The Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món invites visitors to reflect on societies, based on a tangible cultural heritage collection of over 70,000 pieces from all over the world.
It is the MUEC's express wish to create places for education, reflection, research and interpretation. Our starting point is the collection itself, made up of individual objects with a specific use and value, but also loaded with added values. Created and manufactured objects, with their everyday nature and all their multisided expressions and manifestations, which ultimately reveal valuable concepts such as anonymity and collectivity.
As a place of conservation, research, mediation, exhibition and dissemination, the MUEC presents concepts, perspectives and principles that date back to the origins of the museum, with the aim of analysing and reflect upon them the perspective of contemporary concerns and debates.
The aims of the MUEC are to preserve, restore and manage the heritage it safeguards. We document, interpret and disseminate that heritage, with the purpose of enhancing knowledge, making it publicly available, and creating a common ground that fosters reflection and critical dialogue.
History
The history of the current Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món dates back to the 20th century, with the creation of two independent museums: the Museu d’Indústries i Arts Populars (1942) and the Museu Etnològic i Colonial (1949). These two museums played a leading role in the study and fostering of ethnology.
Chronology of the museum's historyThe building
The building of the Parc Montjuïc Venue
The Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món’s Parc Montjuïc Venue is located at one end of the Laribal Gardens, in Montjuïc Park, on the site of the original museum, the Colla d’Arròs building. The building, designed ex professo, was the first newly designed building for housing a museum to be constructed in Barcelona.
Further information
The building of the Montcada Venue
The Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món's Montcada Venue is located in the Nadal and del Marquès de Llió manor houses in Carrer de Montcada, in the heart of the old city.
Further informationAnnual reports
Every year, the Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món produces a report detailing all of its activities in the museum’s various areas, which you can download in PDF format.
Go to annual reports
