Museum of Belize celebrates 1st birthday
It compares favourably in both form and substance, with institutions of similar size and purpose anywhere on the planet. Today, I was on hand as the Museum of Belize took a well deserved bow.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
With its own unique brand of pomp and circumstance, the Museum of Belize this morning celebrated its first birthday.
To date more than twenty thousand Belizeans and visitors from abroad have toured the museum. According to curator Gilvano Swasey, over the last twelve months, the museum’s two displays have received rave reviews.
Gilvano Swasey, Curator, Museum of Belize
“You have different ones who love Belize City and who love Mayas. Belize City, the main attraction to be honest is the history of the museum itself. As you know the building has a long history and they’re excited about people getting hanged and so forth. I don’t know if it’s because of television, but that’s one thing that excites them a lot. They love the old pictures. They like to hear about the Swing Bridge because it’s one of the few things that still remain, St. John’s Cathedral. They like that even though these things are so old, they can still see them. The Mayas they are amazed by the jade, they have never seen anything like that before, they are amazed by the paintings and what they mean, the language that is what captivates them.”
One new addition to the museum is a multi-media room where visitors can take a visual tour of Mayan sites across the country. Swasey says because some schools have still not had a chance to see the exhibits, changes to the display won’t be made until later this year.
Gilvano Swasey
“We are planning September, to change into a new exhibition mainly Belize City first because the Mayas is still so vast. But Belize City we are looking at slavery, at logwood and so forth. Many of things might remain because they are intermingled, connected together but we’re looking to change Belize City. The Mayas might stay for a while, but we might change the objects. We’re looking at September, so we can the little break when school is closed, and as school open we have a nice new exhibition.”
The bulk of the visitors have been students from all over the country, but even when school is out, the Museum of Belize is an anchor site for tourism in Belize City, especially those off cruise ships. According to Minister of Tourism Mark Espat, the museum is only one of several projects planned for the city, and the rest of the country. Strong culture, it seems, is also good politics.
Mark Espat, Minister of Tourism
“I want to thank all of those twenty thousand visitors that have graced the museum with their presence. I also want to recommit Government’s dedication of human and financial resources to ensure that the museum’s success continues. Very soon we will be starting the work at the Bliss Institute as well as the House of Culture in Belize City. In the last almost five years in culture we’ve seen an explosion of talent, in music, in painting, in drama, in arts and crafts, in culture in general. Our government recommits itself, especially as we face the March fifth election to promoting unceasingly Belize’s culture.”
In addition to the Government of Belize, key financing for the museum project was provided by the Republic of China on Taiwan.
