The Somali Museum

Had the opportunity to visit the Somali Museum with my college class and we had a wonderful time. The museum is full of super cool artifacts and stories about the history and people of Somalia. We were lucky enough to get to meet Founder and Executive Director Osman Ali. He has a wealth of knowledge and was so gracious in sharing it with us. Mohamoud was also very gracious and knowledgeable! Highly recommend a visit!

Small but powerful. The best part? The staff was amazing. So incredibly kind, friendly and fun! Don’t be turned off from the size of the museum by the way. We spent about an hour there and we could have easily spent much more time! There is so much information and the tour was excellent and well explained. I appreciated how things were explained, we were invited to ask questions and then given a couple minutes to look around and read more information before we moved on to another section of the museum. The worst part? I wish we would have stayed longer!! It was just lovely. They also have a small gift shop in what I think is the office area. It’s very easy to miss and it’s all in one display case so it’s small but I went home with a book written by the founder of the museum that explains the artifacts even more. It was $20 and worth every penny! I am learning Somali so seeing part of the book written in that language was exciting. I think they need to move the display where people can see it though, otherwise you’ll miss out on some neat items. I also wish the museum was easier to find so more people would know it exists, maybe a bigger sign outside so they know it’s in a basement. Either way, I’ll be stopping by again for sure and our visiting friend from London had a great time too! Mahadsanid!

It was really cool to learn about the culture and history of the Somali people. As someone who's of Somali descent, I learned quite a bit during my visit, which should give you an idea on the level of information offered at this museum. Worth it!

My girlfriend and I had a great experience! We learned so much about the complex and fascinating history of our Somali friends and neighbors. Our tour guide (I'm sorry I cannot remember your name!) really was the highlight of our visit. She was friendly, informative, and opened up about her personal experience with Somalia which was powerful and insightful. The location is really the only downside to this Museum, as it deserves a much larger space with better public visibility. But between the numerous historical artifacts, well laid out displays, and our wonderful tour guide, we spent well over an hour there and would highly recommend this museum to anyone considering a visit!

Our tour guide, Khalid, was incredible! Such a kind and knowledgable human. I recommend everyone visit this incredible spot we have here in Minneapolis!

It's a great start and the young Somali men and women who started this endeavor know they're not quite their yet, with regards to the small space they're currently displaying out of, the lay-out, and the quantity of items displayed at the Museum. The young man who gave us the tour was very knowledgeable of the subject at hand. He made our visit interactive by asking us questions and kept engaging us throughout the tour of Museum. Definitely worth a visit!!!!

Super informative guided tour in a small museum on east lake street. Highly recommended if you’re interested in learning more about the history and culture of Somalia. (Make sure to get a guided tour! We happened to get there when it was opening so the guide was available right away.) Fun fact: Minnesota has the largest population of Somali people outside of Africa.

This is a great little museum! We were surprised how much we learned about Somalia from the tour guide. While many of us are used to the hyper-polish of Big Donor museums, smaller shoe-string museums are often more charming and earnest. Here's hoping for a wonderful future for this institution! (For tourists, it's close to Midtown market (cool food court), which you can walk to along the Greenway bike/walk path. It all makes for a fun outing!)