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Fiji Museum

Coordinates: 18°08′58″S 178°25′33″E / 18.1495°S 178.4258°E / -18.1495; 178.4258
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Fiji Museum
TypeNational museum
Location
OriginsForm by the Friends of Fiji Museum
Area served
Fiji
ServicesCuration and research of Fiji's national heritage
Websitefijimuseum.org.fj

The Fiji Museum is a museum in Suva, Fiji located in the capital city's botanical gardens, Thurston Gardens.

Background

The museum is a statutory body and is under the administration of the Fiji Museum Act and the Preservation of Objects of Archaeological & Palaeontological Interest Act.[citation needed]

History

The museum was founded in 1904 by a voluntary association - the Friends of Fiji Museum.[1][2][3] During the twentieth century its location moved several times before its current location in Thurston Gardens.[1] Its original location was in the old Town Hall.[4] The museum was opened in 1955 by the Governor of Fiji, Sir Ronald Garvey.[5] In 2019 a proposal was put forward that part of the site of Thurston Gardens could be developed by the Indian High Commission; this proposal was opposed by the Director of the Fiji Museum, Sipiriano Nemani.[6] In 2021, former director of the museum, Timaima Sagale Buadromo, had an acquittal for corruption charges and abuse of office reversed, in order to await a new trial.[7]

The museum is part of the Museums & Climate Change Network.[8] The Fiji Museum was the host institution for the Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA) secretariat until 2006, when the secretariat transferred its base of operations to Port Vila, Vanuatu.[citation needed]

Collections

The Fiji Museum holds the most important collection of Fijian artifacts in the world.[9] The centrepiece of the museum's collection is the 13 metre-long double-hulled canoe, Ratu Finau.[10] Other important objects include the rudder from HMS Bounty, objects relating to cannibalism, as well as objects that record the impact of colonial impact on the islands.[10] This includes a display about Indo-Fijian communities.[11] The museum collects oral histories and undertakes archaeological excavations.[10][12] The museum has a collection of contemporary art.[10] It also has a manuscript collection.[13]

Research

Archaeology and excavation

The museum's archaeological collections date back 3700 years.[9] Osteological material from the archaeological collection was used for stable isotopic (δ13C, δ15N) analysis of bone collagen in order to identify the "percent contribution of human flesh" to prehistoric diets.[14] The study's results showed that this was "low for all individual Lauans".[14]

The museum organised and partnered on archaeological excavations across the islands, including:

Collaborative partnerships

In 2021 the museum signed a memorandum of understanding with four British museums to mark Fiji's 50th anniversary with a knowledge exchange programme.[21] Under the proposal staff from the Fiji Museum would provide cultural information about iTaukei artefacts held in British collections.[22]

Notable people

  • Rudder from HMS Bounty
    Rudder from HMS Bounty
  • Forks used in cannibalistic practices
    Forks used in cannibalistic practices
  • Fijian raft
    Fijian raft
  • Mural at Fiji Museum
    Mural at Fiji Museum
  • Ratu Finau (1913) - Fiji's last waqa tabus (double-hulled canoe)
    Ratu Finau (1913) - Fiji's last waqa tabus (double-hulled canoe)

References

  1. ^ a b "Fijian History - Fiji Museum Audio Story". fijianhistory.com. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  2. ^ Lal, Brij V. (1997). Fiji in Transition. School of Social and Economic Development, University of the South Pacific. ISBN 978-982-01-0333-7.
  3. ^ Pacific Arts Newsletter. Pacific Arts Association. 1987.
  4. ^ Kay, Robert F. (1993). Fiji: A Travel Survival Kit. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 978-0-86442-177-7.
  5. ^ "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  6. ^ "Museum Director Submits Objection To Rezoning Plans". Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  7. ^ "New trial for former Fiji Museum Director". Fiji Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  8. ^ "Museums Collaborating around Climate Change: Fiji Museum Perspectives". Museums & Climate Change Network. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  9. ^ a b "Fiji Museum". fijianart.sru.uea.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  10. ^ a b c d "Fiji Museum | Suva, Fiji Attractions". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  11. ^ "Fiji Museum". Times of India Travel. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  12. ^ McIlwaine, John; Whiffin, Jean I. (2013-02-07). Collecting and Safeguarding the Oral Traditions: An International Conference. Khon Kaen, Thailand, 16-19 August 1999. Organized as a Satellite Meeting of the 65th IFLA General Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand, 1999. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-095543-9.
  13. ^ Maidment, Ewan (2001). "Fiji Museum Archives and Manuscripts Collection". The Journal of Pacific History. 36 (2): 237–246. doi:10.1080/00223340120075605. ISSN 0022-3344. JSTOR 25169542. S2CID 162377892.
  14. ^ a b Jones, S.; Walsh‐Haney, H.; Quinn, R. (2015). "Kana Tamata or Feasts of Men: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Identifying Cannibalism in Prehistoric Fiji". International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 25 (2): 127–145. doi:10.1002/oa.2269. ISSN 1099-1212.
  15. ^ Shaw, Elizabeth. "The decorative system of Natunuku, Fiji." The Lapita P ottery Style of Fiji and Its Associations. Wellington: Polynesian Society Memoir 38 (1975).
  16. ^ Palmer, Bruce (1966). "Lapita Style Potsherds from Fiji". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 75 (3): 373–377. ISSN 0032-4000. JSTOR 20704402.
  17. ^ Nunn, Patrick D., Roselyn Kumar, Sepeti Matararaba, Tomo Ishimura, Johnson Seeto, Sela Rayawa, Salote Kuruyawa et al. "Early Lapita settlement site at Bourewa, southwest Viti Levu Island, Fiji." Archaeology in Oceania 39, no. 3 (2004): 139-143.
  18. ^ Cochrane, Ethan E., Sepeti Matararaba, and Elia Nakoro. "Lapita and later archaeology of the Malolo and Mamanuca Islands, Fiji." The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 2.2 (2007): 245-250.
  19. ^ Frédérique Valentin, Christophe Sand, et al. "Burial practices at the end of the prehistoric period in Cikobia-i-ra (Macuata, Fiji)." The Archaeology of Lapita Dispersal in Oceania: Papers from the Fourth Lapita Conference, June 2000, Canberra, Australia. Vol. 17. Pandanus Books, 2001.
  20. ^ Parke, Aubrey. "Navatanitawake ceremonial mound, Bau, Fiji: Some results of 1970 investigations." Archaeology in Oceania 33.1 (1998): 20-27.
  21. ^ "Major UK museums to collaborate with Fiji Museum". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  22. ^ "Fiji Museum works on MoU". FijiTimes. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
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