The National Museum of Ethnography is a showcase for the collections brought home to Sweden by enterprising travellers and scientists from the eighteenth century to the present day. All are arranged in imaginative displays designed to provide a better understanding of the unknown or unfamiliar from around the world.

Another aspect of the museum’s work is to reflect the multicultural influences on Sweden brought about by the large-scale immigration into the country during the late twentieth century.

The explorer Sven Hedin, who was the last Swede to be ennobled, contributed may exhibits to the museum, including Buddha figures and Chinese costumes, as well as Mongolian temple tents donated by leaders of the Kalmuck people in western China to King Gustav V. Another section of interest shows masks and totem poles from western Canada.

The museum runs an extensive educational programme. It has published an international magazine, Ethnos, every year since 1936 and maintains a comprehensive reference library.