Culture Ministry takes media on tour of local museums
— to savour the various aspects of Guyana’s history
THE MINISTRY of Culture, Youth & Sport took members of the media on a conducted tour of six museums Friday as part of the observance of International Museum Day, May 18. The objective of this ground-breaking exercise was to further educate persons on the history of Guyana from a variety of perspectives.
The glimpse into history began at the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology, which deals specifically with the descendants of Amerindians in Guyana, and the way they had lived.
This museum was founded in 1974 from the collection of the late Guyanese Archaeologist Dr. Denis Williams, and was originally called the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology and Art History.
Over the years, the Walter Roth Museum, housed on Main Street here in the city, became engaged in numerous research programmes, the most important of which was the archaeological research conducted by Dr. Williams throughout the 10 administrative regions of Guyana. That research yielded much valuable information on the history and present culture of the Amerindians.
The first floor of the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology focuses on Amerindian burials, diet, and means of transportation. Yannick Sobers, a staff at Walter Roth, explained in detail how the Amerindians of old conducted their affairs in these respects.
The second floor of the same museum deals with basketry and pottery in the Amerindian way of life, and members of the media were guided by Shebana Daniels. According to her, the artifacts housed in the museum were excavated or donated, and date back to very ancient days.
That museum also has a Junior Archaeology Outreach programme, which seeks to involve youths in the country’s history. These are only a few of the works being conducted by the Walter Roth Museum.
The tour was then led to the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre on upper High Street, Kingston, also in the city, which was officially opened on 22 March, 2000 to commemorate the 82nd birth anniversary of Dr. Jagan. The Centre is dedicated to availing the works and legacy of the late Guyanese President Dr. Cheddi Jagan (1918-1997) to the world. It houses a large archival collection of papers, documents, and photographs, and audio and videotapes related to Dr. Jagan’s long and enduring involvement in the political life of Guyana.
It portrays his leadership role in governments of 1953, 1957, 1961 and 1992, when, as president, he headed the first democratically elected government since 1964.
The Centre is a non-profit organisation which provides access to the entire archival collection free of charge. Its aims and objectives are to publish materials and promote research on the life, works and ideas of Dr. Jagan.
The visitors were next taken to the Guyana National Museum on Company Path, just across the way from Guyana Stores Limited at the corner of Church and Main Streets and immediately behind the Bank of Guyana. On showcase there are social history exhibits which display Guyana’s very rich and diverse social culture.
The National Museum displays almost every amazing fact about Guyana, including its different peoples; ways of transport in ancient days; giant animals, like the 20-foot-tall ocelot; a collection of mammals, including jaguars, labba and the squirrel monkey, among many other species of fauna.
Various species of birds, reptiles and fishes; models of historic places and buildings; gold and diamond mining, and Dutch ceramics are also featured at that museum.
Across at the Museum of African Heritage on Barima Avenue, in suburban Bel Air Park, items such as African chains, bracelets and accessories were on display; as were clothing and shoes made out of alligator skins, a model of the 1763 Monument, the Damon Monument, and Mrs. Viola Burnham’s collection of locally made dishes.
From there, the entourage next proceeded to the Guyana Heritage Museum in Region 3, at Meten-Meer-Zorg to be precise, where money dating back to several years ago, various antique bottle collections and ancient music instruments were among the many items on display.
The tour concluded at the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL)’s Rum Museum, where models of the various stills used to produce some of the world’s finest spirits and liquors under the ‘Demerara’ name were on display. Some of these displays date back some 250 years ago.
The Demerara Rum Heritage Museum shows the history of rum-making in Guyana. The museum features a photographic exhibition of the works of DDL, and how that entity improved its efficiency through modernisation in many ways.
DDL annually stores over 65,000 barrels of spirits, used to produce international award-winning rums that command significant presence on shelves in almost every country in the world.
Every year since 1977, International Museum Day has been held worldwide on May 18th. The theme for this year’s observance was “Museums in a changing world: New challenges, new inspiration.”