Modern Ethno-anthropological Museums in Sicily

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2025-3/49-64

Authors

Keywords:

Sicily, ethnographic museums, traditions of museification, cultural policy of the region, spontaneous museification, attendance index

Abstract

The article is devoted to the current state of ethno-anthropological museums in Sicily, a recent phenomenon that has not received sufficient coverage in scientific discourse. The number of these museums is showing rapid growth, making Sicily a leader among other Italian regions and providing a unique example of ethnomuseification. With a long history of ethnographic museum work dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, Sicily built on this experience in the 70s. This was mainly possible thanks to the scientific community, who joined forced with the regional authorities in order to save folk culture and promote the economic development of the region through cultural tourism. At the turn of the 21st century, these traditions continued with the so-called spontaneous museification, when a lot of small ethnographic museums with various thematic profiles appeared, mainly in rural areas. Sicily has the highest attendance index of ethnographic museums in the country, not so much due to tourists, but rather to local visitors representing all segments of the population. This is a consequence of the policy of the Sicilian authorities promoting the value of local culture and the identitarian sentiments of the population.

 

Author Biography

  • Oxana Fais-Leutskaia, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Fais-Leutskaia, Oxana D. — Ph.D. in History, Senior Researcher at the Department for European Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: oxana-fais@yandex.ru ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2757-2434

    For citation: Fais-Leutskaia, O. D. 2025. Modern Ethno-anthropological Museums in Sicily. Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii) 3: 49–64.

    Funding: The study was carried out as a part of the research plan of the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology.

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Published

23.09.2025

Issue

No. 3 (2025): Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik antropologii)

Section

Ethnography in European Museums: The Interpretation and Construction of Traditions