Eileen Musundi

Biography

Eileen is a public programmer in exhibitions design and development. She has over eighteen years’ experience designing and developing exhibitions for museums and before that, eight years’ experience in the private sector in design related fields.

Eileen is currently the Head of the Exhibitions Section, under the Directorate of Antiquities, Sites and Monuments, National Museums of Kenya. Her responsibilities consist of supporting the Exhibitions team to deliver on its core functions to the museum and linking with the various departments that provide research and objects for the exhibitions. She also works closely with the Education and Public Programmes sections in delivering and interpreting public programmes for the museum, and with the various curators in coming up with new exhibitions and maintaining the established ones.

The National Museums of Kenya is a multi-disciplinary institution with a vibrant scientific, art and cultural research basis that has exposed Eileen to a wide array of opportunities. Among the topics she has enjoyed disseminating are the Kanga Stories textile exhibition, the People with Disabilities exhibition and Rebirth of a Legend that tells the story of a famous revered snake. With the British Museum’s AOA department, she shared skills with colleagues in Ethiopia towards the refurbishment of the permanent history exhibition at the National Museum of Ethiopia.

In addition to design work, Eileen worked as a Curator at the Nairobi Gallery, Karen Blixen Museum and at the Nairobi National Museum.

She furthered her training in education programmes by taking part in the British Museums’ Getty East Africa Programme from 2013-2014. This programme offered a series of workshops on core museum skills for staff working at the national museums of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The main objective was to create a network of dedicated museum professionals in both national and regional museums.

In 2023, she was appointed to the four-month African art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/26/arts/design/museums-artist-in-residence.html

Eileen is currently working on her MA in Design

At the British Museum
During her time on the International Training Programme in 2008, Eileen was based in the Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas and her partner placement was spent at the National Museum Wales. Her experiences at the ITP were the confidence boost she needed to find her place in the museum world.

Legacy Projects
In March 2010 Eileen attended the Cairo Conference Towards a global network where she presented a paper on what she had gained, both professionally and personally, from attending the ITP and her career development since the programme.

Eileen returned to the British Museum in 2013 in the role of Senior Fellow. She supported the ITP team in the build up to, during and after the annual programme attended by 21 museum professionals from 10 countries.

In November 2015 Eileen attended the ITP Mumbai Workshop Creating Museums of World Stories. The workshop was held at CSMVS and was attended by many ITP fellows from different years and countries, UK partners and British Museum Colleagues.

In November 2018 Eileen participated in the ITP MA Conference programme in Belfast. With fellows from Egypt, Lesotho and Turkey, Eileen attended a programme structured around National Museums Northern Ireland and the three-day MA Conference on Dissent: inspiring hope, embracing change.

Eileen is also a member of the ITP Advisory Board.

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 2 (2015), Legacy projects and cascade training: ITP legacy project: past participant