“Old Benque” exhibit opens in city
History exists in places other than books. In fact, as News 5’s Jacqueline Woods discovered this morning, it’s on display in the most ordinary of places.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
All the historical pieces on display are from the personal collections of families who may have once used them at home. They now form what has become known as the “Old Benque” exhibit, a collection that tells the story of life in the western town of Benque Viejo del Carmen around a hundred years ago.
Gilvano Swasey, Director, Museum of Belize
“What has happened that we have noticed, not only through this exhibit but also other exhibits at the museum and so forth, is that many people, many families and personal people do have private collections but they were always afraid of letting it go because they do not know what or who will do with it, or if they give it to a department or someone what will happen to it, like will it just get lost and end up in somebody else’s collection. But through these exhibits that have given people faith that if they donate something, they will be used in a good purpose, namely education.”
Presently the exhibit is in Belize City on display at the Turton Library on North Front Street. Because of the size of venue, not all the artefacts are on display, but what is shown is intriguing to the eye.
Gilvano Swasey
“Some of the pieces are very, very old. The chiclero bag, you have pieces that were for the railroads, there are some spikes that were used for the railroad and other parts of things that were used for the chicleros. Spurs for his boots, the shoes for his horses and so forth. And also some of the other things, the irons, some of the old irons, the huge metal irons, the first ones, the coal pot iron, the first gas iron and so forth. But what is also interesting is that even though these things are so old, many of them are still being used today.”
The exhibition is also a very big deal for the staff at the Turton Library for more reasons than one. Librarian Trevelee Williams says those persons who are old enough to remember will think they are stepping back in time, no, not because of what is on display, but for the activity itself.
Trevelee Williams, Librarian
“I think our older people will recall that since the inception in 1935 of Turton Library Centre, it use to be somewhat like a museum. In fact there was this big whalebone that was here, there were a number of different objects that the library used to hold in depicting the cultural and historical aspects of Belize. And so the idea now is to bring back some of that element within the National Library Service, so that people recognise that our daily culture is what really turns out to be our historical background. Our daily life now will be what our children will be recalling later, so that’s the whole idea.”
The exhibition is the result of a working relationship between the National Library Service, the Museum of Belize and the Houses of Culture. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
The Old Benque Exhibit will be on display at the Turton Library for one month before it travels to the Orange Walk House of Culture.
