Museum opens its door to young Berbicians

May 20, 2010 News

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Port Mourant, Berbice- A museum exhibition is currently on at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus. The exhibition, a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, various museums across Guyana and the University of Guyana Berbice Campus, is being held under the theme “Museums and Social Harmony.”
Yesterday, International Museum Day, saw the gathering of dozens of school children from across the Berbice region, schoolteachers, museum personnel, guests, students and staff of UGBC, and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dr Frank Anthony, to officially commence the exhibition which runs until Friday morning at the campus at Tain.
Director of UGBC, Professor Daizal R. Samad, assured those present of the campus’s commitment towards dedicating their energies to the educational uplift of all segments of the Berbice community.
“We have worked hard at making real our philosophy of inclusion, opening the campus to youths at all levels and for all aspects of education,” the professor said. He mentioned a few organizations with which the university has worked closely over the past couple of years, and these included: the Port Mourant Training School, Guyana Police Force, the various Chambers of Commerce, among others.
“Our overarching philosophy is that education is but one enterprise, and that enterprise is to create a brighter future for the community, young and not so young. We have sought to excavate the corridors of assistance and communications with all institutions of learning,” he said.
Minister Dr Frank Anthony, said that reflecting on this International Museum Day, he believes that museums have a greater role to play especially in these multi-ethnic societies.
He said that the first museum in Guyana was established in 1861, and they have been able to preserve materials from that era.
He said that Guyanese, instead of looking at their differences, can and must focus on their commonalities and similar things that they share. “We [Guyanese] have not explored these common things. We have to interact with each other. We have to invent what may be closer to the Guyanese identity, what is important to us”, Minister Anthony said.
He further stated that museums can play a very important role in showcasing the intangible culture of our people.
“As Guyanese, we need to talk about Guyanese culture. What is absent is a pre- history—before the 15th Century.”
He said that Guyanese hardly ever hear what took place before the 15th Century period in this country.
Minister Anthony explained that the Amerindians came to Guyana some 11,000 years ago, and that we do not have much pre- history on that. He was convinced that history did not begin with the coming of the Europeans alone but far before the coming of the Amerindians.
Just the other day, a replica of a gigantic sloth which roamed Guyana thousands of years ago was launched at the National Museum in Georgetown. That tells part of a much larger story of the types and sizes of pre- historical animals that existed in Guyana over the centuries.
Minister Anthony believes that history can unite the nation. “We have much more in common than what separates us”.
He is adamant that if Guyanese forget the differences and remember the commonalities, that the nation can move forward as one people.
Dr Anthony stated that plans are underway to establish museums all over Guyana, Berbice being no exception. Linden currently has a bauxite Museum, Fort Island has a Dutch museum, and Georgetown has the National Museum and Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology among others.
He said that his Ministry is working to develop a regional museum in Berbice to showcase its history. Berbice, the Minister said, has a rich history in sugar, and this region can be a place in which the “sugar story” can be showcased.
Also in attendance at the function was Director of Culture of University of Guyana, Dr James Rose, museum personnel Mrs Jenny Wishart, among others.
School children and their teachers were allowed to view the exhibits brought from Georgetown. The exhibits included an Amerindian corner which consisted of Amerindian photos, equipment used for cooking, hunting, etc; Walter Roth Anthropology Museum book booth which showcased many books about historical Amerindian data and people. These were distributed for free to teachers. Also making up the exhibition were the porkknocker booth, several models of Guyana’s historical Dutch forts, models of the agouti, anteater and other animals found in the wild, and various kinds of models of eggs of birds dating back to the dinosaur era.
(Leon Suseran)

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