Three of a kind
Museums in Port Moresby, Tokyo and Bali.
PNG National Museum and Art Gallery
OVERVIEW The museum and gallery, based in several different sites, has well over 30,000 anthropological collections and more than 7000 contemporary art collections. HIGHLIGHTS The fascinating Life & Land Gallery records the lives of the early inhabitants of New Guinea, who arrived up to 50,000 years ago. The gallery also hosts a colourful collection of preserved bird specimens. BEST TREASURE The J.K. McCarthy Museum holds precious ancient artefacts including wooden dishes, stone mortars, stone blades and magic stones. DON’T MISS In the Masterpiece Gallery check out the tall posts from the Sepik region, which are used to decorate haus tambarans (spirit houses), ancestral boards from the Sepik people and intricately carved Malangan masks from New Ireland.
WEBSITE
museumpng.gov.pg
Miraikan, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation
OVERVIEW Often referred to by proud locals as the “Future Museum”, high-tech Miraikan was created in 2001 by Japan’s Science and Technology Agency. HIGHLIGHTS In the Tsungari exhibition area there is a huge interactive board that allows you to access various Earth observation data collected from scientists and research institutes. BEST TREASURE In the hugely impressive Robot World you can witness demonstration examples of Japan’s leading humanoid robots. Also, a section of the Earth’s rock core records a major meteorite impact event that is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs. DON’T MISS The real-time displays of data from a huge array of seismometers across Japan, which shows the country gently vibrating.
WEBSITE
miraikan.jst.go.jp
Bali Museum, Denpasar, Bali
OVERVIEW The museum was built in 1931 and is designed in the style of a Denpasar royal palace. HIGHLIGHTS There are four main buildings inside the museum: Tabanan, displaying theatrical masks and musical instruments, Karangasem, with sculptures and paintings, Buleleng, with textiles, and Timur with archaeological finds. BEST TREASURE The pavilion on the right side of the museum, contains a collection of prasati (bronzeage plaques) that sing the praises of a 10th-century king. DON’T MISS Make sure when you walk through the main building that you see the stone sarcophagus (coffin) dated from 600BC to 800AD.