National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore
Bolivian textiles, masks and ethnography in the colonial palace of the Marquises of Villaverde.
The museum, known in Bolivia as MUSEF, occupies the palace built in the 1770s for the Marquises of Villaverde, one of the finest surviving colonial houses in La Paz. Stone arcades run round a central courtyard entered through a carved arch bearing a heraldic shield. The institution was created in 1962 to gather and study the material culture of the Andean and lowland peoples of Bolivia, and since 1969 it has been administered by the Central Bank of Bolivia, which funds its research and conservation work.
Permanent galleries are arranged by theme rather than region. The best known display weaving from across the country, setting out the structures, dyes and iconography that distinguish communities such as the Jalq'a, Tarabuco and Charazani. A second hall gathers masks used in the entradas and patronal festivals, including the diablada and morenada of Oruro. Further rooms cover Uru and Chipaya material, feather work, silver and ceramics. The museum runs a library, a photographic archive and a long-standing annual conference on ethnology.
Highlights
- Colonial palace of the Marquises of Villaverde with arcaded courtyard
- Textile gallery covering Jalq'a, Tarabuco and Charazani weaving
- Hall of festival masks from the entradas of the Andes
- Uru and Chipaya collections and a large photographic archive
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