Mindalae is a useful Quito museum for travellers who want to understand Ecuador through objects made and used by its communities: textiles, masks, ceramics, basketry, and ritual pieces. It is smaller and more intimate than the national museums, but its focus on craft and material culture is exactly the point.
Visit before shopping for textiles or heading into the highlands, and you will notice more. The displays help separate living craft traditions from souvenir clichés, and they make a good counterpoint to Quito’s churches, colonial plazas, and archaeology collections.