The Sabah Museum (
Malay: ''Muzium Sabah'') is the state museum of
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
. It is sited on of land at Bukit Istana Lama in
Kota Kinabalu
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...
, the state capital.
History
The original Sabah Museum location was established on 15 July 1965 in a
shophouse
A shophouse is a building type serving both as a residence and a commercial business. It is defined in dictionary as a building type found in Southeast Asia that is "a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the owner's residence", a ...
in
Gaya Street, Kota Kinabalu
The Gaya Street is a street Sunday market area in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. It is dubbed as the Chinatown of Sabah due to many Chinese coffee shops and restaurants situated there. In addition with an arch gate that was erected since 2005 ...
, largely due to the efforts of the Sabah Society.
George Cathcart Woolley
George Cathcart Woolley (24 December 1876 – 6 December 1947) was a British colonial administrator in North Borneo (now Sabah) in the early part on the twentieth century. Woolley was also an ethnographer and an ardent collector, and ...
collection of photographs, diaries and other artefacts, bequeathed to the State Government of Sabah, formed the nucleus of the museum.
The first
curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
of the museum was E. J. Berwick.
The museum administration then came under the State Ministry of Community Services and within the same year in 1981 under the initiative of former Sabah Chief Minister
Harris Salleh, a total of
RM31.2 million was gathered for the construction of a new museum building with the construction started on 1 June.
The following year, the museum administration came under the State Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports where it finally moved into its present location on 11 April 1984.
The new building was officiated on 11 April 1984 by the seventh
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The o ...
, Sultan
Ahmad Shah of
Pahang
Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...
through his visit on the state.
Features
The complex contains not only the museum proper, but also an
ethnobotanic
Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...
garden, a
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...
and a heritage village. The main building also houses the
Sabah Art Gallery
The Sabah Art Gallery (BSLS; ms, Balai Seni Lukis Sabah) is an art gallery in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
History
The art gallery was founded in 1984 by Datuk Mohd. Yaman Hj. Ahmad Mus. In 2012, it was certified as green building by Gree ...
. Other galleries cover
Islamic civilisation,
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...
and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
,
natural history, and
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...
s and
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...
ware.
The mission of the museum is to collect, preserve, conserve and document ethnographic, archaeological, historical, numismatic, art-historical, botanical, zoological and mineralogical collections from throughout the state, and to conduct research on important and interesting aspects of Sabah's history, culture, and social and natural history.
See also
*
List of museums in Malaysia
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures in Kota Kinabalu
Museums established in 1984
Museums in Sabah