Moroccan Collection of the Museum of Ethnology and World Cultures

The Expeditions

The Moroccan collection at the Museum of Ethnology and World Cultures (MuEC) consists of more than 1,900 pieces, accompanied by a photographic collection with various images taken during the five expeditions that the Ethnology Museum of Barcelona (MEB) made between 1952 and 1956 to the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco, as well as two more made after the country’s independence between 1967 and 1970. The first three expeditions were conducted under the direction of August Panyella, the museum’s director, and Eudald Serra, a renowned sculptor specialising in Japanese art with whom the museum maintained a close collaboration.

Acquisition Policy

The museum’s acquisition policy was based on ethnological purchases in the souks and through a network of trusted merchants of Panyella and Serra. It has been confirmed that the modus operandi for obtaining the pieces involved the more or less expert purchase of artifacts, guided by the merchants with whom they collaborated.

Colonial Context

Although no evidence has been found of illegal operations in the acquisition of objects, the acquisitions and creations by the expedition members were carried out within the framework of the possibilities offered by the colonial relations of the Spanish Protectorate. However, the well-known “anthropological sculptures” of people from local people, made by Serra, stand out. We have detected significant resistance from the local population to serving as models for the sculptures, resistance that Serra and Panyella overcame with the coercive systems of the colonial administration.