Museo di Anthropology and Ethnology — Attraction in Florence

I recently visited this museum and unfortunately have to say that I was deeply disappointed. During my visit, I wanted to immerse myself in different cultures and world views and learn more about them, but that was anything but possible in this museum. Unfortunately, there was hardly any information provided about the different cultures whose clothing is exhibited here. This meant that I was unable to contextualise the exhibits or gain any added value from them. Most of the information provided was about the ‘voyages of discovery’ undertaken by Europeans and the Europeans themselves. Yet the museum is supposed to be a place for learning about other cultures and peoples. Unfortunately it misses to fulfill its purpose.

The museum also dealt with the topics of racism and colonialism only superficially. Instead of addressing these issues in a meaningful way, it briefly mentioned that people have different skin colours and displayed a racist racial model as an illustrative example.

Furthermore, the corpse of a person was on display. I was deeply disturbed by what I saw. Although you could only see into the display case through a small window and there was a trigger warning attached, I don't even want to imagine how children who accidentally glance inside might feel.

So if you are looking for a museum that deals with the cultures and peoples of human history and you want to deepen your knowledge about them, I strongly advise against...

unfortunately this museum shows a great deal of disrespect towards the objects (and bodies) on display. there was very little information available about the artefacts and where they came from, and indeed there was more information available about the colonisers who had taken these objects away from their original owners. The lack of context available makes it feel more like a collection of vague objects than a museum. it feels almost entirely uncurated and the lack of context about the horrors of colonisation left me feeling uncomfortable. A major disappointment for me was the display of two mummified corpses at the entrance, almost as if for shock value. The QR codes attached to them led nowhere so no information was available about these people. exploitative and...

The building that houses the museum is located in the heart of Florence and is the perfect setting for preserving the charm of the 19th century antique collections. As soon as you enter, you find yourself in another world, where explorers and distant cultures in time and space still exist. The artifacts of daily life, the works of art and the photographs are aligned with rigorous order and evoke lives that perhaps no longer exist, absorbed by progress and by social and political transformation. For these reasons, the collections are precious testimonies of cultures, worlds and systems of thought that help us to overcome our daily lives and to breathe a distant air that we could never have felt. However, we must take the time to visit the rooms calmly, without haste, letting the objects and images speak to our minds and hearts. The staff, in the showrooms and in the shop, is kind, competent and willing to explain and help, especially those with movement or sensory difficulties, during the visit. And then there's the atmosphere of Florence, which gives a particular flavor to everything.

Il Palazzo che ospita il Museo sorge nel cuore di Firenze ed è una perfetta cornice per conservare il fascino delle collezioni antiquarie dell'Ottocento. Appena entrati ci si trova in un altro mondo, dove esistono ancora esploratori e culture lontane nel tempo e nello spazio. I reperti di vita quotidiana, le opere d'arte e le fotografie sono allineati con ordine rigoroso ed evocano vite che forse non esistono più, assorbite dal progresso e dalla trasformazione sociale e politiche. Per queste ragioni le collezioni sono preziose testimonianze di culture, mondi e sistemi di pensiero che ci aiutano a superare la nostra quotidianità ed a respirare un'aria lontana che non avremmo mai potuto sentire. Bisogna però prendersi il tempo per visitare con calma le sale, senza fretta lasciando che siano gli oggetti e le immagini a parlare alla nostra mente ed al nostro cuore. Il personale, nelle Sale di esposizione e nel negozio, è gentile, competente e disponibile a spiegare e ad aiutare, specie chi ha difficoltà di movimento o sensoriali, nella visita. E poi c'è l'atmosfera di Firenze, che da un sapore particolare...