Raymond Silverman, a historian of the visual cultures of Africa, is Professor Emeritus of History of Art, African Studies and Museum Studies at University of Michigan.

George Henry Okello Abungu is an archaeologist and Emeritus Director-General of the National Museums of Kenya. He is the founding Chairman of Africa 2009, the International Standing Committee on the Traffic in Illicit Antiquities, and the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa.

Peter Probst is Professor in the Department of Art History at Tufts University, Boston, where he directs the Museums, Memory and Heritage Program. He has published widely on African modernism, iconoclasm, and the politics of heritage.

List of figures; List of tables; List of contributors; Introduction; Chapter 1:Visibility, Democracy, and the National Museum Network in Morocco; Chapter 2:The Sudan National Museum and National Heritage in Sudan;Chapter 3:National Identities and the National Museum of Ethiopia; Chapter 4:National Museums of Kenya: From Inception to the Post-Devolution Era; Chapter 5:Collecting Obsolete Things at the Uganda Museum;Chapter 6:Korea and the New National Museum in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Building a Museum, Building Relations?;Chapter 7:Le Musée des Civilisations Noires: A Continuous Creation of Humanity;Chapter 8:The National Museum of Mali, 1960 - Present: Protecting and Promoting the National Cultural Heritage;Chapter 9:Le Musée National Boubou Hama du Niger: A Return to Research;Chapter 10:Giving the National Museum of Ghana a New Life;Chapter 11:The Nigerian National Museums and the Challenges of National Unity and Development: The Black Benz and the Return of Lost Treasures;Chapter 12:Towards a Critical History of the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe: Rethinking Pastness and Materiality;Chapter 13:Rethinking the National and the Museum at Iziko Museums of South Africa;Coda:National Museums in Africa: A Conversation; Index.