Preserving Oddities: Weird Museums

Museums are an important aspect of any advanced civilization that values the preservation of important objects—whether they are considered to be art, material culture, history, or any other odd number of things. A museum itself according to a technical definition is basically just an institution or building that houses and cares for (preserves) a collection of object of certain importance and makes them available to the public for viewing. What makes these artifacts so important is certainly in the eye of the beholder though. While most early museums were just private collections of things from very wealthy families or institutions that had the money, time, and effort to search down curious or weird objects. Ancient museums like the one in Alexandria would be like a modern graduate institute with on call scholars, roaming students, and items on display for study. What about museums right now? Most of us know about the huge artifact storage and exhibits of places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, or the Cairo Museum, but since the “importance” of certain objects is determined by average people there are other types of institutions as well. Weird museums exist around the world too with some strange objects preserved to be on display.

Image Source

Thousands of museums exist around the world that catalog, preserve, and display what are considered to be beautiful or unique works of art. With the deep human connection to art, it is not surprising that we would have so many institutions that like to show off wonderful artwork. However, in the world of art, there are more misses than hits because of the abstract nature of art—like how sometimes we like weird proportions as long as it is a Picasso. We are quicker to dismiss pieces of art though which makes for huge piles of what we consider to be “bad art” that makes viewers smile or giggle or simply display a look of confused disgust. Even though Boston has its share of high class, prestigious museums, it also is the home of the Museum of Bad Art. It it the world’s only museum dedicated purely to art that almost everyone can consider to be bad. Since there is no shortage of terrible art in the world, the museum is constantly in a state of ever changing exhibits such as “poor traits” (playing on poor portraits), “unlikely landscapes, seascapes, and still life,” or “blue people.” The museum likes to give a nod of credit to the artists though by putting a statement on display that indicates the works shown in the museum are by talented artists who have gone awry or the work of exuberant artists who were barely in control of their brushes that resulted in crude artistic execution.

Image Source

The Dutch capital of Amsterdam is filled with some of the world’s most amazing museums—including the preserved Anne Frank House that is an in-depth look into the place where Anne and her family hid from Nazis until their ultimate capture. However, Amsterdam is also known for its eccentricities. In this special city, there exists a special museum called the Torture Museum which is supposed to display exhibits in hopes of documenting the history of human cruelty so that we can learn from past mistakes and acknowledge that humans do have an intense dark side that needs to be kept in check—especially since the museum makes sure to point out that some countries around the world still have the death penalty and even the United States continues to employ executioners. Dark rooms filled with uncomfortable ambiance along with gruesome displays of some of history’s most intense torture devices. Old paintings of the machines in use and detailed explanations show exactly how these items would have been used give visitors the real portrait of pain that is preserved in the Torture Museum.

Image Source

Parasites are the big and bad “little guys” of the universe. They truly are smart in their ways of interacting with the world whereby they are able to take the life energy and life force of another creature with little effort in order to use that power for their own good. However, most humans acknowledge that the majority of parasites completely embody grossness. In Tokyo, a group of people (who were actually scientists that were specializing in parasitology) have decided to put these special but very nasty creatures and their work on display in a world class research facility for parasites as well. Within the museum they have roughly 300 varieties of parasites on display to a curious public along with special pictures and exhibits to show problematic side effects that these creatures have on their hosts. Think you can handle this museum? To give you some help in deciding whether or not to visit it, just know that one of their prize specimens is a preserved 30 foot tapeworm pulled from the stomach of a woman who picked it up in some sushi. Yuck.

Image Source

The study of the penis and its place in society, art, and history is known as phallology. The fact that there is even a specific area of study for the male reproductive organs of mammals might surprise most people, but the presence in the world of a museum that preserves different phallic specimens of various mammals and puts them on display for the general public is downright scary in the average human mind. Even more shocking is the fact this institution is completely serious and legitimate. The unique exhibits contain a collection that includes the penises and penile parts of almost every land and sea mammal in Iceland—not to mention a little fictitious fun with supposed male reproductive organs from creatures of folklore like trolls, sea monsters, or elves. The displays of actual animals can vary from the massive specimens from blue whales to the tiny ones of rodents like shrews and mice. The only issue is that the museum is currently one type short, but it has a pledge from an older gentleman to have a donation of that missing penile specimen upon his death.

Image Source

The beauty of Barcelona is a combination between the loveliness of the landscape itself (the shimmering Spanish sun) and the legendary Gaudi architecture. Yet, a museum institution in the city has decided to put a different form of beauty on display in its halls. While the thought of death and funerals is a very sad and sobering one, the care and detail used to create amazing funerary carriages to carry the powerful and wealthy to their final resting places is special in its own right. Hidden in a basement exhibition presided over by Barcelona’s Municipal Funeral Services is a collection of ornate funeral carriages dating back to the 18th century. Despite the fact that the former use of the items in the museum can put a damper on things, their unique fairness has made this free museum a pretty big hit for those who simply seek it out.

Author: Brooke Windsor — Copyrighted © roadtickle.com