South London, UK – London museums are hellish with their expensive costs, long lines – if it’s free – and its glorification of Greek culture while diminishing non-European cultures.
But the Horniman Museum is the exception.
Listen to the author read this review:
The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a free anthropology museum and garden in Forest Hill, a part of South London founded in 1901 by Fredrick John Horniman.
The museum is full of anthropological artifacts, musical instruments and has a natural history sector, an aquarium and a butterfly exhibition.
Unfortunately I was not able to visit the aquarium and butterfly exhibition, but I had an amazing time in the other areas.
The moment I walked into the museum, I was blasted with vibrant colors, interesting artifacts, beautiful posters and one thing that really caught my eye – a Lego piece.
After examining the piece, I found out it was a Lego-sized version of the museum with quite precise detail, which really did amaze me.
Not only did the Lego museum interest me, but all the artefacts did as well. A diorama of a nativity scene in the world gallery was one of my favorites.
The diorama is a decorative display of Bethlehem with Jesus’ birth directly in the middle. Mary and Joseph are on the side, along with angels and other characters from the Bible.
From the wrinkles of the clothing, the moss from the bricks, the crookedness of the trees and the exact paint lines of the food, this piece was absolutely beautiful.
I also loved the museum’s music displays, especially an interactive gallery. I adored playing different types of instruments such as the mbira, a Zimbabwean piano played with the thumbs and the borhrán, an Irish drum.
The music display was full of life with intricate designs, personality and color.
There was a large range of instruments from French horns to harps from the oud, a Middle Eastern guitar-like instrument to the djembe, a West African drum, with each of these instruments having special details such as engravings.
The natural history display increased my curiosity by giving me the opportunity to see so many different animals, their body structures and the fossils that archaeologists excavated.
Although I thought taxidermied animals would be quite creepy, the animals looked realistic. The effort put into them was clear and they were nothing like the weird taxidermied animals online.
Lastly, I visited the gift shop, which was quite expensive, but compared to other museums it was not so bad. Also the items seemed of high quality, which could excuse some of the prices.
The Horniman is a great, uncrowded museum to visit if you are in London. It has a blast of culture, creativity and identity through its amazing artifacts and interactive displays. I will definitely visit again.
Dezlene Akua Erza-Essien is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
