The National Museums of World Culture, formally known as the Swedish National Museums of World Culture, is a government agency responsible for managing a large part of Sweden’s national international cultural heritage. The collections include objects from all over the world, and the Museum of Ethnography, the Mediterranean Museum, and the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm, as well as the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg, offer museum experiences for everyone. The agency’s head office is also located in Gothenburg.
As a museum authority, the Swedish National Museums of World Culture receives its mandate in what is known as an instruction from the government. It states that the agency is tasked with presenting and bringing to life cultures of the world, based on the collections it manages.
The agency shall ensure that its activities are relevant and accessible to everyone in society. It shall document and shed light on cultural expressions and conditions, both historically and in the present day. The agency shall promote interdisciplinary knowledge development as well as public engagement in various forms.
Read more about the agency’s mandate in SFS No. 2007:1185 and the appropriation directives from the Swedish National Financial Management Authority (Ekonomistyrningsverket).
Världskulturmuseerna (The National Museums of World Culture) creates spaces and settings where collections from the entire world are explored through knowledge, with care, and in dialogue. Different voices shed light on past choices, contemporary issues, and future possibilities – bringing the world closer.
What distinguishes Världskulturmuseerna?
We use a definition of the concept of world culture that is rooted in global, societal, and individual change and reciprocity. It describes a global movement in which life on our planet is increasingly interconnected and shaped by shared forms – while also encountering counter-reactions such as rising nationalism and isolationism.
Methodologically, we apply the concept as an approach, starting from the idea that culture is constantly being created, and that we can offer relational knowledge and perspectives on cultural expressions – both local and global, historical and contemporary.