The Global Journey of People and Things

The Collection of Non-European Cultures has unjustly been perceived as foreign and exotic, sparking curiosity, but considered unrelated to the other collections of the Ethnographic Museum. This perspective led us to the idea of connecting museum exhibits through the “follow-the-thing” method, as we searched for initially invisible connections between objects from all museum collections that were the result of the systems and ways in which they were produced, distributed, and consumed. 

Through a series of stories about objects that many perceive as everyday or a part of their own tradition, we aimed to highlight the movement of things through networks of trade, colonialism, and consumption. Materials, artifacts, and goods traveled across the world, accumulating new meanings and undergoing processes of change. In doing so, they influenced the transformation of social relations, impacted the environment, and spurred the development of new knowledge and technologies. The discovery of routes to India and the New World enabled the development of Triangular Trade, which from the 16th century onwards initiated the economic, religious, and cultural transformation of the world. 

The Ethnographic Museum has been intrinsically tied to trade since its inception, as the direct successor of the Zagreb Trade and Crafts Museum, which, modeled after European examples, was intended to showcase Croatian products and act as an intermediary between producers and the market. Today, the public is increasingly curious about the history of ownership, how objects were acquired, to whom they belonged, and where they came from. Museums are confronted with questions of restitution, appropriation, and commodification, which are direct consequences of colonial rule over people and goods. At the same time, museums are becoming more aware of how little is known about the origins of most objects.