The Museum der Völker in the AustrianSchwaz in the county of Tyrol was founded in 1995 as a cultural association Haus der Völker by Gert Chesi and belongs to the well known Ethnology museums in Europe. After a new construction and remodeling the exhibition operation opened on the 12th of April 2013 as Museum der Völker. Translated the name means museum of the peoples or museum of the tribes.
Museum der VölkerExhibition "Unvergessen machen"Barong, Bali, Indonesiapart of an Toraja house, Sulawesi and a clay horse from the Han-period, China, 2. century BCVoodoo, Museum der Völker
Gert Chesi, photographer, journalist and author, had collected more than a thousand exhibits from all over the world in the period of fifty years. The art objects are the base of the Museum operation and give an insight into the religious and artistic creation of mankind.[1][2] In recent years, the museum underwent a complete redesign. Today, it features new building sections and an integrated studio gallery. The museum spans three levels with distinct exhibition themes: the permanent exhibition "Between Heaven and Earth" on the ground floor, and special exhibitions on the first and second floors.[3]
Today the cultural club Museum der Völker runs the museum. Art objects from distant cultures determine the Museum: Stone sculptures of Khmer, Buddha images from many eras, terracotta figures of the Nok, ancestral figures of the Dajak, grave finds from China and old bronzes from South-East Asia are displayed in addition to contemporary Voodoo objects and utensils of animism.[4][5]
In 2020, the museum celebrated its 25th anniversary, as well as its founder Gert Chesi´s 80th birthday by a special exhibition.
Another special exhibition is about Ethiopia and a local medical doctor who worked there in the 1950s and very early 1960s. A permanent exhibition is about Asian religions and its interest to the western world.
