Museum der Kulturen, Basel

Pabuji; Bhilwara District, Rajasthan, India, first half of 20^th

I love it when an experience exceeds your expectations. I had this feeling last week when I visited the Museum der Kulturen in Basel for the first time. I knew about the museum from previous visits to Basel, but I hadn’t ventured in. Not intentionally but just down to the simple fact that there are so many fantastic museums to see there and always new, special exhibitions opening. I think also as I don’t live there I always have a busy agenda for when I visit, trying to pack as much in as possible.

An advantage but perhaps also disadvantage is that the museum is located in the corner of the Münsterplatz and unless you venture through the gate you have no idea of what awaits you. From the outside it is an attractive historic building but once through the gate you find yourself looking at a very different building. The first thing that strikes you is the roof and then the hanging vines. This striking architecture is by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron (architects of Tate Modern and many other museum buildings). It was seeing a post on Instagram that gave me the push I needed to finally come and visit!

I arrived at the museum just after opening and then had the galleries pretty much to myself for 2 hours. I always feel lucky when I have a museum to myself, and it certainly makes it easier to get people free pictures. Most other visitors, I’m guessing locals and regulars, were here for the special exhibition on Buddhism. I’ll be posting about this on Instagram.

The museum has a huge collection of over 300,000 objects from Europe, Africa, America, Oceania, Indonesia, South, Central and East Asia. It encourages visitors to see the world with different eyes. The focus is on non-western art and as such is described as an ethnographic museum. Ethnography is the study and recording of people and cultures.

The first object I encountered was a huge ceremonial house facade from Papua New Guinea. The museum commissioned the men of the village of Kalabu to create this especially for the museum and it has been on display since 1981. This was a good way to start the exhibition Big: Things. Interpretations.Dimensions, where I came across so many wonderful and curious works of art. It certainly has the ‘wow’ factor and the sheer scale of some of the objects combined with the craftsmanship is impressive. But what I find most interesting is the story of these objects, what they represent and mean to the people who made them.

One of the galleries, painted red, is dominated by huge objects: house posts, sculptures and ceremonial figures. I stood in this room for a long time and although I took many photos, none of them really do it justice. It is something that you need to experience for yourself.

Equally impressive is a large bark cloth, measuring almost 3 metres, from Tonga. It is made from the inner bark fibre of the mulberry tree, and it is beaten to make it both thinner and longer. They are mainly produced by women and used for a whole range of things such as clothes, burial shrouds and even gift wrap.

Another interesting object is a coffin in the shape of a Hummer. Common in West Africa, elaborate designs are created to help the dead’s passage into the life beyond.

On the next floor is an exhibition devoted to Memory – Moments of remembering and forgetting. In the first room you are faced with a large display cabinet containing a range of trinkets, souvenirs and other objects. It reminded me of a smaller, wooden version that I had in my childhood bedroom. Mine was full of souvenirs from holidays with many being gifts from my grandparents. I had the same Portuguese cockerel and a ceramic thimble or two! These objects act as a reminder of our memories and by looking at them we are transported to another world and time in our lives. They also remind us of our connection to others whether it be friends or family or connections made while visiting somewhere new.

There were so many interesting and beautiful objects in this exhibition. Each has its own unique story that provides an insight into a particular country and its customs, religious beliefs, history etc.

I’ve picked out a few of my favourites and you can see them in the images below.

First up are political posters from South America from the 1980s and 1990s. During this time many long dictatorships and civil wars came to an end. This meant that change was now a possibility. A key issue that is still evident today is the recognition of the rights, identities and languages of the indigenous peoples. The posters act as both a record and a reminder of the ongoing struggles in Latin America.

The second shows a display of brightly coloured commemorative cloths from Africa. They are generally produced for events such weddings, funerals or anniversaries of key dates in history. Politicians commission over half of the cloths produced, and they are a kind of propaganda to boost their campaign, status or beliefs. However as the cloths are most often worn, people can show their dissatisfaction with a particular politician or president by wearing the cloth upside down or inside out.

There is so much to see and discover in this museum, and I’ll be back for another visit later this year.  I somehow missed the Fasnacht exhibition, and I also want to see Making the World – Lived Worlds, an exhibition exploring how we as humans shape the world, which is a collaboration with the Kunstmuseum Basel. All information about these exhibitions can be found on their website.

If you are interested in museums in Switzerland with similar collections then I recommend you visit Museum Rietberg in Zurich. Also, on my list to visit is MEG-Musée d’ethnographie de Genève.