at Point Noir. It was funded by revenue from the Congolese petroleum industry in the form of Total Congo and Eni Congo.
This museum is housed in an art-deco fronted building built in 1947 as the Court of Justice at the site where Congolese Africans were forbidden to cross into the French “Cercle Civil”. The museum is built on one floor, with a central exhibition hall, and an adjacent room followed by a courtyard which serves as an art gallery.
The central exhibition hall has a very fine ethnographic collection from the Congo Republic with a stress on the coastal and southern parts of the country. Some of the best masks, talismans and sculptures from the Punu, Bavili, Songye, Léga and other ethnic groups are displayed. The exhibits are very well labelled suggesting that some professional consultant was involved. However, the grouping of several pieces at the centre, beyond reach of the viewer is problematic. It is hard to see the label or appreciate the artwork. Apart for Congolese ethnographic pieces there were also some from Angola. Most of the labelling is in French, though titles are often also in English.
The positioning of the ethnographic collection as the central starting point was a statement that there were vibrant cultures in the region before the arrival of the Europeans and that the port city was built on the basis of the local Bavili communities. The side room takes the narrative further by concentrating on the development of Point Noir as a port city by utilising charts, maps, antique photographs and some objects.
The guide was very informative and spoke French and English, but his preacher-like tone did not suit foreign (American, Brazilian, British, Canadian and Chinese) visitors who also had to deal with the terrible acoustics of the main hall, with its bare concrete walls. This museum is definitely not for large groups of more than four to six people. Smaller groups would benefit from a more personal and less lectured guidance, while being able to see the many pieces more clearly.
The rear art gallery space houses temporary artworks by contemporary Congolese artists. There is a covered area that can be used for education workshops.
Museum Information: Tel +242 05 079 9227
Location: Lumumba Roundabout, Point Noir. Republic of Congo.
Admission: 500 Congolese Francs. Children under 14 are free.
Opening Hours: 09:00-20:00 Tuesday to Friday, 09:00-16:00 Saturday/Sunday. Closed on Mondays.
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Hailing from Mombasa, Kenya. Cliff's research interests began in 1982 when he first travelled Asia following the routes of the epic voyages of the Fifteenth century Chinese admiral Zheng He. He later graduated with a BA(Hons) in Geography with Asian Studies (Ulster University). After a career in tourism Cliff became a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). He returned to historical research in 2001 on a variety of themes leading to an exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society on the Bombay Africans (2007) and is regarded as the world specialist on the subject. Cliff was Honorary Research Assistant to Royal Holloway's Geography Department (2011-2014) and Visiting Research Assistant to Dalian Maritime University, China (2011-2015). Cliff was researcher-curator on the Bait-Jelmood Museum, Qatar (2013-2016) and research-curator for the National Museum of Qatar, specialising in the Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean (2016-2018). Cliff was Visiting Research Assistant at the University of Hong Kong (2016-2023). He completed a MA(Res) on the History of Africa and the African Diaspora (University of Chichester) with distinction in 2021. He is presently distance-working on the African collection of the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC Vancouver, Canada and continues to research and consult for a number of UK heritage institutions. He describes himself as a historical geographer and has been a speaker on various subjects in China, Malaysia, Canada, USA, South Africa, Italy, the UK and on the cruise liners Silversea and Swan Hellenic. He has numerous papers and chapters in publications around the world.