Kenya, China museums to sign deals to promote displays

Kenyan and Chinese museums are in discussions on an agreement that will promote the exchange of collections, an Kenyan official said on Sunday.

The deal will be signed before the end of the year between the National Museum of Kenya and the Palace Museum of Beijing, Huhan Provincial Museum and Guangzhou Provincial Museum, Director General of the National Museums of Kenya Mzalendo Kibunja said.

"The agreement will facilitate Kenya's artifacts to be displayed in China and Chinese materials to be shown at Kenyan Museums," Kibunja told Xinhua in Nairobi.

Kenya plans to hold a six-month exhibition in the three Chinese museums beginning December 2016.

"The exhibition will display the country's diverse culture of 42 tribes as well as 'oldest fossils of human kind'," he said.

The three Chinese museums were selected because over 120 million people visit the them annually, he said.

"We hope to leverage the partnership to increase the number of Chinese tourists who visit Kenya," he noted.

As part of the deal, the Chinese museums are also expected to display their artifacts in Kenya in 2017.

According to Kibunja, Kenya's bond with China dates back to 600 years ago when the trading fleets of China's early Ming dynasty reached the coast of East Africa, before the Europeans set foot there.

"So we are keen to emphasize the good relations between the two nations," he said.

The two nations are also set to start talks on renewing an agreement on excavating the remains of a Chinese ship that sank off the coast of Kenya over 600 years ago. Enditem