Phone +41 44 413 49 90 | ||
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Address Seefeldstrasse 317, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland Similar Kulturama Stiftung, Zürich Tram Museum, Rietberg Museum, Ethnographic Museum of the Unive, focusTerra | ||
The North American Native Museum, abbreviated NONAM, is a Museum run by the City of Zurich. It specializes in the conservation, documentation and presentation of ethnographic objects and art of Native American, First Nation and Inuit cultures.
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Gottfried Hotz and the "Indianermuseum"
The foundations for the North American Native Museum Zurich were laid in 1961, when the city of Zurich bought the formerly private collection of Gottfried Hotz. Two years later, the Hotz collection was installed in a school building in Zurich's Aussersihl district, where it was opened to the public as Indianermuseum der Stadt Zürich. In 1977, Hans Läng succeeded Mr. Hotz and assumed office as curator of the Indianermuseum. Mr. Läng expanded the collection until his retirement in 1993. This year proved to be a turning point in the history of the museum, as the new director / curator Denise Daenzer ventured into a re-orientation of the museum's work, presenting varying exhibitions of the collection's objects and special exhibitions addressing specific topics.
The Nordamerika Native Museum
As the museum staff was increasingly collaborating with Native Americans, Inuit and First Nations, a change of the museum's name seemed to be indicated. In early 2003, the museum opened its gates in its current location in the Seefeld district, as the Nordamerika Native Museum (NONAM). Denise Daenzer continued to direct the museum, expanding the collections and curating most of the museum's temporary exhibitions until 2012. Ms. Daenzer retired in 2012 and was succeeded by Heidrun Löb, the current director.
Main Exhibition
A part of the museum's collections is on permanent display in the second floor, organized according to the culture areas of the Americas frequently used in the cultural anthropology of North America.
Bodmer Gallery
In 2013 the museum added a small gallery, showing selected original works of Karl Bodmer.
Soundscape
In the museum's "soundscape" installation, visitors can explore the world of the Inuit, Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Hopi and Diné (Navajo) with their ears only. The "sounding museum" has been accredited by the UNESCO committee as a contribution to the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, 2010.
Special Exhibitions
Some of the special exhibitions the NONAM showed since the museum's relocation in 2003 are the following:
Publications
Publications of the NONAM are usually in German language.