Ethnological Activity in the Catalan Museums in the 1940s

In this study we analyse the role played by ethnology in the Catalan museums in the 1940s. Indeed, ethnology also played an important role in Catalan culture at large in that period. Figures such as Joan Amades –a self-taught folklorist who was appointed curator of the Museum of Folk Arts and Industries–, and Ramon Violant Simorra –an ethnographer who focused a large part of his studies on the Pyrenees region and who was also a curator at the Museum of Folk Arts and Industries–, were of capital importance for the development of Catalan ethnology.

Study and analysis of the role played by ethnology in the Catalan society of the post-war period, and of the work carried out by the foremost ethnologists of the times.

Study of how ethnology was reflected in the museums created in that period through an analysis of three paradigmatic cases: the Museum of Folk Arts and Industries, the Barcelona Ethnology Museum and the Sant Pere Folklore Museum of Ripoll.

Consultation of the museums’ archives to carry out a complete documentary screening.

Interviews of the personnel of the museums, which will allow us to gather direct information on the origin, creation and continuity of the museums’ ethnological collections.

Analysis and study of the foremost figures of the 1940s who collected, studied and finally donated objects of the ethnological heritage to the Catalan museums.

Study of the general situation of the Catalan museums in the 1940s, with special emphasis on the creation of the ethnological collections, on the role that ethnology played in the society of that period and, by extension, on the role that it played in the museums.

Development of a final conclusion in which we hope to demonstrate the great significance of ethnology from the museum standpoint.