From Apartheid Museum To Spy Museum, The Many Unique Museums In The World

Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg

Archival memory helps us to grow and learn. So, the efforts of the powers that be to sanitise history can only be fought through Museums.

Founded in 2008, Apartheid Museum in South Africa talks about the days of racial segregation, its emergence and decline. Film footages, photographs and artifacts from the day gone by take the audience to a journey of memory- an indelible past.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City

The devastation that war yields can never be a matter of past. It lives through the mourning of the bereaved. It is reflected through the dilapidated buildings where dusts never settle down.

The War Remnants Museum in Vietnam recalls the days of war against America and portrays fear through photography and relics.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Biennale looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

Museum of Black Civilisation in Dakar, Senegal

At a time when whitewashing is the norm, the assertion of black civilisation, its culture and artifact are seemingly rebellious.

Started in 2018, this Museum celebrates the art and culture of different African communities. Indigeneity of the art forms here counter the white hegemony. As it came into being, several people even asked to the former European masters to give them back the stolen artefacts.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

Museum of Royal Tombs of Sipan in Chiclayo, Peru

The artefacts used by our ancestors not only evoke nostalgia, rather it gives us a sense of belonging.

Museum of Royal Tombs in Peru showcases tombs of Lord of Sipan besides 14 other members of Moche civilisation. It also displays the royal jewels, regal vessels etc. These memories of things make us believe that we all had a past that is buried underneath awaiting excavation.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

National Museum of American African History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

What are the lived experiences of the marginalised? How do they negotiate their everyday? When the memories of the oppressed are pushed to the footnotes, National Museum of African American History reminds people of the contribution of them to the foundation of the country.

Though the plan was proposed by the black army veterans in 1915, it only came to shape in 2016. With more than 40,000 objects dedicated to the lives and cultures of African-American people, this museum recognises the people at margins.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

International Spy Museum, Washington, D.C.

Espionage has always excited people in different times. From spy thriller to spy novels - the stories that gave adrenalin rush to our fantasies adorn the International Spy Museum.

The history of the nation state is marred with wars and espionage. In this backdrop, this Museum makes people aware of the (in)famous espionage operations and showcases gadgets like cypher machines, counterfeit currency, disguised weapons, miniature cameras, concealment devices for weapons, radio transmitters and receivers.

This innovative idea makes people walk through the interface of today and tomorrow- a binding of present and the future.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

Comics Art Museum, Brussels, Belgium

The presence of Tin Tin in the museum space may be an odd choice for some. But this is what childhood means for several people across the world.

Comics Art Museum in Belgium curates the cartoon characters and gives the audience a walk through the childhood memories and innocence. At a time when adulting is too fast, the survival of childhood in the museum space gives us hopes of a better day.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi, India

Do we look at the indispensable components of our everyday lives? Do we think how toilets and its evolution have shaped our day-to-day interactions? This museum in Delhi showcases the evolving nature of different toilets. From ancient time to our recent days, the transition of toilets talks about the politics of sanitation.

This innovative idea makes us think through the minute neglected details of our everyday lives. Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

The Museum of Bread Culture, Germany

The significance of Bread in our everyday diet is a given fact. But how did the bread evolve? What are the stages that the bread making has been through? The Museum of Bread Culture in Germany since 1955 has been showcasing the 6000 years old history of breads and its multidimensional interactions with different cultures.

Interestingly, the museum doesn’t put any bread on display as they think that bread needs to be baked fresh to serve. Such efforts reimagine the significance of food in our cultures and in an innovative manner make us look at the evolution.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

The Hair Museum of Avanos

Memory has its own politics that lives through the body. Hair Museum of Avanos looks at the potential of hair as a reservoir of memory. Around 30 years ago Turkish potter Chez Galip when had to bid adieu to one of his friends from Avanos, she gifted her a piece of hair. This kickstarted his journey to keep the hairs of the women who visited her. Hair became the body of remembrance.

This innovative museum redefines the meaning of memory and how it plays through even the dispensable body parts.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.

Museum of Broken Relationships

Every object carries its own story. And when the object has a relation to the loved ones? It becomes precious. The object itself reveals the stories of the broken hearts and cherished memories.

This Museum located at Zagreb, Croatia curates all such objects that tell the stories of broken relationships. The celebration of memory through objects in Museum though has been a time-tested method to recollect history, the revelation of untold stories, here, makes every individual relationship- even if broken- worthy.

Outlook India in collaboration with Bihar Museum looks at all those innovative Museums that evoke the memories to shape the future discourse.