Museums and Exhibitions for Masks

Museums and Exhibitions for any visitor who is interested in tribal masks must include the antiques quarter in Brussels. It is a place where high quality galleries can be found trading in some fine rare examples of tribal art and especially masks.

First recommended to me by Gordon Reece before a memorable trip to Brussels it proved a place of great interest.

The museum is to my mind very dated. In fact if you study the web site you will find they also express the opinion that the museum reflects a 1960s point of view.

I would feel that it is even more dated than that in terms of attitude. But do not let that put you off a visit. First it only cost e4 to enter, a bargain, there is a great shop and some of the exhibits are wonderful.

They also have special exhibitions, currently on the Congo. It also sits in magnificent grounds.

The collections at times are not well displayed but persevere. There are some great examples of masks and tribal objects. The stuffed animals I leave you to deal with in your own way! Allow half a day to wander around. Do visit the shop as they occasionally have masks for sale from surplus collections.

If you are in Brussels spare half a day and enjoy a dated treat. They are renovating slowly and hope to be modern in 2010.

Museums and Exhibitions: Masken Museum Belgium

This is a relatively new museum in Belgium containing a collection of tribal masks. It is well worth a visit. The web site is well structured and carries images of many pieces from the collection.

Visit the online museum by clicking

the Masken Museum

A good place to visit to find a list of Museums carrying tribal art is The Soas List of galleries

Other places which carry Exhibitions from Around the World

Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Washington, DC

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA

Denver Museum of Natural History Denver, CO

Oregon Historical Society Portland, OR

National Museum of Natural History Washington, DC

CANADA Canadian Museum of Civilisation 100 Laurier Street Gatineau, Québec J8X 4H2 819.776.7000

Florida

The Orlando Museum of Art 2416 North Mills Avenue Orlando, Florida 32803-1483 407.896.4231

Philadelphia Museum of Art Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street Philadelphia, PA 19130 215.684.7860

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 3260 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 215.898.4000

National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution 950 Independence Ave. SW Washington, DC 20560 202.633.4600

GERMANY

Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde Maximilianstrasse, 42 80538 Munchen

BELGIUM

Musée du Cinquantenaire Parc du Cinquantenaire 10 Bruxelles

Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale Leuvensesteenweg 13 3080 Tervuren + 32.2.769.52.04

FRANCE

Musée des Arts asiatiques 405, promenade des Anglais Arénas 06200 Nice

Musée Dapper 35, rue Paul Valéry – 75116 Paris 01.45.00.01.50

NORTHERN IRELAND

Ulster Museum Botanic Gardens Belfast BT9 5AB +44 (0)28.9038.3000

Museum Nusantara Sint-Agathaplein, 4 - Delft Tél: +31(0)15.260.23.58

Musée de Tahiti et des îles BP 380 354 Tamanu Punauia 98718 Tahiti Switzerland

NONAM Nordamerika Native Museum Seefeldstrasse 317 CH-8008 Zürich +41 (0) 43 499 24 40

For museums and exhibitions online check out The British Museuem. The British Museum has an interesting on line collection, at Masks at the British Museum

Cut and paste the above if it is not a live link. When you get to the search screen type in masks or other interests and you will see thumb nails of a selection from 5000 objects. Click to enlarge.

In the tours section there is a tour of masks in the General selection called Changing Face: Masks from the British Museum.

As far as museums and exhibitions go you must have a look at the new Iran exhibition which has a section on line.