For many years, Switzerland had a museum dedicated to “Swiss people abroad.” The museum, which closed in recent years, featured the stories of the Vatican’s Swiss guard, Louis Chevrolet, inventor of the famous cars and numerous others who may not be as well-known to the wider world. The idea of a place dedicated to expat stories seems a bit surprising until you see that leaving home is a very Swiss activity—more than 800,000 Swiss citizens currently live abroad.
Meanwhile, Moscow’s Zoological Museum is a classic Soviet science museum that’s hardly changed in the last 30 years. Its enormous, brightly colored rooms house skeletons and jars of small beasts preserved in strong-smelling formaldehyde, alongside other taxidermic specimens. The museum features prominently in Lily Idov’s photo essay “Museums in Search of Lost Russia,” as does the State Darwin Museum and the now-closed Moscow Polytechnic Museum, one of the oldest science museums in the world. These aging museums demonstrate not only Russia’s pride in its scientific achievements but also ask how such pride manifests today—and to what degree it even fits into modern Russian identity.
Mexico City has more than 150 museums, including the Museum of Everyday Objects (Museo del Objeto del Objeto). Founded by Bruno Newman, the space showcases over 30,000 items, from beauty products to unusual medicine bottles, the products of a lifetime spent collecting. By contrast, Carlos Slim’s museum, Museo Soumaya, celebrates a different kind of collecting—65,000 pieces of art, including the largest number of Auguste Rodin sculptures outside of France. The building itself stands out as a stunning and bizarre architectural achievement, surrounded by corporate blocks. Slim, one of the richest men in the world, said he wanted to offer a place of great art for Mexicans who couldn’t travel abroad.
In Texas, a local television station refers to the Huntsville Texas Prison Museum as a “Hidden Gem.” Texas has executed more people than any other state and its prison system has been the subject of recent lawsuits around inhumane treatment of prisoners given the lack of air conditions in extreme heat. The Prison Museum, run by the state, features numerous exhibits as well as “Old Sparky” the infamous electric chair. The museum gift shop includes leather wallets, belts and Bible covers as well as “I did time in Huntsville” t-shirts—all made by prisoners.
But Ukraine takes the cake for some of the most unusual museums. Its list includes:
- Museum of the Toilette History, Kyiv: The museum includes 524 toilets, and won a 2015 Guinness World Record for largest collection of souvenir toilets.
- Jellyfish Museum, Kyiv: Because of the short life cycle of jellyfish, the collection is updated at least three times a year.
- Pysanka Easter Egg Museum, Kolomyia: The museum contains more than 12,000 decorated eggs from around Ukraine and the world.
- Museum of Unnecessary Things, Kyiv: Since 1943, one recycling plant has curated interesting discarded objects for display, including gramophones, prototype shaving machines and hand grenades.
- Nicolai Syadristy’s Micro Miniature Museum, Kyiv: Syadristy’s art requires a microscope to view and in his museum, you can see a 3.5mm gold frigate and glasses atop a grain of sand.
Contributor
Abby Rapoport is the publisher and co-founder of Stranger's Guide. Abby spent the first portion of her career as a political reporter, covering Texas politics for the Texas Tribune, the Texas Observer and then The American Prospect. Her work has also appeared in Glamour, The National Journal and The New Republic. Prior to founding Stranger's Guide, she served as Acting Publisher for the Texas Observer and currently chairs the Texas Democracy Foundation.
