The national museum sits on a large open campus on the eastern side of the city, with several pavilions arranged around a central courtyard. The collections are arranged by ethnic group — Mossi, Bobo, Lobi, Gourmantché, Bissa, Peul — with masks, fetishes, textiles, agricultural tools and pottery from each.
Allow at least an hour. The signage is in French only, but the objects are striking on their own. The Lobi divination figures and the Bobo masks are particularly memorable. A small bookshop near the entrance sells decent monographs in French on the masks and on Burkinabé textiles.