The National Museum of Ethnology was created in 1976 and it cannot be disconnected from the history of Portuguese anthropology and some of its key figures such as Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira. The museum holds one of the most extraordinary ethnological collections in the world including tools, clothes, and other important findings that have helped to understand the different facets of the Portuguese rural world, as well as objects from around the world that bear witness to the cultural exchange of experiences between the Portuguese and other distant populations from Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Several donations of objects and collections made in the last few years have further enriched the museum’s collection. This was the case with Franklin Vilas Boas’ sculptures collected by Ernesto de Sousa, and with the masks and marionettes from Mali offered by the collector Francisco Capelo. More recently, Capelo also donated a collection of objects from the four corners of the world.

A visit to the National Museum of Ethnology, aside from being a feast for the eyes, is also a surprising way to travel in space and time.