- Address: Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg, Taman Budaya, 93400 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
- Phone: +60 82-244 249
- Official site: museum.sarawak.gov.my
The Sarawak State Museum is the oldest in Borneo . This is a very attractive place for tourists. Many of them believe that this is the best museum of Kuching , not counting, of course, the cat museum . Convenient location, in the center of the city, it can be easily reached on foot. The museum was founded at the end of the XIX century by Charles Brook under the influence of the British naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace, who at that time was studying the Malayan archipelago.
Architecture
During its long life the building was repaired many times and changed a little, but in general it remained the same as at the foundation of the museum . This is a rectangular building with brick walls and columns, built in the style of Queen Anne. It seems that it was designed according to the example of the Children's Hospital in Adelaide. Only the central spire is missing. The museum's galleries are consecrated by the roof windows, allowing for a good examination of the exhibits hung on the walls.
The contents of the museum in Sarawak
The collection of natural history, housed in this museum, is considered one of the best in Southeast Asia:
- On the first floor there are stuffed animals. Here there are birds, felines, rodents and primates. Once the first rajah of Sarawak had shot two orangutans during a hunt. He packed them in ice and sent them to England. There they made a stuffed and returned to Sarawak. Today these artifacts, together with others from that era, are in the gallery of natural history.
- On the second floor there are ethnographic artifacts of the indigenous people of the state, including a wide collection of traditional ceremonial masks from different tribes. They were used to celebrate a good harvest or for spiritual ceremonies, such as the expulsion of evil spirits from the body of the victim.
- The model of the house of the Dyak people is an interesting exhibit. In previous epochs the Dayaks practiced bounty hunts, and human skulls were preserved and installed around the house, believing that the trophies would lead to a good harvest and fertility.
- Among other exhibits you can see models of boats, traps for animals, musical instruments, old clothes and weapons.
The museum acquires and carefully preserves historical monuments and antiquities.
How to get there?
The public transport does not go to the museum of Sarawak State. It is necessary to take the bus, which at 9:00 and at 12:30 departs from the Holiday Inn in Kuching . You can also go in a rented car or taxi.