Catalonia’s Museum of Archaeology Leads Naked Visitors on Guided Tour

Last Saturday, the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia played host to a group of nudists who were invited into the museum. For 90 minutes, they were allowed to enjoy everything the institution has to offer wearing only the clothes they were born with, according to Reuters.

The tour was organized in partnership with the Catalan Naturism Club, which connects people who embrace a nudist lifestyle and offers trips to nudist beaches in Catalonia and across Europe, swimming excursions, and activities such as beach volleyball and body painting workshops.

To promote the tour museum’s website promised visitors the chance to “admire the works by posing in the same situation as they are, completely naked and surrounded by other bodies,” Reuters reported.

“We wanted to make it a more colorful visit and not the typical guided tour,” said Edgar Maestre, the group’s tour guide, who led the group au naturale. “We wanted people who came to see it to feel exactly the same as the work they were looking at.”

Among the exhibitions on view at the museum was “Bronzes of Riace,” which consists of photographs by Luigi Spina featuring two large Greek bronze statues of naked warriors from the 5th century BCE that were discovered in 1972 near Riace, Italy.

“[I felt] the same intensity as observing it with clothes on, but with the difference that we might understand better that nudity has always existed and bodies should not be a source of shame for anyone,” Marta, a 59-year-old health worker who was took part in the tour, told Reuters.

While not an everyday occurrence, it’s not uncommon for museum to host naked tours. In 2018 the Palais de Tokyo invited guests to check their coats, and clothes, and tour the museum in the nude. Meanwhile, the Mattress Factory museum on the in Pittsburgh is hosting its own nude art tour on November 10. Tickets, which include general admission and catered food, will run you $30.