The Musée Dapper is a private institution created in 1986 and dedicated to both contemporary and traditional African art. It has exhibition galleries as well as venues for performances, and a library. It also publishes important books on African art and literature. The Musée Dapper and the Dapper Foundation have greatly contributed to the exposure of African art through the presentation of some thirty exhibitions over the years, usually at the rate of one or two a year. The museum carries the name of Olfert Dapper, the seventeenth-century Dutch humanist and author of the famous Description de l'Afrique, an essential reference work whose interdisciplinary approach, unique at the time, linked geography, economics, politics, medicine, and the study of traditions.