The Igualada and Anoia Region Leather Museum has its origins in the City Museum, inaugurated in 1949 as a result of initiatives undertaken by the Igualada Centre for Regional Studies. With the support of the town’s tanners, an industry deeply rooted in the whole region, it was here that a section of the original museum was devoted to the manufacture of leather. This was the germ of the current regional museum, which has gone through several locations and management models.
The context in which this institution was created coincides with the promotion of many colonial collections in Catalan museums. In this regard, the figure of Jordi Sabater Pi is central to the understanding of this dimension, as he was the driving force behind the creation of a colonial section due to his stable collaboration with the museum since 1955.
Thus, it was Sabater Pi who sent the various skins that make up the bulk of the museum’s Guinean collection. Currently, the institution has one hundred and ten pieces of diverse African origin, mainly from Morocco, Guinea, Senegal, and Ethiopia.
