BAMOUN MUSEUM OF ARTS AND TRADITIONS

It is located about one kilometer from the Royal Palace, at the end of a square lined with numerous galleries and craft workshops, and in the middle of which stands a large baobab tree. Access is from the prefecture: turn right onto a dirt road, the Rue des Artisans, which leads straight to the museum. There is no fixed price for the visit. The museum, founded in 1930 by Mose Yepap, a talented collector, is small but well worth a visit, as it boasts a rich collection of objets d'art, well displayed and on view at close quarters. There are clay masks and jars for heating palm and raffia wine, engraved gongs given by the king to notables as a reward for their courage in war, and giant pipes (some two meters long!) in bronze or terracotta. Their sculpted sheaths feature toads, symbols of fertility, spiders, symbols of patience and hard work or wisdom, monkeys or two-headed snakes. Numerous sculpted frescoes recall the wars against the Foulbé and traditional scenes of Bamoun life. The guide is a great help in deciphering the meanings of the sculptures or reminding us that the Bamoun knew the secrets of the forge long before the arrival of the Germans. The adjoining rooms recreate the rooms of a Bamoun home: the kitchen, the room for returning from war, the notable's bedroom...