What do you think of when you hear the word “museum”? Historic characters? Paintings? A wooden carriage?
This list will change your concept of traditional museums:
1. Micro Miniatures
Remember that plastic camera with the pictures inside that you had as a child? There are real life museums just like that. The one pictured above is the Mykola Syadristy Microminiatures Museum in Ukraine.
There’s also another museum for miniatures in Ukraine and one in Andorra.
2. Funerals
This is a museum in Vienna, Austria for funeral customs, burial rites, funerary art and the Viennese perspective on death.
3. Pens
It’s not the size of a typical museum as we know it, but it’s not a typical museum either! This museum is in Birmingham, United Kingdom and is dedicated to educating visitors about the history of Birmingham’s steel pen trade.
There’s also a pen museum in Australia.
4. Forged Art
Yes, there is actually a museum in Vienna, Austria for faked and forged artworks. The exhibits include works by the renowned Vermeer-forger Han Van Meegern and the British art restorer Tom Keating, who claimed to have faked over 2,000 works by more than 100 different artists and deliberately inserted “time bombs” and anachronisms into his paintings. Also on display are items produced by famous artists.
The museum presents information on the history of the most famous forgeries and the sometimes very dramatic fates of their creators.
5. Criminals
No wait, this is not just a wax museum nor it is a museum of criminals. It’s a hall of fame! This criminals hall of fame museum is in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It features 40 wax statues of notorious criminals, from mobsters to serial killers.
There’s also a criminology museum in Costa Rica.
6. Celebrity Leftovers
This is probably a very petite museum. It’s located inside the Old Boatstore Café in Cornwall, England. Prince Charles left some bread pudding unfinished, which ended up there next to Mia Wasikowska’s courgette from her soup.
7. Shoes
This is the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada. Imagine walking through this museum without having the urge to break the glass and grab a pair!
8. Foreign Debt
Yup, there is now a museum for debt. The Foreign Debt Museum in Buenos Aires, Argentina highlights the danger of borrowing money from abroad. In this case, sharing is not caring.
9. Stuffed Gophers
This is not it. The picture represents one of many such installations. But there is a whole museum in Torrington, Alberta called The Torrington Gopher Hole Museum. It features stuffed gophers posed to resemble townspeople.
Aren’t they the cutest thing ever?
10. A Lucky Ship
Not a big deal. Just a ship that happens to be a museum, right? But, it’s not just that. This ship is a museum because of its good luck!
The lucky ship, which survived both World Wars unscathed, landed as a gift in Marienhamn after WWII. It lost only four crew members at sea on its journey. It also won the Great Grain Races twice, in 1930 and 1937.
Isn’t it frustrating how a ship is more successful, overachieving and luckier than you?
11. Cocaine
The coca museum in Bolivia covers the history of the coca plant and related drug, cocaine.
Humans do make the worst of what they have.
12. Sewers
The Parisian sewer system dates back to the year 1370 when the first underground system was constructed under Rue Montmartre. Since then, consecutive French governments have enlarged the system to cover the city’s population.
Oh, and they turned it into a museum as well.
Side note: I wouldn’t mind living there. I mean, look at that place!
13. Perfume
Ah, the art of scents. The Farina Fragrance Museum in Cologne, Germany provides a very detailed insight into the production methods of perfume throughout various stages.
You’ll also be able to witness the evolution of perfume thanks to various pictures and documents that trace its history.
There’s also the Musée du Parfum in Paris, France.
14.Contraception and Abortion
There is actually a museum in Vienna that educates people about their fertility and how to deal with it.
15. Relationships that didn’t work out
Saving the best for the last, this here statue is located in the Museum Of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia. This museum is dedicated to failed couplings. Its exhibits include personal objects left over from former lovers, accompanied by brief descriptions.
They literally made art out of heartbreak.
God bless artists!
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