The Chichiri Museum, also known as the Museum of Malawi, is the national history and culture museum and the best place to get a grounding in what shaped this country. The current building opened in 1966, though the institution traces its origins to the Nyasaland Museum established by legislation in 1957.
The collection ranges widely: traditional tools, jewellery, musical instruments, and ceremonial objects sit alongside exhibits on the slave trade and the Moir Brothers' agreement with local chiefs, early currency, and the transition to independence. A reconstructed Chewa-style homestead gives a sense of rural domestic life, and a Gule Wankulu display covers the secret society and its masked dance traditions. Outside, the transport section includes steam engines and a bus from the segregation era — a concrete reminder of how recently official discrimination was part of daily life here.
The museum is on the Blantyre-Limbe road near the civic offices, a short minibus ride east of the city centre.