There’s always the Louvre in Paris
or the Getty in Los Angeles
the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York
or the British Museum in London
Places to experience beauty, learn about history and broaden our horizons. Places where we can experience art as a metaphor on our lives.
A museum is formally defined as: “a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.”
“Offering varied experiences” being the operative words for where we’re going with this week’s blog. Because, if dusty fossils and stunning Picasso’s don’t do it for you, then we thought we’d offer up ten of the oddest, most offbeat, and downright coolest places to experience some of the most random things possible. Museums? Or experiences? You be the judge. We’ve included web site links to each just so you don’t think we’re making some of these up.
· Museum of Bad Art (USA). MOBA’s motto is “art too bad to be ignored”. And although most of the 600+ pieces on display wouldn’t make it to your mother’s fridge, here they have a place to shine. The only museum we’re aware of that’s dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the worst art, the curators say that the work must be original and have serious intent – no deliberate kitsch thank you! According to co-founder Marie Jackson, “We are here to celebrate an artist’s right to fail, gloriously.”
· CupNoodles aka Instant Ramen Museum (Japan). Invented in 1958 this is the meal of choice for bachelors and broke college students worldwide. And with an estimated 100 billion servings of instant noodles consumed every year, this Osaka-based Museum is a monument devoted to the king of instant noodles, Momofuku Ando, who is featured in statue form on a colossal stone cup of his instant meal.
Make ramen by hand in the factory, view more than 800 product packages in the Instant Noodles Tunnel and create your own original package then sample products from the vending machines in the Tasting Room. Hot water is provided. https://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/en/osaka_ikeda/
· Sulabh International Museum of Toilets (India). If you find yourself exhausted after a long day of sightseeing on the streets of New Delhi, there’s always a seat available at the Museum of Toilets. Established in 1992 and listed by Time magazine as one of the “10 museums around the world that are anything but mundane”, the museum features sanitation artifacts from 50 countries spanning more than 4000 years.
Divided into three sections: ancient, medieval and modern. The ancient section has displays relating to the first manmade toilets (from Pakistan circa 3000 BC if you’re wondering). You can see the royal “thrones” used by kings and queens in the medieval section and in the modern section you’ll find hi-tech Japanese and Korean toilets along with a replica of the world’s largest “toilet complex”, which can be found in Maharashtra in west-central India. https://www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org/history-of-toilets/
· Museum of Death (USA).
Housing severed heads, gory morgue photos, replicas of execution devices and the world’s largest collection of serial murder artwork, this one definitely is not for the squeamish. Following the museum’s initial success in Hollywood, the owners expanded to a second location in New Orleans. The museum’s stated goal is “to make people happy to be alive.” And who can argue with that?! http://www.museumofdeath.net/
· Cancun Underwater Museum (Mexico). From algae-encrusted VW Beetles to classical busts covered in psychedelic coral, you might need to hold your breath for this one.
Sitting between three and six meters (9.8 and 19.6ft) deep on the ocean floor is a collection of 500 sculptures, each made from a special material to act as an artificial reef and improve the ecosystem.
Opened in 2010, this underwater museum - which can be visited by glass-bottom boat, snorkeling or scuba diving - is devoted to the “art of conservation”. https://musamexico.org/
· The Kunstkamera (Russia). The Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography was founded in 1727 and was the first museum in Russia.
Peter’s museum was a cabinet of curiosities dedicated to preserving “natural and human curiosities and rarities”. The massive collection of more than 200,000 oddities was originally assembled to dispel the Russian people's belief in monsters, though it's difficult to see how the strange exhibits might have accomplished that. The czar put together a ghastly personal collection of curiosities including a large assortment of deformed human and animal fetuses, creatures with extra heads or limbs, even a decapitated human head preserved in vinegar.
· Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame (USA). Frederick’s of Hollywood has, in its hot-pink art deco flagship store, a display of Tinseltown literally under wraps.
While the ground floor is devoted to retail, upstairs is a who's who of Hollywood undergarments, from Tom Hanks' boxer shorts in "Forrest Gump" to the undies of the entire cast of "Beverly Hills 90210”, from Madonna’s black and gold bra to a garter belt worn by Susan Sarandon in “Bull Durham”. If you’ve ever wondered what’s happening underneath the surface in Hollywood, this is the place for you. Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame, 6608 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California.
· Barbed Wire Museum (USA). Ok, so barbed wire is important in its way, and has a variety of uses – mainly to keep people and animals out. But did you know it was first patented in 1874? And did you know that it’s apparently important enough that there are TWO museums devoted to it in the USA? One in the state of Texas – The Devils Rope Barbed Wire Museum
which is housed in a former bra factory and includes patent information and samples from private wire collectors. And one in Kansas – The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum
where you’ll be able to peruse newsletters from America’s top barbed wire appreciation clubs (yes, those are a thing) as well as participate in the annual Barbed Wire Swap & Sell and barbed wire splicing contest. Seriously. https://barbwiremuseum.com/ https://www.rushcounty.org/BarbedWireMuseum/BWabout.html
· International Banana Museum (USA).
Conceived and founded in 1976 by Fred Bannister, the idea grew out of the positive response Bannister received from his International Banana Club, of which Bannister was the designated “Top Banana”. The Banana Club would eventually grow to 35,000 members in 17 different countries. Donating a banana-related item to the museum would enable one to join the Banana Club, with a nickname and ability to earn "banana merit points” and obtain a degree in "Bananistry". Former US President Ronald Reagan was a member of the club. (No, seriously) You can view more than 19,000 items of bananabilia, from a banana-shaped putter to a seven-foot-tall banana, from a gold-sequined Michael Jackson banana to the world’s only petrified banana. The museum even won a Guinness World Record as the largest museum devoted to a single fruit. http://www.internationalbananamuseum.com/index.html
· Museum of Broken Relationships (Croatia). Ok, just for the name and concept alone we’ve saved possibly the best for last! This weird and wonderful museum was set up by two Zagreb-based artists who once dated and, when they split joked that they should create a museum to honor their relationship.
Opened in 2006, the handful of mementoes grew to an enormous collection as broken-hearted singles from around the world began donating items. Notable items on display include everyday objects and letters to an axe used to chop up an ex-partner’s belongings, a stiletto that has been kissed by a submissive partner and a pair of bright orange pants given to a man by his ex-girlfriend.
The museum went on a world tour including across Europe, the USA, Latin America and Asia and the collection was seen by more than 200,000 visitors along the way. https://brokenships.com/
Here’s our recommendation for a theme song for the Museum of Broken Relationships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVk_e31dnlE
So, as you can tell, a museum can mean many different things to different people. These are just a few of the more unusual that we’ve come across. We know that there are many more. Please share some that you’ve visited and found fascinating with us that we couldn’t include here.
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