Page 143 - The Guide To Sarawak

THE GUIDE TO SARAWAK
141
The first floor of the Old Wing. Visitors are often so enthralled by the ethnographic displays that they fail to notice the superb Orang Ulu murals that decorate the upper walls.
The Sarawak Museum actively promotes inter-museum cooperation. Here a delegation from the Brunei History Centre “admires” the collection of human skulls in the Longhouse Gallery.
Technology and Wallace Galleries are to the right of the entrance. On the left are the Reptile, Bird, Invertebrate and Mollusc Galleries. Behind the stairwell are the Wildlife and Geological Sections.
On the second floor are many of the galleries the museum is best known for
- Weapons, Beadwork, Boat Models, Masks and Wood Carvings, Basketry and Fish Traps. Further along are the
Musical Instruments and Games, and an extensive display devoted to Traditional Houses - on the far left is a life-sized model of an Iban longhouse.
The Dewan Tun Abdul Razak building across
the road, formerly used for temporary exhibitions and housing a History Gallery, will be demolished to give way to a modern multi-storey display building. Construction
has commenced at the
end of 2014 and will be completed in 2019. Until its completion, a temporary History Gallery will be housed at the Arts Museum located just below the Old Wing.
The Sarawak Museum holds one of Malaysia’s best ethnological collections - visitors to Sarawak should not miss it, no matter how little time they have!
This photo shows just a small selection of the stunning works of art in the woodcarving gallery on the 1st floor of the main building.
The natural history gallery retains some charming Colonial Era taxidermy displays which recall a bygone age of museum-keeping.