The Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum Collection consists of over 6000 cannabis related items. From cultivation to consumption, from ancient ritual to modern medicine, every aspect of cannabis in human culture is represented in some way.
This slideshow presents some highlights of the permanent exhibition. We hope you enjoy this small taste of what the Museum has to offer visitors.
Click on the thumbnails below to see the full-sized images and read the descriptions.
The World's Largest Collection of Cannabis-Related Artefacts
The Museum's founder Ben Dronkers says he never really set out to create the world's largest permanent collection of cannabis related artefacts- "As a collector, you just collect." As a nineteen year old who had recently started smoking cannabis, he collected "a few pipes"- a few became many, and as his travels broadened his knowledge about the many applications of hemp, they also gave him the scope to accumulate more exotic items.
A corresponding interest in old tools and machinery led to the purchase of several antique 'braken' and 'hekelen' (breaking and heckling) devices, which were once used to break open the hemp stalks and separate the fibre, respectively. Over the years, this part of the Collection would expand to include tools from every stage of the pre-industrial processing of hemp, as well as weaving and spinning apparatus.
Beautiful Displays
At the inception of the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum, the exhibits were made up of Ben's collection alongside that of friend and contemporary Ed Rosenthal, as well as various items Ben had borrowed from other friends and acquaintances. Many of these borrowed items were eventually purchased by Ben, who recalls: "once I saw how beautiful they were in the displays, I didn't want to let them leave!"
Multimedia Exhibits
The unique status of the Museum as a treasure-house of information has led to visits from writers and researchers all over the world, eager to learn from and contribute to it. The sections devoted to works of art, medicine, and popular culture have expanded, and multimedia exhibits were added, with short films devoted to the political, historical, and industrial aspects of cannabis.
Rare Paintings
One of Ben’s favorite parts of the collection is the selection of Dutch paintings from the 16th and 17th Centuries. Many show everyday men and women enjoying cannabis recreationally in ‘rookhuizen’ (literally, ‘smoke houses’) which, 400 years ago, were the equivalent of modern Amsterdam’s cannabis coffee-shops . Original works by Old Masters and contemporaries of Rembrandt such as Adriean Brouwer, Cornelis Saftleven and David Teniers the Younger are beautifully displayed in the Museum Gallery.
Bringing Mondrian To Life
One of the most noteworthy artworks is a rare watercolour by Piet Mondrian showing a woman spinning hemp fibres, painted prior to his Neo Plasticism period. Displayed beside it is an antique spinning wheel, complete with hemp fibres, which is almost identical to the one in the painting, giving visitors a unique glimpse into the world Mondrian painted. No other museum can bring the history of hemp to life like the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum!
Family Business
As the Collection continued to grow, so did Ben's family. His children Alan (an author and leading expert in the field of cannabis), Ravi, and Shiva, have all worked with the Collection and the Museum itself, helping to make it the largest and most famous permanent exhibition of cannabis related art and artefacts in the world.
Today the Museum is more fascinating and informative than ever. Although it is still not possible to display every piece in the Collection, the number of exhibited items has nearly doubled since the 2008 opening of the Museum Gallery, which is just down the canal from the original Museum.
