State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw: Collections From Every Continent Since 1888

A few steps off Plac Powstancow Warszawy, the State Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw has been collecting the material culture of the world's peoples since 1888 - one of Poland's oldest museum institutions of its kind.

From cabinets of curiosities to critical museology

The museum is frank about its own history: its collecting began in the 19th-century ethnographic tradition, and not every object was gathered ethically. Today, the institution says, it works from critical, decolonial and community-based museology, developing exhibitions and research in cooperation with the communities whose cultures it holds. The museum's organiser is the Mazovian regional self-government.

Visiting

The museum is at Kredytowa 1. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10:00-18:00, Saturday-Sunday 11:00-18:00, closed Mondays; last entry 17:30.

Tickets: 29 zloty normal / 19 zloty reduced for all exhibitions; 21/16 zloty for the permanent exhibitions; 5 zloty for pupils and students up to 26; children under 7 free. Thursdays are free for the permanent exhibitions, and Koleje Mazowieckie train passengers receive a 20 percent discount until the end of 2026.