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A museum of Fijian artifacts From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fiji Museum is a museum in Suva, Fiji located in the capital city's botanical gardens, Thurston Gardens.
Type | National museum |
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Location |
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Origins | Form by the Friends of Fiji Museum |
Area served | Fiji |
Services | Curation and research of Fiji's national heritage |
Website | fijimuseum |
The museum is a statutory body and is under the administration of the Fiji Museum Act and the Preservation of Objects of Archaeological & Palaeontological Interest Act.[1]
The museum was founded in 1904 by a voluntary association - the Friends of Fiji Museum.[2][3][4] During the twentieth century its location moved several times before its current location in Thurston Gardens.[2] Its original location was in the old Town Hall.[5] The museum was opened in 1955 by the Governor of Fiji, Sir Ronald Garvey.[6] In 2019 a proposal was put forward that part of the site of Thurston Gardens could be developed by the Indian High Commission; this proposal was opposed by the Director of the Fiji Museum, Sipiriano Nemani.[7] In 2021, former director of the museum, Timaima Sagale Buadromo, had an acquittal for corruption charges and abuse of office reversed, in order to await a new trial.[8]
The museum is part of the Museums & Climate Change Network.[9] The Fiji Museum was the host institution for the Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA) secretariat until 2006, when the secretariat transferred its base of operations to Port Vila, Vanuatu.[citation needed]
The Fiji Museum holds the most important collection of Fijian artifacts in the world.[10] The centrepiece of the museum's collection is the 13 metre-long double-hulled canoe, Ratu Finau.[11] Other important objects include the rudder from HMS Bounty, objects relating to cannibalism, as well as objects that record the impact of colonial impact on the islands.[11] This includes a display about Indo-Fijian communities.[12] The museum collects oral histories and undertakes archaeological excavations.[11][13] The museum has a collection of contemporary art.[11] It also has a manuscript collection.[14]
The museum's archaeological collections date back 3700 years.[10] Osteological material from the archaeological collection was used for stable isotopic (δ13C, δ15N) analysis of bone collagen in order to identify the "percent contribution of human flesh" to prehistoric diets.[15] The study's results showed that this was "low for all individual Lauans".[15]
The museum organised and partnered on archaeological excavations across the islands, including:
In 2021 the museum signed a memorandum of understanding with four British museums to mark Fiji's 50th anniversary with a knowledge exchange programme.[22] Under the proposal staff from the Fiji Museum would provide cultural information about iTaukei artefacts held in British collections.[23]
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