Ethnographic Museum at the University of Zurich — Attraction in Zurich

The positive aspect of this museum is that the staff are friendly and helpful. However, the exhibition in itself is very heavy on privileging interpretation over the exhibition of actual ethnological items. This museum is not necessarily alone in this, however wasting precious exhibition space with videos and long interactive displays rather than exhibiting as many items as possible is not productive. Indeed, the most extensive gallery dealt with issues of provenance for the Benin Bronzes- however, the exact same facts are on display in London and Berlin in their respective collections- those interested in ethnological collections are already well aware of these facts and Zürich is not adding anything new to these debates. The reality is that the most attractive items are languishing somewhere in a storage space. My suggestion: review the university ethnological collections in storage, as well as the Rietberg collections and consult other museums nationally and internationally for loans of stored items and then display as many items as possible. The public is smart enough to make up their own minds about what...

Interesting ethnographic museum. The current exhibition on the Benin bronzes is fascinating. I appreciated that controversial aspects of the story were not omitted, such as the slave trade origin of many of the bronzes which were made from melted manillas which the Kingdom of Benin obtained from the colonial powers in exchange for enslaved people and other goods. Also human sacrifices that were common are being mentioned. Also, the Swiss diaspora is getting prominent mention. What is missing is any mention of the diaspora outside Switzerland, namely the DNA descendants of the enslaved people living in the US, the UK and other European countries, the Caribbean, and South America. Also no mention of the Restitution Study Group (rsgincorp.org) and its work on the...

It was an interesting find on the swiss museum pass with a focus on explaining people why etnographic museums are showing people the evolution of humanity. I thought etnographical museums had a more national component, but you'll see a lot of the african cultures showcased here. it was a free entry but did not...