ABSTRACT
What does it mean to have evolved “out of Africa” for those within Africa, a position regularly disregarded in evolutionary discourses both inside and outside of museums? Through conventional anthropological language, Africa has been impressed upon many as the continent from which “we” arose and eventually escaped. With this vision of “out of Africa,” the continent, after achieving the once-coveted position of the Cradle of Mankind, struggles against persistent stigmatization as the fundamental, though ignoble, bottom rung. In this chapter, the National Museums of Kenya offers a unique glimpse into the implications of African origins narratives to African people themselves (or at least to some of those who visit the National Museums) and reveals that Kenyan museum visitors, like the black visitors already discussed, produce signifi cant negotiated readings and counter-readings of the museum and its exhibitions.
