Museums are displays consisting of collective treasures of a community, its historical artefacts, and objects of cultural and scientific import. However there are some very unusual and unconventional museums as well. Ever since I visited the small but interesting Museum of Illusion in Dubai, I was interested to see what other types of museums are there for us to see. More recently I read about the interactive museum of words that is slated to open up in Washington DC.
Rail museums are not unusual, but the one in Delhi is a great one for several reasons: there are vintage trains you can climb into, recreations of some stations and even a little train ride for visitors to enjoy.
In Somerville, MA is the MOBA as it dubs itself, claims to be art that is “too bad to be ignored”. Bad portraits, misguided nudes, sports drawings that ‘break the rules’… this museum clearly knows how to laugh at itself.
This museum in Zagreb, Croatia features personal objects that are the remnants of failed relationships. Exhibits include the ‘ex-axe’; which a woman had used to chop up furniture after her husband left her for another woman.
Instant noodles were invented in 1958 and this museum recreates that period. It features famous noodle restaurants and also features fave recipes.
Yes this is a museum dedicated to toilets – an issue close to the hearts of Indians because of the problem that open defecation still presents.
In Washington DC there is a museum that tells us more about how spying shaped history, how spy agencies protect against threats at home, age-old spying techniques and new. Visitors learn about intelligence gathering and code cracking here.
In Amsterdam, you discover humanity's ‘painful past’; when the use of especially cruel torture implements were common. The museum dedicated to “Punishments and Verdicts in the Middle Ages” features instruments of punishments such as the guillotine, inquisition chair, etc.
This is for people who love language and words, and want to explore the power, fun and beauty of this. Galleries such as words matter, the spoken word and poetry and the speaking willow art installation are some attractions of this interactive museum.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
