New S'wak Museum set to open its doors in 2020
KUCHING: The new Sarawak Museum Campus is set to become a must-visit attraction once it opens its doors to the public in 2020.
The RM308-million project is undertaken in two stages – the first one involves the new museum campus and its annex building, while the next involves the old Sarawak Museum and the ancillary buildings surrounding it.
Works progress rate is currently at 92 per cent towards completion – the scheduled official opening by 2020 appears to be on track.
However Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the physical construction of the building should reach completion by March next year, but it would take another year to move the historical artefacts into the building.
“Museums are different compared with other buildings. Whatever that is put inside the museum must be accompanied by a write-up.
“In any museum in the world, only 20 per cent of the artefacts are displayed (to the public); 80 per cent is being kept in the storage,” he told reporters during a visit to the museum site at Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg here yesterday.
According to him, the reason for this is to enable and facilitate proper research works on the artefacts prior to putting them for public display.
Thirty per cent of the new Sarawak museum, he said, would feature interactive contents while the rest would be the ‘more traditional' exhibition.
He said that the new museum would also showcase how Sarawak was formed, apart from reflecting its identity and heritage.
“That's why we are quite excited about this museum as it progresses – we want to see it being properly managed and administered once it is completed.”
It is said that over 100 staff members would be recruited – adding to the existing 20 – to better manage the new Sarawak Museum, which would also have a children's gallery targeting to host families and visitors from schools.