Netherlands - Leiden - Ethnography Museum

If you happen to be by the seaside and hit a rainy day, or you want to visit just one museum in Leiden, visit Volkenkunde Museum!

You don't even have to be passionate about ethnography like I am, the museum is so interesting and fun, that I am sure you are going to like it.

First thing, don't be discouraged by the entrance fee. Like many things in Nederlands the price of the museum is somewhat expensive, 14 euros, but well worth it. The museum is alive and tells a story, it isn't just a dead collection of objects. Although the collection today contains objects from Africa, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Latin America, North America, Oceania, and Asia. I mean, if you haven't planned your trips in those areas, it would not hurt to just visit the museum. Who knows, maybe it gives you new trip ideas.

When I visited the museum, bear in mind that this post spent more than six months in the making, there was a temporary exhibition of jewellery and it was amazing. I'm not much of a jewellery gal, but I'm always fascinated by the ethnic pieces as they are not only beautiful, they usually bear a meaning.

And of course a visit at an ethnographic museum would not be complete for me if I don't examine the textiles. And in this small museum, I wasn't disappointed.

All in all a nice and colourful way to spent a rainy day at the seaside and learn some useful stuff along the way. The museum has a coffee place and a shop and one interesting feature, although I don't know if is a temporary or a permanent feature, they had workshops in making your own necklaces, but the method was unique. You had to operate a machine which would pop an egg with all the materials. You had thread and some beads on the working tables, but essentially with the materials in the egg you had to create your unique necklace. The results were interesting. I remember two ladies with identical or very similar materials created two unique and personalised peaces, very different one from another.

That being said, I hope you loved reading this post as much as I loved putting it together! Also, if you fancy keeping in contact with me, drop a line at Dichisuri.ro on Facebook.
Raluca