The Museum of Cultures in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
(
German: Museum der Kulturen Basel) is a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
*Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
* Swiss Internation ...
museum of
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...
with large and important collections of artifacts, especially from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, the
South Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
,
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Wit ...
,
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
, and
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
. It is a
Swiss heritage site of national significance.
History
Both the Museum of Cultures and the
Natural History Museum Basel trace their origins to the 1840s, when the city of Basel founded its Museum of Natural History and Ethnography to house artifacts and artworks collected by merchants and travelers.
In 1849, the museum moved into a large neoclassical edifice designed by
Melchior Berri
Melchior Berri (born 20 October 1801 in Basel, died 12 May 1854 in Basel) was a well-known Swiss architect.
He was the son of Melchior Berri (parish priest in Münchenstein) and Appollonia Streckeisen. In 1832 he married Margaretha Simone Burckha ...
and located on the Münster hill at the heart of Basel, on the site of a former Augustinian monastery. In 1904 the museum created a separate ethnology department (''Abteilung für Völkerkunde''), and in 1917 the ethnographic collection became an independent institution inside the same building as the Natural History Museum.
In the early 20th century, the Ethnographic Museum Basel began sponsoring expeditions to enhance its collections. In 1944 the museum was renamed the "Museum of Ethnology and Swiss Museum of Folklore" (''Museum für Völkerkunde und Schweizerisches Museum für Volkskunde'') to reflect its dual mission of documenting local as well as "foreign" cultures. Over time the museum shifted its focus to the promotion of
intercultural
Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communi ...
dialog, leading to its official renaming in 1996 as the Museum of Cultures.
Collections and exhibitions
In 1844 the museum, still without a permanent home, received hundreds of ancient Mexican ceramics and statues collected by
Lukas Vischer of Basel. It remains one of the most notable European collections of ancient American art. Recent exhibitions on
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
(1998),
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
(2001), and
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...
(2002) have highlighted the museum's exceptional Asian and
Oceanian
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as o ...
collections.
With about 300,000 objects and a similar number of historic photographs, the museum is the largest of its kind in Switzerland and one of the biggest in Europe. It also serves the canton of
Basel-City
Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as ...
by documenting and preserving the local cultural legacy. A 1999 exhibition was devoted to Basel's unique
Carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival t ...
(''Fasnacht'') tradition, and the 2005 "Festivals of Light" exhibition explored the city's religious diversity.
The museum's most recent exhibitions have emphasized intercultural comparisons and dialog. The 2007–2008 exhibition "Red: Hot on the Trail of a Color" drew on all of the museum's resources to explore the significance of
red in human societies.
[Museum der Kulturen Basel, ''Rot: Leitfaden: Wenn Farbe zur Täterin wird'' (Basel: Museum der Kulturen Basel, 2007).]
Renovation
In 2008, the museum opened a new main entrance on the Münsterplatz, making the museum more accessible and giving it a clearly distinct identity from the Museum of Natural History. The museum plans to further expand its exhibition space. These plans are on hold to allow for a thorough archaeological investigation of the museum courtyard. As of July 2008 investigators had found evidence of late
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
settlement on the site.
See also
*
Museums in Basel
References
External links
Museum of Cultures BaselBasel museums website
Museums established in 1849
Museums in Basel
Cultural property of national significance in Basel-Stadt
Anthropology museums
Ethnographic museums in Switzerland
Mesoamerican art museums
1849 establishments in Switzerland
{{Portal bar, Switzerland}