Fotoverslag Launch Virtueel Museum Braamspunt.org / Picture report Launch Virtual Museum Braamspunt.org
Vrijwilliger Romano bezig met uitzoeken van de juiste plaatjes/ Volunteer Romano busy looking for the right pictures.
Vrijwilliger Marianne bezig schelpen te arrangeren / Volunteer Marianne arranging shells
De mini-schelpen / The mini-shells
Het opzetten van de niet-virtuele schelpententoonstelling / Setting up the non-virtual shell exhibit.
Tonna galea exhibit
Vrijwilliger Henna met de Braamspunt poster/ Volunteer Henna with the Braamspunt poster
Annette Tjon Sie Fat verricht de opening / Annette Tjon Sie Fat performing the opening
Een geïnteresseerd publiek / An interested audience
En toen / And then…
Vrijwilliger Kavita legt uit hoe schelpen voor haar zijn gaan leven / Volunteer Kavita explaining how the shells came alive for her
Vrijwilliger Jonathan presenteert Braamspunt.org met een gedicht / Volunteer Jonathan presents Braamspunt.org with a poem
Stellar, Jonathan en Kavita het team verantwoordelijk voor Braamspunt.org / the team responsible for Braamspunt.org
Braamspunt schelpententoonstelling 48 soorten / shell exhibit 48 species
Een geanimeerd publiek/ An animated public
Een andere kijk op schelpen / Another perspective of shells
Lagen al deze mooie schelpen in een doos? / Were all these beautiful shells stored in a box?
Kavita onze schelpenspecialist / Kavita our shell specialist
Vrijwilligers Joke en Annelies altijd van de partij / Volunteers Joke and Annelies always present
Schelpen, schelpen, schelpen / Shells, shells, shells
Geïnteresseerde bezoekers / Interested visitors
In geanimeerd gesprek / More animated conversations
Welcome by Monique Pool, Chairman of the Board of the Green Heritage Fund Suriname
Welcome to the launch of the virtual Braamspunt Museum. I am very honoured to stand here today and present the hard and creative work to you that was done by several of our volunteers.
For the past 10 years, I have been visiting the beach at the mouth of the Suriname River almost weekly. Each visit is different, each visit is an adventure. And each time something special can be seen or found on the beach. One of the things that we have collected over the past 10 years on every trip that we made were shells. Collecting shells with the idea to have them on display somewhere.
And I had a dream. A dream that one day, we would have a place where others could see how beautiful the shells are, and all other things we collected from the beach. My dream was as follows: we would have a space that was like a church, a space with a high roof and from the roof there would be a pod of dolphins (sculptures) hanging, as if they were playing and splashing in the water. On the walls of this building we would have beautiful posters explaining about the natural beauty, the flora and fauna of the Suriname and Commewijne River mouth. And everyone who would leave the building and then step in a boat,would have the feeling that being on the River was like being in a sacred space. A sacred space where you would not have even the slightest thought of desecrating this house. And that was my dream. And that was what remained a dream.
Until last year, when Rischmie who was cleaning out all the cupboards asked me at a certain moment what do I do with this box? I asked what was in the box; she answered me,
“Oh, a lot of shells.”
And I told her that we should display them, but would first have to classify them. I told her to leave the box outside, because I thought that I had one volunteer who would be willing to sit down and classify them for me. And now of course, you think I was thinking of a biology student who had offered to volunteer. But no, I was thinking of a Hindi teacher, who kept calling me and asking me how she could help us, because she would like to volunteer. Being a linguist myself, I knew that she would, if she accepted, be very conscientious, because that is how we linguists are. And indeed, Kavita accepted the challenge and sat down with the book and the shells and started classifying them. However, I still did not have a place to put them on display. Then one of my other volunteers asked me what all the shells were doing here (spread out over my living room), and I told what my dream was. And I asked:
“Stellar, how about if we make a shell museum on the Internet?”
Stellar immediately said it was a great idea, so I told her that I would create the URL, and then she could work on it. Stellar, being the good sport she is, accepted. As the work progressed one of my other volunteers, Jonathan, was asked if he could help entering the texts. And I have to be honest that is all I did. So even before you see anything that they are going to present, I would like to ask you to give Stellar, Kavita and Jonathan an applause for their incredible hard work, and their creative minds.
With this virtual museum, I also wanted to highlight not just shells, not just the beauty, not just a sacred space, but I also wanted to show, the desecrations that were happening at this Beach.
I wanted to document in this museum how a centuries-old beach was doing, and what were the changes taking place at this Beach. And I wanted to do this in a manner that was methodical. So today we will present you a collection of shells, but the museum will present as time progresses more and more collections, collections depicting its beauty, depicting its value, depicting the threats. And one of the things I hope to achieve with this museum, is that it [the beach] will be given a certain status of protection, of conservation, from the threats that we humans especially seem to pose. And if there is one thing I hope this virtual museum will achieve today; it is that next sea turtle season the beach will be closed for all sandmining activities.
Just because now it is there for everyone to see how this sacred space is doing. I hope you enjoy our shell collection.
This is a project fully funded by the PASSION and the ENERGY of the volunteers of the Green Heritage Fund Suriname. Thank you!
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