Maritime Museum of New Caledonia

Maritime Museum of New Caledonia
Musée Maritime de Nouvelle Calédonie
Established1999
LocationNouméa
TypeMaritime museum
Key holdingsLa Pérouse collection
CollectionsMaritime, industrial, natural science
DirectorValerie Vattier[1]
Websitemuseemaritime.nc

The Maritime Museum of New Caledonia (French: Musée Maritime de Nouvelle Caledonie) is a maritime museum in New Caledonia. It is largely dedicated to the history of French colonial exploration in the Pacific and the collection includes objects retrieved from the frigates Astrolabe and Boussole, which were wrecked under the captaincy of Jean-François de Galaup de Lapérouse.

Background

Chinese ceramics from Lapérouse's wrecks

The museum is located near the Betico ferry terminal in Noumea.[2] It occupies a former maritime station that was donated by the Autonomous Port of New Caledonia.[3] The museum opened in 1999.[3][4] In 2009, a commemorative stamp was issued to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the museum.[5] The museum was renovated in 2013, which involved the creation of new galleries.[6]

In 2021, the museum opened a new temporary exhibition on the history of the cruise and the journey by sea from France to the territory.[7] It runs educational activities for primary and secondary school students.[8]

Collection

Close up of ceramics

The museum's collection includes artefacts collected from the wrecks of the frigates Astrolabe and Boussole, which had been captained by Jean-François de Galaup de Lapérouse, a naval officer commissioned by Louis XVI to explore the Pacific.[9] It also contain objects relating other voyages to New Caledonia in the colonial period,[10] to missionary activity, and to the history of nickel.[11] The museum collection also includes the skull of a pygmy blue whale.[12]

Museologists have commented that the museum focusses on French, rather than indigenous, maritime histories.[13]

References

  1. ^ Power, Clare. "Bienvenue Valerie!". Signals (Sydney) (89): 46–47.
  2. ^ Planet, Lonely; Harding, Paul; McLachlan, Craig (2016-11-01). Lonely Planet Vanuatu & New Caledonia. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-78657-400-8.
  3. ^ a b "Port autonome de Nouvelle-Calédonie". Port autonome (in French). Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  4. ^ Pascual, Fanny (2017), Nouvelle-Calédonie, Presses universitaires de (ed.), "Les musées d'histoire en Nouvelle-Calédonie et leur public scolaire", L'école calédonienne du destin commun, Le système éducatif calédonien à l'heure du destin commun, ISBN 9791091032032, retrieved 2022-01-23
  5. ^ "Stamp: 10 years of the Museum of Maritime History (New Caledonia) (10 years of the Museum of Maritime History) Mi:NC 1514-1515,Yt:NC 1081a,Sg:NC 1496a". Colnect. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  6. ^ "New Caledonia Maritime Museum - NOUMEA". www.explore-newcaledonia.com. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  7. ^ ""La croisière s'amuse" à découvrir au musée maritime de la Nouvelle-Calédonie". Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  8. ^ "Des cellules d'animation pédagogique dans les établissements culturels, au service des enseignants et des élèves". Vice-rectorat de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (in French). Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  9. ^ Wéry, Claudine (2005-04-08). "'What news of Lapérouse?'". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  10. ^ "Revue Juridique Politique et Economique de NC - Accueil". rjpenc.nc. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  11. ^ Véroone, Luc (2020-03-04). Brèves de terroirs: Visites gourmandes et anecdotes (in French). Les Editions du Net. ISBN 979-10-290-1035-4.
  12. ^ Garrigue, Claire et al. “Identification of a juvenile pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) in New Caledonia, South-West Pacific.” (2003).
  13. ^ Jøn, A. Asbjørn; Fraser, Lyndon; Hall, C. Michael (2017). "Dugongs - the last remaining Mermaids: Beast lore (Eco-lore), Post-colonialism and maritime Cultural Tourism in New Caledonia". Australian Folklore. 32: 179–193. ISSN 0819-0852.