Arte Plumario. Naturaleza, Identidad y Poder

Around 1850, someone in Qing China covered a fan and its case in kingfisher feathers. Both are here, along with a feather mantle from the pre-Inca Wari culture, shown for the first time, and a 17th-century feather tapestry from the Viceroyalty of Peru that has never left its home collection.

There are more than 70 pieces over two floors. You start downstairs with headdresses, cloaks and insignia from the Americas and Asia, then the hybrid works featherworkers made after the Europeans arrived, native technique carrying Christian imagery. Upstairs the museum's scientists take over: how a feather is built, why some shimmer, how the 18th- and 19th-century European craze for plumes sent bird numbers crashing, and how women led the first bird-protection campaigns.

The route ends with Henar Iglesias, a milliner who works only in undyed feathers. Time Out Madrid called it the most curious show in the city. It's on the general ticket: €7, €3.50 reduced, free Tuesdays 15:00 to 17:00 and Sundays 18:30 to 20:00.