Tropenmuseum Amsterdam: Fascinating Museum With A Global Perspective

The Tropenmuseum is a large museum with a vast archive of artifacts from all over the world. The museum building has 3 floors in total and every floor is full. You will lose track of time due to the variety of artifacts in the museum.

One of the most important ethnographic museums in Europe, the museum exhibits a rich collection of artifacts reflecting the colonial history of the Netherlands and dozens of artifacts supported by photographs, films and music to better understand Asian, African and Latin American cultures.

The exterior of the museum is also beautiful. Built in 1926 by architects MA and JJ Nieukerken, a large hall welcomes you as you enter the brick building. The first floor of the Tropenmuseum also hosts temporary exhibitions. You have the chance to listen to different ethnic music with the headphones given to you at the entrance or with your own headphones.

We embark on a musical journey with the Rhythm & Roots exhibition during our visit. From salsa to rock and roll, hip-hop to jazz, we can listen to the universal sounds of music through our headphones and learn about their personal stories. According to the exhibition, many of the tunes we listen to today have an African origin, everything we listen to is an improved version of African music.

Most of the museums in Amsterdam have areas where visitors are interactively immersed in the museum and where people can learn by tinkering and experiencing things. Towards the end of the exhibition you play ethnic instruments. If there is more than one person around you, you almost form your own band. On this floor, we also have the chance to see many instruments that we don’t know and maybe we will never see in our lifetime.

Permanent artifacts are exhibited on the upper floors. There are so many artifacts that it is impossible to mention them all here. However, among the artifacts you can find wooden boats, incredibly beautiful masks, statues, puppets, objects made by tribes and used in various ceremonies, decorative elements and even worshipped statues.

Especially when we consider the cultural diversity of Indonesia and the Caribbean, which were under Dutch colonial rule, the artifacts from these countries add color and vitality to the museum. Each of the objects in the showcases with beautiful artifacts is a work of art.

The museum can be visited every day of the week except Monday. The museum is located at Linnaeusstraat 2, and tram lines 9 and 14 pass in front of the museum. The museum can be visited free of charge with the I Amsterdam Card. After entering the museum, you need to leave your backpack in the bag sections inside.