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"The Sarawak Museum, built in 1888 and renovated to it's present form in 1911 is most famous for exhibiting a comprehensive and well maintained collection of Borneo art, wildlife and historical artifacts."
The Sarawak Museum reputed to be the best in the region, should not be missed by visitors to the City. The vast collection housed in the Museum reveals Sarawak's efforts in the preservation and conservation of the cultural heritage and natural history of Borneo.
The idea of creating a museum to hold Sarawak's relics was first mooted by Charles Brooke, the 2nd White Rajah of Sarawak. Later the man who influenced him to build a permanent museum was Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist who was in Sarawak for two years conducting a research on the evolution of man based on the Orang Utan of Borneo.
The items on display on the first floor consist of mostly ethnographic artefacts. Among the items on display include musical instruments, handicrafts and woodcarvings, fish traps and different models of traditional houses of the various ethnic groups in Sarawak.
The ground floor covers exhibits of mammals, the invertebrates, reptiles, birds, insects and different types of marine and freshwater fish. It also has a petroleum gallery.
The first Museum designed along the lines of a Normandy town hall was opened in 1891 and extended to its present form in 1911.
The Museum opens daily from 9am – 6pm except on Friday.
Last viewed - March 20, 2010
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