Museum der Kulturen Basel

Art
History and tradition
Basel
Switzerland
The Museum der Kulturen Basel ranks among the leading ethnographic museums in Europe. The Museum's world-renowned collection numbers more than 340,000 objects. In order to regularly display and reposition collection pieces, the Museum organizes, in addition to its two permanent exhibitions, a number of special exhibitions each year with a focus on current as well as more general topics that shed light on the variety and diversity of cultural manifestations across the world. Visitors thus get to see the world with different eyes.

Temporary exhibitions

Figures of a crib, Maria, Jesus and Joseph in the background, a white cow and a grey donkey next to them, a band plays music in front of them.

Silent night?

From
until
The Christmas carol of Silent night! Holy night! celebrates a time of quiet prayer and reverence. Yet any sense of peace and quiet disappears at the latest when the angels utter their hallelujahs and the shepherds set off with their flocks to visit the Christ Child asleep in a manger. Ox and ass,...
It is dark on the photo, on which one can see a brown, wooden, flat board hanging on ropes.

At night

awake or dreaming
From
until
Between dusk and dawn, the hours of darkness hold the promise of many different experiences for us: restful sleep, glittering parties, indispensable work or moments of menace. A daily occurrence, the night lends structure to our lives, but can also turn the existing order on its head. Playing with...
Das Foto zeigt einen sitzenden Buddha mit heller Hautfarbe, der goldene Kleidung trägt. Er sitzt auf einem roten Sockel.

Enlightened

The Realm of the Buddhas
From
until
-- Extended until 2023! -- Why is Buddhism so popular? What do we associate with concepts such as karma, samsara and nirvana? And what form does Buddhist spiritual practice take on? The exhibition explores such questions and, at the same time, reveals the multivocality of Buddhism. Based on the...
The picture shows a detail of the lintels. You can see a relief with a snake on it.

Memory

Moments of Remembering and Forgetting
From
until
Remembering and forgetting are ever-present features of life. The exhibition playfully reveals the manifold practices people rely on to recall specific moments in life, from birth to death, but also to forget about them. War and peace, colonialism and independence: the exhibits on display show...
Painted rain forest with various trees and plants under grey sky, one man is walking into the forest at the bottom of the picture.

Alive

more than human worlds
From
until
The climate crisis poses a threat to the habitability of the Earth, and has prompted a rethink of the perspectives, networks, and interactions of human and non-human actors. How do we humans perceive our co-world? What is our relationship with the Earth, other creatures, and things? What values...
Museum der Kulturen Basel
Museum der Kulturen Basel
Das Museum ist in die Altstadt eingebettet
Suitable for families
Opening hours
Open all year
From
Tuesday - Saturday: 10:00-17:00
Closed on
1st Wednesday of the month: until 8.00 pm

Exhibition "The Carnival of Basel":
Thu – Sat: 1.00 – 5.00 pm
Sun: 11.00 am – 5.00 pm

On 28 February 2023 the exhibition "The Carnival of Basel" is open from 12.00 to 18.00.
Address
Museum der Kulturen Basel
Münsterplatz 20
4051
Basel
Switzerland
+41 61 266 56 00
http://www.mkb.ch
info@mkb.ch
Wheelchair access
Shop
Restaurant
Bus access

47.557224, 7.590655