Island of Mozambique: Antiquities Museum in prospect – Mayor

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Island of Mozambique: Antiquities Museum in prospect – Mayor

7:58 CAT | 26 Sep 2017

File photo / The Old Hospital in Mozambique Island

A museum for the exhibition and conservation of ancient cultural objects will open on the Island of Mozambique, the World Heritage of Mankind city in Nampula province, according to Mayor Saide Gimba.

“The idea of setting up an antiquities museum goes back a few years. Recently, the health ministry and the municipality decided to consider mechanisms for mobilising funds to cover the expenses related to the rehabilitation of the front part of the Island of Mozambique hospital, built 59 years after the elevation of the city,” Gimba explained.

In fact, the first hospital in the country has already undergone rehabilitation, but this did not extend to the facade because of budgetary issues, the mayor says.

Now the island’s municipality and health sector have signed an agreement for the use of the front of the building of the country’s oldest hospital as an antiquities museum and the conversion of another part of the hospital into doctors’ residences.

The Ilha de Moçambique is a repository of ancient objects of inestimable cultural value, including handicrafts, drawings, photographs, books, transportation, clothing and household items, along with others inherited from the various cultures that have visited the Nampula province island at various times in the past.

Asked for an opening date, Gimba said this would depend on the mobilisation of funds.

“We want a museum that exhibits and ensures the conservation of the property that it will host,” he explained. “Tourists heading to the Island of Mozambique will have a legitimate reason to choose our city as the most attractive because of its historical-cultural value.”

Local government entities are committed to finding ways to stimulate the tourism to kickstart growth in the local economy.

The Ilha de Moçambique already has Decorative Arts and the Navy museums in the apartments of the Palace of São Paulo, inaugurated in 1971 and 1972 respectively. A third museum, that of Sacred Art, inaugurated about 48 years ago, is located in the old Santa Casa da Misericórdia hospital, and is the oldest museum on the island.

Source: Wamphula Fax