The Hindu : Kerala News : When a museum turns a ‘showcase’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala

When a museum turns a ‘showcase’

A museum is, in a way, a showcase of many things. The Natural History Museum in Thiruvananthapuram has almost become a showcase, but with a difference. For some years now, the museum has been playing host to gifts received by chief ministers and other ministers during their various visits.

Along with specimens of tribal culture and stuffed animals and birds, the museum also displays dinner sets, watches, statuettes of boats… This, at a time when it is finding it difficult to house objects of historical or sociological value.

“We started getting the gifts when E.K. Nayanar was the Chief Minister. Then we got the gifts received by A.K. Antony, then those received by a few other ministers. Actually, we did not have space to display all this. When Mr. Antony was the Chief Minister, he authorised government assistance for building a special hall to house the gifts received by the Chief Minister. As part of that move, we also got space to display articles related to the culture of the Kani people,” Elcy George, director of Museums and Zoos, said.

Many visitors, including schoolchildren, have often pointed out that dinner sets and watches do not belong to a museum of natural history. Officials who have worked at the museum confirmed to The Hindu that there is virtually no ‘gift’ that qualifies as an exhibit at the museum.

The foundation stone for the museum was laid in 1958 and the building commissioned in 1964. The museum has a rich collection of stuffed specimens, articulated specimens (skeleton, bones), wet specimens (preserved chemically), and an index gallery that exhibits everything from phylum protozoa onwards.

G. Mahadevan

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala