Devised by Manuel Chamoso Lamas, it started out as an ethnographic section of the Ourense Provincial Archaeological Museum. It now operates independently and occupies the Baamonde manor house or Casa de la Fundación Martín Vázquez. Its ethnographic collections are provincial and it also houses the Jesús Sánchez Orriols «Chucho» Collection, the Rubén García Álvarez Collection, the Meruéndano Collection and an interesting photographic archive. In addition, it offers temporary exhibitions, most of which are self-produced, with ethnographic content.