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Museum in Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Pulu Cocos Museum,
[1]
also
Home Island Visitor Centre & Museum
, also
Cocos Museum
,
[2]
is a tourism office, visitor centre and museum on
Home Island
in the
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
.
Background
[
edit
]
The museum was established in 1987, in recognition of the fact that the distinct culture of Home Island needed formal preservation.
[3]
[1]
The site includes the displays on local culture and traditions, as well as the early history of the islands and their ownership by the
Clunies-Ross family
.
[4]
[5]
The museum also includes displays on military and naval history, as well as local botanical and zoological items.
[2]
In February 2021 the
Shire of Cocos
applied for a grant in order to adapt the Tokoh/Old Workshop on Home Island into a new museum and visitor centre.
[6]
Collections
[
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]
The collection includes objects relating to the Malay communities who were indentured labourers under the Clunies-Ross family. Military objects in the collection include firearms
[7]
cannonballs and bows and arrows.
[8]
There is also a small numismatic collection.
[8]
Objects include traditional Malay costumes and examples of
wayang kulit
, which were used in performances by
Nek Ichang
, the island's
dalang
(puppeteer) until his death in 1949.
[8]
[1]
Examples of the wayang kulit from the museum's collection featured on a set of Australian $1 and $2 stamps in 2018.
[1]
Objects relating to the cultural heritage of the islands are held in overseas collections: for example the
American Numismatic Association
holds a complete set of the island' plastic token currency.
[9]
References
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]
List of museums in Oceania
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Sovereign states
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Associated states
of New Zealand
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Dependencies
and other territories
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12°06′56″S
96°53′39″E
/
12.11543°S 96.89407°E
/
-12.11543; 96.89407