Exhibition “100 Nativity Scenes in the Vatican”

This year, the Ethnographic Museum is part of the major international exhibition of nativity scenes “100 Presepi in Vaticano,” presenting the “Croatian Nativity Scene” (2025), a work by the successful Zagreb nativity scene maker and museum collaborator Danijel Šimunović.

The museum has participated continuously in the exhibition since 1996 and is therefore recognized as an important and distinctive exhibitor. Over the twenty-nine years of participation, the practice of exhibiting Christmas nativity scenes from private collections and works by contemporary authors has become established alongside the display of the museum’s collection. Many of these works are subsequently included in the Ethnographic Museum’s Collection of Christmas Nativity Scenes after the exhibition.

The continuity of participation in this internationally significant exhibition strengthens the recognition and appreciation of the museum’s collection and nativity art in general, while also fostering excellence among contemporary practitioners of the cultural practice of creating Christmas nativity scenes, which is promoted in this way. The exhibition is also a venue for intercultural dialogues between contemporary nativity scene artists and collection curators, and an excellent example of presenting cultural diversity to numerous visitors. Therefore, in addition to promoting Croatian nativity scene artists and the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb, this also promotes and strengthens the recognition of Croatia and its nativity scene heritage.

Data from the organizers for 2024/2025 state 290,285 visitors.