The Chichiri Museum, also known as the Museum of Malawi, is a historical and cultural museum located in
Blantyre
Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...
,
Malawi
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
. Strictly Museum of Malawi refers to a group of five museums but Chichiri Museum (which is one of them) uses the name due to the breadth of its exhibits.
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History
The Society of Malawi started to campaign for a museum in the early 1950s.
The Museums of Malawi, initially known as the Nyasaland Museum, was established through legislation in May 1957 via Museum Ordinance No. 201.
The initial museum was housed at Mandala house in Blantyre.
The current museum building was constructed in 1965 at
Chichiri Hill in Blantyre, using funds from the
Beit Trust Beit may refer to:
*Beit (surname)
*Beit baronets
*Bet (letter), a letter of the Semitic abjad
*A component of Arabic placenames and Hebrew placenames, literally meaning 'house'
*'' Masada: Beit'' album by American jazz band Masada
*Bayt (poetry), ...
and the Government of Malawi.
The cost of construction was 21,000
Malawian pound
Demographic features of the population of Malawi include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Region distribution
Northern regio ...
s.
The museum was formally opened by
Kamuzu Banda
Hastings Kamuzu Banda ( – 25 November 1997) was a Malawian politician and statesman who served as the leader of Malawi from 1964 to 1994. He served as Prime Minister from independence in 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was a Dominion/Commonwealth r ...
on 29 June 1966.
Under the presidency of Kamuzu Banda collecting was in some cases limited to avoid any risk of upsetting the government with the result that little collecting was done from groups associated with rebels.
Attempts to compensate for this have been made in post Banda collecting practices.
In 2009 the
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi supplied a hydroelectic exhibit that sits in the outdoor section of the museum.
Collection
The museum has a transport collection displayed outdoors that includes a steam engine, a fire engine and a Europeans only bus.
Also outdoors is a Ndiwula hut in the syle of a
Chewa
Chewa may refer to:
*the Chewa people
*the Chewa language
Chewa ( ; also known as Nyanja ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for lang ...
rural homestead.
It was built in 1966 under the instructions of President Kamuzu Banda.
The museum also displays the Machinga Meteorite which at the time of its fall was mistaken for a mozambique missile.
The meteorite weighs 93.2Kg and in 1984 was classified as a shocked
L6c chondrite.
In 1990 a reanalysis classified it as a L6d.
Gallery
File:Trains, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Early trains of Malawi
File:Fire brigade, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Old fire brigade truck
File:Currency, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Early currency used in Malawi
File:Malawi kwacha notes, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Malawi kwacha notes
File:Military exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Military exhibit
File:Early human exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Early humans in Malawi
File:Human evolution exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Human evolution exhibit
File:Iron Age, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Iron Age exhibit
File:Fishing and hunting tools, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Fishing and hunting tools
File:Farming tools, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Farming tools
File:Household appliances, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Household appliances
File:Domestic appliances, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Domestic appliances
File:Jewelry exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Jewelry exhibit
File:Magical earrings, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Magical earrings
File:Bangles, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Bangles
File:Ivory nose plug and earrings, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Ivory nose plug and earrings
File:Traditional beads, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Traditional beads
File:Amulets, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Amulets
File:Ceremonial spears, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Ceremonial spears
File:Chief stool, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Chief's stool
File:Gule Wankulu, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Gule Wankulu exhibit
File:Traditional medicine exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Traditional medicine exhibit
File:Traditional medicine exhibit 2, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Traditional medicine: nyanga
File:Traditional medicine exhibit 3, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Traditional medicine: chithumwa
File:Traditional medicine exhibit 4, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Traditional medicine: nsupa
File:Human skin, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Human skin photo
File:Exhibits behind glass, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Exhibits behind glass
File:Slave trade exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Slave trade exhibit
File:Weapons, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Weapons
File:Dancing apparel, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Dancing apparel
File:Drums exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Drums exhibit
File:Musical instrument exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Musical instrument exhibit
File:Musical instrument chisekese, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Musical instrument chisekese
File:Moir Brothers agreement, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Moir Brothers agreement
File:Old clothing exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Old clothing exhibit
File:Bark cloth exhibit, Blantyre Chichiri Museum.jpg, Bark cloth exhibit
File:Blantyre Chichiri Museum Livingstone-3.jpg, In front of the entrance to the temporary David Livingstone exhibit (2014)
File:Blantyre Chichiri Museum Livingstone-2.jpg, Map of Livingstone's travels at temporary exhibit (2014)
References
External links
*
{{coord, 15, 48, 12, S, 35, 02, 18, E, region:MW_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
1957 establishments in Nyasaland
Museums established in 1966
Museums in Malawi
National museums
Buildings and structures in Southern Region, Malawi
Buildings and structures in Blantyre