Why Nairobi’s Museum of Illusions Has Everyone Talking

The Museum of Illusions, a global chain of privately owned museums, made its eagerly anticipated entry into Nairobi on Friday, January 24. The museum is set to offer Kenyans a world of illusions where apparently nothing is as it seems. 

Launched by Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano last evening, the new tourist and cultural attraction is designed to challenge perceptions and spark curiosity by fusing art, science, and technology.

“The Museum of Illusions has exhibits that challenge human perceptions, expand imagination, and kindle the joy of curiosity and wonder. This new type of museum is gaining popularity in every jurisdiction it has been set up in because of its ability to fuse art, science, and technology into fascinating and indelible sensations and images. Such is the magnet tourism thrives on,” Miano noted during the launch.

Museum of Illusions Nairobi is located at Laxcon Court, Ground Floor on Swaminarayan Road. It joins over 50 locations across 25 countries spanning four continents globally. It is the first in the East African region and the third in Africa after Johannesburg and Cairo.  

The museum, which is a walking distance away from the National Museums of Kenya, has three main attractions that visitors will be able to experience.

Guests will enjoy unique attractions such as illusion rooms, installations, and images that make up over 60 visual and educational exhibits that are designed to tease the senses and trick the mind. 

In the illusion rooms, guests will have the chance to experience a tilted room where ‘nothing is quite as it seems’, a reversed room that promises a ‘change of perspective’, and a vortex tunnel that guarantees a ‘mind spinning illusion’.

Features in installations include a ‘cloning table’, ‘head on a platter’, and a ‘beuchet chair’ that all assure guests that anything is indeed possible. The major attractions in the “images” section are holograms and optical illusions.

It is open from 10:00am to 8:00pm on Monday to Wednesday. From Thursday to Sunday, it opens from 10:00am to 9:00pm.

To visit the museum, visitors will have to part with a fee that varies for adults, children, and students. Adults are required to pay Ksh1,500, students Ksh1,100 while children aged between 4-12 years will pay Ksh900. A family package that caters to two adults and two children goes for Ksh3,900. There is free entry for infants and children under four years.

While guests can pay for the tickets upon arrival, the museum strongly advised interested visitors to book and pay for their tickets in advance through their website. Of importance is that the Museum of Illusions only operates on a cashless basis. Mobile money or card payments are the accepted modes of transaction.

The booking system works on a 20-minute time slot interval from the time the museum opens. However, the average time spent according to MOI is between 45 minutes to an hour. Guests can tour the museum at their own pace since the museum is self-guided.

Aside from being a tourist attraction site, MOI provides an avenue for being a corporate event hub, a team-building expedition, and an entertainment spot where one can host a birthday event.