Museo di etnomedicina Antonio Scarpa
The Museum of Etnomedicine "A. Scarpa" is located in the Department of Anthropology of the University of Genoa and condenses journeys and 55 years of activity of this doctor periodeuta, curious to learn how to take care of the peoples of the five continents, following their own medicine traditional. The collection has been ordered according to a diachronic criterion, starting with the oldest medical systems to reach to current popular traditions, while respecting the history of the routes taken by Scarpa from 1938 to 1992. The exhibition of more than 1.500 objects is often complemented by extensive captions and references to research carried out, all in an attempt to build an educational exhibition. The visitor does not informed can use some helpful hints to get an idea of what the ethno-medicine is; while, the expert one, will find many traces and suggestions to address and develop new research topics. Objects, tools, medicines, photographs (with reference to the circumstances of time and places) document, health strategies or individual practices prophylactic and curative, taken from many different ethnic groups. The result is a precious testimony of a medical knowledge endangered, a historical journey of man in the universe sub-specie medicine. Therefore, the first objective was collection and storage. At the same time it underlines the relevance of certain therapeutic solutions, drawing the attention of the specialists on the "active ingredients", or simple but effective processes that, as "strange" they may appear, are worthy of attention, if only for the that emerge from observations of secular experiments. With this museum, unique in the world, A. Scarpa has filled a gap in knowledge and development of the Etno-medicine, in the belief of inducing a better knowledge and appreciation of the contribution offered by the "traditional practices" to the advancement of all those sciences that operate in an effort to alleviate human suffering.