The history of the institution dates back in 1910 when a Museum was established in Nairobi by the then East Africa and Uganda Natural History Society [currently the East African Natural History Society (EANHS)]. The group consisted mainly of colonial settlers and naturalists who needed a place to keep and preserve their collections of various specimens. Its first site was at the present: 'Nyayo House'. The site soon became small and a larger building was put up in 1922, where the Nairobi Serena Hotel stands. It was not until 1929 that the colonial government set aside land at the Museum Hill and construction work started at the current site. It was officially opened on the 22 September 1930 and named Coryndon Museum in honour of Sir Robert Coryndon, one time Governor of Kenya and a staunch supporter of Uganda Natural History Society. On the attainment of independence in 1963, it was re-named NMK. Since the 1960's, NMK has expanded its services and assets to include Regional Museums. The Museum has also acquired under its jurisdiction; Sites and Monuments, which the Government has set aside as Monuments of National Heritage. Each of the Regional Museums has its own identity and develops its own programmes. This museum’s beautiful architecture and modern interior design set the ambience for bountiful exploration. It focuses on four aspects: culture, history, contemporary art, and nature. All are well represented and celebrated. Statues and artworks are peppered in among the collections. Visitors can explore at their own pace, using self-guided tour options.

The Tiskiwin Museum was founded by Bert Flint, who was born in 1931 in the Netherlands where he studied Spanish language and literature at the University of Utrecht. This Museum is one of the oldest in Marrakech. It focuses on the History and Culture of the Amazigh and Tuareg people, indigenous nomadic groups in North Africa. It holds a collection of objects acquired by the founder of the museum, Dutch anthropologist Bert Flint. He collected these cultural items during decades of North African expeditions. The exhibits represent different regions, recreating the former caravan route from Marrakech to Timbuktu. Each exhibit is generously filled with crafts, artworks, traditional attire, and intricately designed carpets. The Tiskiwin Museum has been oriented in recent years more particularly towards the presentation of the material culture of the Berber-speaking populations of Saharan origin. The permanent exhibition is designed as a journey on the old caravan tracks linking North Africa to the Sahel. On the route followed, the traveling visitor meets the different populations at times in their social life – festivities, weekly markets – when each individual is more particularly concerned with the image he wants to give of himself. To better understand these links, he has concentrated his research in recent years on the material culture of the populations of the Saharan Diaspora, relying on objects from his personal collection which encompasses the whole of North West Africa and which more specifically concerns the domain of the Art of Adornment.