More than museum 23,000 items are arranged in 11 collections. We’ve picked the largest, the smallest, the oldest and the most interesting ones for you. We invite you to find them in our exhibitions!
A carnival face masks collection
The collection includes 29 lime-wood carved face masks of Cerkno runners (laufarji) and one made of veal skin. “Laufarija” in Cerkno was renewed in 1956 after a break of a few decades. Then, 11 new face masks – larfas were made, now included in the collection. The others were gradually been made until 1997, as the runners (laufarji) added new characters to their group. The larfas were purchased in 1989 and included in the Ethnological museum collection. In 2014, a separate collection of carnival face masks was formed. It includes all 26 larfas of the Cerkno “laufarija” and they are presented in the permanent exhibition called “It’s the Carnival’s Fault!”: The story about the Cerkno runners (laufarji). The other four larfas are the duplicates that we ordered for educational and promotional purposes.