Walter Roth museum to be moved – Ministry of the Presidency

The Ministry of the Presidency this afternoon said that the Walter Roth Museum will be moved to the Guyana National Museum and the current Main Street location is to be used by the Ministry of the Presidency.

The announcement came a day after Minister of State Joseph Harmon  said the move was under consideration. He was responding to a question from Stabroek News at the post-Cabinet press briefing.

In a letter to appear in tomorrow’s edition of Stabroek News, the co-founder of the museum, Jennifer Wishart has appealed for the government to reconsider the move saying that the collections stored in the building are very fragile.

Her letter follows:

Dear Editor,

It was with great sadness that I read the Stabroek News article captioned `Gov’t considering relocating Walter Roth museum – Harmon’ in yesterday’s edition concerning the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology.  As one of its co-founders with the late Dr. Denis Williams I wish to humbly state my opinion regarding this proposal.

The collections stored and displayed in this building are not only very fragile but in 1980 when the anthropological collections from the National Museum were removed to the Walter Roth Museum there was considerable damage and loss of artifacts as a result.  Even after the death of Denis Williams in 1998 when the collections in his home on which he was working were removed, there was damage and loss of a considerable amount of his archaeological collections.  Some had to be dumped as a result of lack of identification and also mixture of collections, as the storage facilities there then, were inadequate.  We do not as yet have the expertise required for the removal of such delicate and very ancient artifacts dating back to some 7,200 years ago.

I therefore appeal to the authorities concerned to please reconsider this move.  I have learnt over the years that in order to change something we need to build something.  Let us preserve what we have and built on it.

Yours faithfully,

Jennifer Wishart

The press release issued by the Ministry of the Presidency today follows:

The Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology has been air-marked for a major upgrade and change of location.  The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana has made a decision to relocate the museum from its current location on Main Street.  The Museum will now be housed in the western-wing of the Guyana National Museum and work will be conducted to ensure that both facilities meet international standards.

The museum is a non-profit institution created by the Government of Guyana to collect, exhibit and conserve artifacts relating to the ancient cultures of Guyana, to conduct anthropological research and disseminate knowledge of the Indigenous Peoples of Guyana through its in-house and out-reach programmes.

The Main Street location will now be used by the Ministry of the Presidency.  In recent months two departments have been added to the Ministry.  These departments are the Department of the Environment and the Department of National Events.

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