User:Missvain/Ethnological Museum of Barcelona

The Ethnological Museum of Barcelona is a museum that focuses on Catalan culture and people within Barcelona. The museum is located in the Montjuïc area of Barcelona and serves as the regions heritage center. Its anthropological and archeological emphasis allows it to serve as the home for anthropologists, ethnologists and art historians who study Catalonian culture. The museum houses over 70,000 objects and 40,000 archival materials.

History
The idea for the museum began in the 1920s when a group of amateur ethnologists and folklorists believed that an institution was needed to facilitate the exploration of cultures, traditions and social history. In 1949 the museum opened, housed in a pavilion which was build in the early 20th century. In 1973 a new building opened on the same site which still serves as the current home for the Ethnological Museum.

Originally the museum consisted of objects collected by locals, primarily objects collected from the Philippines, Peru, Spanish Guinea and Ecuador in the second half of the 19th century. In 1950 and 1980, under the leadership of August Panyella, the museum sponsored collection campaigns, the first in Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. Eventually the museum moved onto Asia, collecting in Nepal and India, then Afghanistan and Turkey. The American collection formed out of collecting trips to the Andes, Bolivia and Central America, and finally Africa, being created out of Ethiopian and Senegalese trips. Japanese collections eventually came to the museum, brought together by staff member Eudald Serra, and further New Guinea objects with the support of Albert Folch.

In 1962 the museum merged with the Museum of Popular Arts and Industries, which, since 1942, was housed at the Poble Espanyol. The Museum of Popular Arts and Industries consisted of objects collected from throughout the region including the Pyrenees, Catalonia and Rues. These collections now make up 60% of the Ethnological Museum's Catalonian collection. After the merger the museum launched collecting trips to Rioja, León, Salamanca, Teruel Basin, Almeria and Valencia.

In the 1970s and up until 1982 the museum was split into two sections: the Museum of Arts and Popular Culture and the Museum of Visual Arts. In 1999 the two areas merged, and the museum began to gather beyond tangible objects, including oral history of the area. Current museum acquisition gathering includes heritage related to the Romani, Jewish, African and Americans of Spain.

Architecture
The museum's current building was completed in 1973 by local architects and is recognizable by its hexagonal architecture.

Administration
The museum has been a part of the Network of Museums of Ethnology since January 2008, which consists of eight other museums in Catalonia.

Outreach
Outreach and research focuses primarily on the local culture of Barcelona and the museum strives to maintain a solid relationship with locals. The museum also provides research support internationally, funding fieldwork and research in Morocco, Guinea, Columbia, Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador and studies regarding the Romani.