Museum of Ethnography

This is a very nice small museum. When visited it had four exhibitions: Japanese Yokai art; Viva Mexico; the Benin exhibition; and a collection of world objects. The Yokai exhibition was by far the most carefully curated with great narration throughout and strong links between Yokai that started in 15th century Edo in Japan to today’s Manga art. There are limited woodcut paintings and some figurines but the rest are reproductions. This was disappointing. The Viva Mexico was displayed in Spanish and Swedish only with the option of scanning a QR code for the English version. The exhibits varied from Day of the Dead reproduction prints and some original figurines to Aztec and Maya artifacts, a VR display that had very limited interaction and other random artifacts. Overall this exhibit seemed rushed and incomplete. The Benin exhibition was ok given the history of these artifacts and the call for returning them to the original owners. The collection of world objects seem like a project for students in archaeology but for the uninitiated the lack of narrative and curation makes the collection look like a library with no notation of which books to look for! Again, it seems the museum is in need for more competent curation.

One of my favourite museums in Stockholm because: - the expositions are quite immersive - there is a room for the kids to do art and paint with apron and all the necessary equipment - the museum shop is small but has some amazing books and artisanal items linked to the themes of the expositions - I always end up buying a lot of presents! - there is a restaurant with good food, maybe with a limited menu but there’s at least one dish for everyone (I am gluten and dairy intolerant so it’s not for granted I am able to eat in a museum) - there is a beautiful garden where the kids can run around safely - there is a playground in the nearby museum and a second one just one block away - It is close to other museums so it’s easy to combine it with something else if the kids need more entertainment - depending where you come from, you can walk there through a beautiful walk by the water o take a bus that leaves you just nearby. The ticket for one entry and the yearly membership basically cost the same so when in doubt opt for the second one!

I was really looking forward to the ethnography museum as a former anthropology student. I enjoyed most of it, but the AI images being part of the exhibition and one of the first "works" you see as you walked in felt like a slap to the face to ethnography as a practice.

This museum was pretty okay! The first section I went to was called "Back to Benin" which was great, they have way more stuff than you’d expect honestly so there's obviously a lot to explore. Our guide told us they were giving back a lot of the stuff to Benin since most items were plundered during the late 1800s. I respect that. The real highlight was definitely the Japanese Yokai section for me, very well made and had a lot of stuff to explore. This section had video games too which was cool! I do wish they displayed more Ghibli related things though, I didn’t recognise most Manga paintings but I absolutely loved the art style of them (see picture(s) below) The ¡Viva Mexico! section was unfortunately closed due to renovations so that’s a pretty big bummer, I’ll have to come back sometime when it’s open because the idea of it sounds interesting. I noticed they had a lot of AI generated pictures in the hallway which wasn’t really necessary but it’s not in the big part of the museum so I didn’t mind it much. 3.5/5 ⭐️

Small but a rich collection. My fave is the items from Japan. They also arrange various events and activities throughout the year. Furthermore, it is possible to find interesting items at the museum shop.

Fantastic mix of old and new. Interactivity for young (and old) from touch screens, videos and even games to play. The huge library of artifacts is a treasure hunt all on its own 🥰

Fantastic! super cool! High recommend! Not so big but valuable for spend half day.

Mexican exhibition has no English descriptions, just Swedish and Mexican. Not much to see, hardly anybody visiting the exhibitions. The only place busy are the playgrounds for the kids and the restaurant