The Afro-Brazilian Museum came to being as a direct offspring of the Cultural Exchange Program between Brazil and Africa countries for the development of Afro-Brazilian studies. Signatories to this agreement include the respective Ministries of External Affairs, Education and Culture, the Bahian State Governement, The Mayoralty of the city of Salvador and the Federal University of Bahia. The Museum was inaugurated on the 7th of January, 1982.

The Museum started functioning in the historic building that housed the first Brazilian School of Medicine, belonging to the Federal University of Bahia and located on the Terreiro de Jesus in the Historic Centre of Salvador (Pelourinho). In 1997, The Afro-Brazilian Museum went through a major restructuring process that affected it museographical concepts. The Centre for Afro-Oriental Studies (CEAO), an organ affiliated to UFBA's Faculty of Philosophy and Human Science assumed the responsibility of the day-to-day running of the Museum.

The stock of the Museum comprises of elements of the material cultures originating from or inspired by Africa. They include artifacts representing the day-to-day existence, technological processes, thought and belief systems, artistic manifestations and oral tradition of African peoples. Among these are sculptured works, masks, clothing materials, pottery, adornments, musical instruments, traditional games and thematic carpets. All these materials from the African continent were acquired in the 1970s either directly by the Brazilian Ministry of external Affairs or as donations from the various Diplomatic Missions of the respective African countries.

On the other hand, there are also artifacts of Brazilian origin, connected to the Afro-Brazilian religion that is famous in Bahia. Representing its divinities as well as its major priests and priestesses, the artifacts on display cover iconographic elements and the principal emblems of the major Orishas as well as official and ritual adornments of the priests and priestesses of some of the major Orisha houses of Salvador. A major noteworthy collection are the impressive wood-sculptured tablets made by the famous artist, Carybé. Each measuring 2 by 3 meters in height, the tablets depict in all 27 of the major Orishas of the Afro-Brazilian pantheon. Needless to say, this collection represents one of the most important of all contemporary Brazilian works of art.

One of the few Museums of its type in Brazil that is exclusively dedicated to the African cultural heritage and its influence in the formation of contemporary Brazilian culture, the Afro-Brazilian Museum has been occupying a pioneer position since its inception, constituting itself into a point of reference for the affirmation of Afro-Brazilian identity, thus becoming a permanent and compulsory stop-over for both national and international tourists, students, researchers and other individuals interested in the Afro-Brazilian religious expression.