Museums - Collections Ethnographiques de l'Universite, Gent
Collections Ethnographiques de l'Universite, Gent
Het Pand, Onderbergen 2
B9000 Gent
Belgium
+32 09 264 41 30
+32 09 264 41 81
 | Guided tours on request
|
The Université de Gand (Ghent University) is the only university in Belgium with a department devoted to the study of tribal art. Its ethnographic collection has been growing since 1825 and today comprises some 4,000 objects.
While the majority of pieces in the collection are of African origin, the first works the university acquired are from Java and were given to the Musée des Antiquités de Gand by the Count de Lens between 1825 and 1829. The Oceanic works in the collection were primarily the acquisitions of Camille de Bruyne, who purchased “duplicates” from the Berlin Ethnographical Museum in 1905. Most of those pieces were from the collection of German trader Franz Hernsheim, who lived in the Marshall Islands between 1875 and 1880. The African collection is strongest in material from West and Central Africa. In 1938 and 1939, under the direction of Frans Olbrechts and in collaboration with the Musée d’Anvers (Antwerp Museum), the university sponsored a scientific expedition to Côte d’Ivoire. Researchers collected a number of important Senufo, Dan, and We pieces in the course of their studies of these cultures. The museum also has more than 150 archaeological Pre-Columbian pieces from the Mayan culture of Mexico and Guatemala, as well as a group of North American Indian pieces that Olbrechts obtained from the Denver Museum in 1939.
Since 2002, a selection of works has been on permanent display on two floors, and the storage areas have been refurbished.
While the majority of pieces in the collection are of African origin, the first works the university acquired are from Java and were given to the Musée des Antiquités de Gand by the Count de Lens between 1825 and 1829. The Oceanic works in the collection were primarily the acquisitions of Camille de Bruyne, who purchased “duplicates” from the Berlin Ethnographical Museum in 1905. Most of those pieces were from the collection of German trader Franz Hernsheim, who lived in the Marshall Islands between 1875 and 1880. The African collection is strongest in material from West and Central Africa. In 1938 and 1939, under the direction of Frans Olbrechts and in collaboration with the Musée d’Anvers (Antwerp Museum), the university sponsored a scientific expedition to Côte d’Ivoire. Researchers collected a number of important Senufo, Dan, and We pieces in the course of their studies of these cultures. The museum also has more than 150 archaeological Pre-Columbian pieces from the Mayan culture of Mexico and Guatemala, as well as a group of North American Indian pieces that Olbrechts obtained from the Denver Museum in 1939.
Since 2002, a selection of works has been on permanent display on two floors, and the storage areas have been refurbished.