Order and status of the collection

The exhibition is divided into three distinct sectors:

On the ground floor, a small area is dedicated to the primary sector, particularly agriculture, which employed a large part of the local population.

The rest of the ground floor and a most of the second floor is occupied by trades from the secondary sector, displaying the most representative trades of the area, although some are missing.

A small section of the second floor is dedicated to the tertiary sector, commerce and some services.

The second floor is divided into three parts:

• One room focuses on the system of weights and measures, covering both the previous metric system and the current one, with a small section with old objects.
• The largest room highlights the domestic aspects of the traditional Mallorcan home and its inhabitants.
• The final room of the exhibition is a multipurpose space, featuring a collection of paintings from various periods by artists from Campos or those connected to the town.

Organization of the Etnogràfic Campos Collection

The collection is displayed as systematically as possible according to theme, although maintaining this order has not always been feasible—especially in the winemaking section, which was intended to remain in the same location it historically occupied within the building.

In general terms, the aim was for the exhibition to have a continuous and ethnographically well-structured message. An effort has also been made to maintain a balanced distribution of spaces and sections. However, this has meant that some acquired pieces could not be displayed.

From the beginning, every effort has been made to ensure that each section is as complete as possible, making real efforts to obtain the pieces that were not available and, above all, to highlight the simplest ones – which are often the most difficult to obtain and the ones that disappear most easily – ensuring that the historical progression remains intact, as if the activities they represent could be resumed at any moment.

The pieces in the collection have been minimally restored or, in many cases, simply cleaned. Some, for the time being, are on display unrestored, as is the case with some musical instruments, awaiting the necessary funding.

Although an effort has been made to delimit or specialise the collection’s focus, in the end this has not been the case. Given the scarcity of ethnographic collections open to the public — at least those that correspond to an autonomous community like ours — we have tried to make the collection as broad as possible, always within the context of ethnography, so that visitors can have an overview of the resources available in the area of Mallorca where the exhibition is located.

However, one strict guideline has been maintained since the collection’s inception: all sections related to the primary and secondary sectors exclude any use of motorized power, whether combustion or electric engines. The only exception is found in three sections of the tertiary sector, where electricity has been introduced.

The collection is currently being catalogued, which in order to be carried out correctly, it was necessary for the sections to be completely assembled, as until that moment it was not known which elements would be the definitive ones.
Given the magnitude of the task, it will be opened to the public, while the inventory is carefully completed.

The status of the exhibition of the Etnogràfic Campos Exhibition

As explained in a previous section, no public funding was ever received for the construction of the building, the acquisition of the pieces in the collection or the assembly of the exhibition. No assistance was requested, simply because until practically the last moment it was not known with certainty whether the project would be successful.

Currently, the permanent ethnographic exhibition operates as a private company, using premises adapted for its use and with the appropriate business licence.

We believe that we could apply for the status of a museum collection, we believe that we fulfil the objectives and we do not rule out the possibility of applying for this status in the future, but this option entails certain obligations and duties on the part of the private and public sectors that are not always balanced.

The running and management of this exhibition has no profit-making ambition, which, however, if it did have one, would never pay back the investment made in both the building and the collection, it simply aims to cover the costs of maintenance – which are many -, services, taxes and staff, if necessary. The main objective is to share a small yet meaningful part of our history, with great enthusiasm, authenticity and rigour, even if it is from a private initiative with the limitations that this entails.