Perhaps, after following me for quite some time on Instagram, some of my friends had 'elected' me as their point of reference or the reception counter for inquiries about museums in London (I am not sure if I should feel honoured about it but anyway I'm writing this piece because I enjoy all my 'museum-hunting' projects hahaha)
As a person who values individual differences, I don't think it's useful to suggest the 'must-go' or 'must-see' London museums when people asked me about it because I believe it all depends on your personal interest at the end of the day. Hence, I am going to write, neither about museums that is worth your time (cause I will argue that all knowledge is worth learning to some extent :P) nor about my top 5 favourite museums. So why are they here? Hmmm... I am afraid you have to read all the way to the end to find out hehe
Warning & Disclaimer : These pictures are of my own collection, all of which were taken in 2016, my apology in advance for my terrible photography skills that doesn't seem to get any better huhu (rip Vivo Y51 :'))
Oh by the way, there are two Museum of London, one located near London Wall and another one in Docklands. I have never been to the one in Docklands; another place to add into the list in the future I guess?
Somehow, I joined a free tour at the museum in last February. It was a gallery lecture given by Daniel Snowman on 'Verdi and Victoria: National Icons'. I remember some parts of the talk was about what Queen Victoria and Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, an Italian opera composer have in common, but the rest of the talk was more about their life accounts which I can barely recall now, yet I did find it very 'historically' insightful (I love listening to story-telling so I really enjoy free tours hahaha)
As a person who values individual differences, I don't think it's useful to suggest the 'must-go' or 'must-see' London museums when people asked me about it because I believe it all depends on your personal interest at the end of the day. Hence, I am going to write, neither about museums that is worth your time (cause I will argue that all knowledge is worth learning to some extent :P) nor about my top 5 favourite museums. So why are they here? Hmmm... I am afraid you have to read all the way to the end to find out hehe
Warning & Disclaimer : These pictures are of my own collection, all of which were taken in 2016, my apology in advance for my terrible photography skills that doesn't seem to get any better huhu (rip Vivo Y51 :'))
1. Museum of London
I put this museum as the first on the list because it is my favourite museum so far. The reason being for the fact that I got to engage with an artefacts handling session during my visit last two years and ended up having a long chat with the archaeologist who was handling the session XD
I got to learn so much about the history of London itself after my visit to this museum. If you wish to discover more about London in the Roman and Medieval times, as well as the city's revival after the time of the Great Fire, then this should be your first point of visit upon your arrival in London!
Note: After your visit, spend some time visiting the remains of London Wall located just outside the museum, or if you are really into the history London then maybe you can go for an 'aesthetic stroll' along the 'London Wall Walk' hehehe
South Kensington Museums
Living in Malaysia, I have always thought that museums are all about history and politics. But visiting these museums has definitely challenged my perception towards the institution all this while! These museums are called South Kensington Museums as they are all located in South Kensington, particularly on the Exhibition Road. If you stand by one junction of the road, you can literally see all three of them. In alphabetical order:
2. Natural History Museum
Yes, from the way it looks in the picture, in reality it is really huge. I call it a gigantic biology lab :D From wildlife to geology, this museum definitely has a lot of natural world knowledge to offer!
Note: They also have an ice rink set up outside the museum in winter! A perfect ice skating experience with the iconic museum in the background :O (only if you know how to skate I guess huehue)
3. Science Museum
If I am to grant a title to this museum, I would award it as the most interactive museum among all! It might not look appealing or as fancy as the other two museums from the outside, but trust me, you'll have a lot of fun while you are spending your time inside!
Their permanent exhibitions includes an interactive gallery on climate change, a unique collection on the evolution of clock and watch, as well as an aviation gallery full of hanging aircraft!
I have also got the chance to visit one of their FREE special exhibition, along with the UCL Museum Society members. It was on 'The Last Tsar: Blood and Revolution'. And guess what, the exhibition was about the contribution of advancement in medical and forensic science towards the investigation of the deaths of Nicholas II and his family, which also involves some archaeological method! Definitely enjoyed the exhibition sooo much, the displays and text panels are excellent!....and went back feeling terribly sad to know about the history of the last Tsar's family :'(
4. Victoria & Albert Museum
Are you an art enthusiast? If you are, I believe this must be one of the items in your bucket list! This museum is known as the V&A Museum among Londoners. To be completely honest, I am not a good person to talk about arts. The only thing I have enjoyed from my first visit to the museum is the John Madejski Garden, one of the most aesthetically pleasing places I have ever seen!
5. British Museum
Alright, from South Kensington, let us now move to the area of Bloomsbury, where one of the largest museums in the world is located. It attracts over 5 million visitors in the span of a year hence I didn't even get the chance to take a picture of the museum without having anyone passing by -_-
Note: Like most people might do, I would refer this museum as a 'universal museum' too due to the fact that its collections comprise artefacts from all around the world. As an archaeologist, I am not really happy to make it as one of the museum of my favourites, despite the vast range of collections it possess and the amount of knowledge it has to offer, mainly because of the international controversy* over the ownership of the objects in the exhibitions.
*the criticism revolves around the question whether museums should be allowed to possess artifacts taken from other countries. What do you guys think?
Well, I will leave that question for you as your 'thought of the day', as it seems like I shall stop right here for now hehe
Oh waiiiiiitttttt I forgot to tell you that all the museums above have no admission fee! It's free for the public, with the exception of some of their temporary or special exhibitions. Anyway, the reason I am sharing with you about these five museums is merely because they are the museums that I visited when I first came to London last two years (there are supposed to be 6 altogether, anyone wants to guess what is the 6th one? I purposely leave out the FIRST museum I visited on my FIRST day arriving in the city!) so as a visitor back then, I definitely got these suggestions from Google, hence that simply suggests that these are (kind of) the top rated/visited museums in London XD so to challenge that idea I will be sharing about more places (the next one would be on the less-known museums) that I have visited in London so stay tuned!
and thanks for reading ;)
Comments
Post a Comment