Paying a visit to the museum is a common activity in most travel itineraries. We visit the museums to enrich ourselves through the understanding of their fine arts, educational information, and historical artifacts. It does not matter if you are a history buff or just a curious traveller. We all enjoyed immersing ourselves in the cultural experience of the locals. There are a couple of famous museums such as the Louvre Museum, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They all attract countless tourists worldwide. Yet there are also certain lesser-known museums yet exceptionally unique, that offers a more exceptional experience of themes and collection displays. Let me bring you on an exploration of such extraordinary Museums.
1) Cancun Underwater Museum of Art (MUSA), Mexico
Credit: Andy Blackledge wikipedia
Its popularity comes in a special way. This museum in Cancun Mexico is unique due to its visiting experience. Instead of being based on land, the exhibits are all underwater and the only way to visit, is either by snorkelling or scuba diving. Once you have entered, you will be able to see various interesting sculptures submerged beneath the waters. A uniquely tranquil atmosphere embraces, as if the flow of time is slowed. If you happen to be a marine environmentalist, fret not. The sculptures are made of marine friendly materials and they will eventually serve as foundations for corals to grow upon.
2) Museum Of Broken Relationships, Croatia
Credit: Sean Carberry NPR
“Sorry, we are over.” After the initiation of a failed relationship, many couples might take the path of ‘divide our possessions and may our paths never cross again’. This unique museum in Zagreb, collects relics from broken relationships, ranging from plush toys to a furniture-smashing axe. The stories of these pre-owned “Artifacts” are illustrated within the exhibits. Eager to count the blessings in your current relationship? This is the place to go!
3) Museum of Bad Art, USA
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Realistically, everyone excels in their own areas, and indeed not everyone is gifted in the field of arts, such as the likes of Picasso or Van Gogh. Taking this illustration further, some are so bad that even the most understanding arts class teacher would hesitate twice before hanging these “Art Pieces” on the classroom wall. Interestingly, this gallery in Massachusetts, or rather a museum, is specially dedicated to the collection of “Lousy Arts” which are thereafter carefully categorised. It enables one to take an unusual break from the bona fide art gallery, to appreciate a contrasting spectrum of art.
4) Avanos Hair Museum, Turkey
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Avanos, a town in the Cappadocian area of Turkey, is famous for its pottery and ceramic heritage that goes back to thousands of years in history. What makes this place even more interesting is that under an old pottery shop, is a museum that collects more than 16,000 locks of hair from women! This practice started when Artist Chez Galip requested for a memento from his departing friend and was given a lock of her hair in response. Over the years, female visitors in town donated their hair to the museum voluntarily. The locks of hair are then displayed in the museum with their names and contacts listed. Twice a year (in June and December), the first customer to enter on a particular chosen day, would be the lucky person who gets to go down to the museum and pick ten winners off the wall to receive an all-expenses-paid vacation to Cappadocia.
5) International Spy Museum, USA
Credit: Farragutful wikipedia
I believe that everyone at some point in our childhood, would have envisioned ourselves to be a secret spy. The portrayal of spies with flashy cars, endless adventures, and the righteous crusade of ridding evil villains from the world, has sunk deep into our minds thanks to Media influences. However, in reality, the actual job scope of a spy remains much shrouded in mystery to most, due to the very nature of such work. Thus, the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. is the closest thing to realism, for civilians to understand more about this secret profession. The museum exhibits an extensive collection of espionage inventions, right from the medieval age to our modern era. It also features the stories of famous spies such as Josephine Baker and Marlene Dietrich. Lastly, visitors can also partake in interactive exhibits where they will be involved in a secret mission, requiring them to solve puzzles along the way.
6) Funeral Carriage Museum, Spain
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‘Death’ always has an element of taboo as a topic for travellers abroad, even if it is part of the local culture of visit. The Funeral Carriage Museum in Barcelona is an excellent place for tourists to experience a vastly different mindset, through their beautiful exhibits of various funeral carriages. In the late 1700s, the city of Catalonia expanded at such a pace that new cemeteries had to be located outside the city walls to make extra living space. This was also a prevention measure against the potential spread of pandemics. Hence, transportation to the cemeteries via such carriages are used whenever folks in the city depart from the world of the living. The museum consists of 13 original funeral carriages, which served different purposes, such as the ‘Black Widow’, which is exclusively for transporting grieving widows of the deceased. After the visit, visitors could also tour the “Cementiris de Barcelona” prestigious library to learn more about the culture of Spanish funerals.
7) Toilet Museum, South Korea
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You may have visited toilet-themed restaurants at various places, but a toilet-themed museum is another experience altogether. Located in Suwon City, South Korea, this museum is founded by Mr. Sim Jae-duck, the former mayor of Suwon City. During his term as mayor, he started a campaign to improve toilets and he also played a significant role in establishing the World Toilet Association, an international association for the cause. Shaped like a toilet bowl, this interesting museum, contains displays that illustrate the history of toilets, from the old outhouse to the modern toilet bowl. The exhibits are highly informative with life-sized sculptures and charts. The toilets within the museum are needless to say, in tip-top conditions!
8) The Lunchbox Museum, USA
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During the good old school days, many kids would have their lunch boxes decorated with their favourite cartoon characters. Lunch boxes filled with love from their mothers. When disposable plastic containers came into widespread use, metal lunch boxes came “Historical relics” with good nostalgic memories. In Columbus, Georgia, a man by the name of Allen Woodall started collecting lunchboxes in the 1990s. His collection became so vast that he founded a museum. This museum now displays thousands of lunch boxes and related items. Some of the exhibits can be traced back to the 1950s, with some of them valuing at almost $10,000 with the various pop culture of the associated time imprinted on them. Definitely a place worth visiting should you wish to reminisce childhood times.
9) Vintage Cameras Museum & Click Art Museum, Singapore
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Due to technological advancements, we can now get an instant view of our photographs the very moment it is taken. This was not the case barely half a generation ago. People had to wait for days or even weeks for their photographs to be developed at a photography shop before realising that some of the shots were a lot lesser than ideal. Still, we do not forget the patience and photography skills that the “old school cameras” taught us. Shaped like a giant camera, this museum in Singapore is hard to be missed. It features an extensive collection of thousands of vintage cameras, ranging from Box Cameras to Spy Cameras. The interesting part is that unlike the strict handling rules of most museums, visitors are allowed to touch and even handle the cameras, although it is probably still a good idea to refrain from breaking anything!
10) Paris Sewers Museum, France
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At the very mention of the Museums of Paris, what inevitably comes to mind would be places of fine arts and exquisite sculptures. However little known to many, there is a Paris Sewers Museum underneath this famed city of romance. The museum itself is located in the actual sewage network of the entire city, where it functioned as early as the 13th century. The museum displays a wide range of sewage-related equipment from past to present times. It is coupled with informative videos explaining the history and operation of the network. If you want to take a deviation from the usual norms, this museum would be an immensely exciting choice.
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