Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món (MuEC)
Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món (MuEC)
We are delighted to welcome the Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món (MuEC) in Barcelona as a participant of the WanBel global project.
The Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món is home to the most significant collection of PNG art and objects on the Iberian peninsula. With nearly 600 objects it includes masterpiece Sepik canoe prows and bark paintings, rare and ancient aripa figures and New Britain dance masks. A significant part of the PNG collection came from expeditions financed by the museum in 1966 and 1968, in which Albert Folch and Eudald Serra participated. Other pieces come from donations, and 30% of the collection belongs to the Folch Foundation and were purchased mainly between 1960-70.
Since 2015 the museum’s Carrer de Montcada site in the historic Barri de la Ribera district of Barcelona exhibits their non-european world culture treasures. Housed in the converted spaces of the 13th century Nadal and Marquès de Llió houses, restored expressly to create this space for preservation, dissemination and social projection, its mission is to preserve, document, restore, interpret, and share cultural heritage, while creating spaces for education, reflection, research, and critical dialogue around cultural diversity. Today, the museum situates the collection within their historical context, engaging with questions of collecting practices, cultural interpretation, and the ongoing relevance of these works in dialogue with source communities.
The permanent collection display shows works from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania providing a comparison overview of these different cultures.
To find out more about the museum click here:
https://www.barcelona.cat/museu-etnologic-culturesmon/en
To see some of the pieces from PNG:
Permanent display room for PNG, image courtesy MuEC.