–President says relocation of Walter Roth Museum an administrative, rather than ‘whimsical’ decision

PRESIDENT Granger has cleared the air on the proposed relocation of the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology from Main Street, saying that it was is not a spur-of-the-moment decision.“This is not a whimsical move; it is because there are organisational changes,” he told reporters yesterday when braced on the subject following a function at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre at Liliendaal.

Besides noting that every precaution will be taken to avoid any damage to those collections currently housed at the Museum, the president said it’s all in keeping with plans by the government to relocate the institution to the west wing of the Guyana National Museum on North Road.

And just in case there are still reservations, given that the artefacts have to travel a bit in getting to their new destination, the president said he doesn’t foresee any problem, as it’s just a distance of 400 meters.

AN IMPROVEMENT
“It’s not tumbling out; it’s an improvement,” he said, adding that if the move could have been avoided, such would have been the case.

Noting also that the government did not envisage encountering any resistance to the change of venue, which was announced on Friday last, President Granger said:
“We saw it as an improvement in providing access to the Walter Roth Museum.”

And while on the subject of improvement, the president said the authorities will do whatever it takes necessary to ensure that the western wing of the Guyana National Museum is prepared to international standards.

On Friday, the government announced that the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology has been earmarked for a major upgrade and change of location.

According to a release from the Ministry of the Presidency, the government had taken a decision to relocate the museum from its current location on Main Street.

THE REGION’S OLDEST
Acclaimed to be the oldest such museum in the English-speaking Caribbean, the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology was established in 1974, but was not opened to the public until 1982.

The museum was founded with the collections of Guyanese archaeologist Dr Denis Williams. In 1980, the ethnographic collections of Dr Walter Roth, J.J. Quelch and Sir Everardim Thurn were transferred to the Walter Roth Museum from the Guyana Museum.

An ethnographic collection of the Wai Wai peoples was presented to the museum in 1991 by local cultural anthropologist, Dr George P. Mentore.
The museum’s collections also include excavated artifacts from all ten administrative regions of Guyana.

The museum is a non-profit institution created by the Government of Guyana to collect, exhibit and conserve artifacts relating to the nation’s ancient cultures, to conduct anthropological research and disseminate knowledge of the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana through its in-house and outreach programmes.