Left: Tessa Jowell enjoys the new Hands On Base where visitors can handle objects from the museum's prestigious handling collection
The Rt. Hon. Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, officially re-opened the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill, South London on June 14.
The £13.4 million project has doubled the size of the museum. The new building has been merged with the old listed 'art nouveau' building originally designed by Charles Harrison Townsend.
The main entrance now presides over its extensive gardens, as Frederick Horniman had originally envisioned. Three new gallery spaces, a cafe, shop, new education centre and a handling collection are the additions to the museum.
Right: the Horniman Museum
Children from local schools participated in singing, dancing, painting and other activities in different galleries throughout the afternoon.
The museum was born in 1901 as a gift from Frederick Horniman, a Victorian tea merchant, who was given an ultimatum by his wife to choose between his expanding collection of objects or her. His aim was for the people of London to have a free museum, for their 'recreation, instruction and enjoyment'.
"I think that for Frederick Horniman today really is the realisation of his dream," said Tessa Jowell.
"He was a great visionary when he bequeathed the museum. It will be a magnet of learning, inspiration and enthusiasm not just for south London, but for those who live in this borough it is a special opportunity to come rather more often. Certainly this wonderful new building does all of that," said the Culture Secretary.
Left: new extension to the Horniman
Floella Benjamin, OBE, patron for the Horniman Museum described the museum as a 'box of delights waiting to be opened'.
Right: a mask-making workshop at the museum
She said: "It is a place that children are going to feel is their playground. It is the feeling of the old and the new coming together. Where else could you find so much about the world than the Horniman Museum."
The museum provides an interactive educational experience using its collection of natural history, musical instruments, and ethnographical objects.
The new 'Hands On Base' show allows people to learn by feeling and touching real objects.
Left: watch out - you'll meet the Rhino Horn Beetle at the Horniman!
The music gallery, due to open in September, and the temporary gallery currently holding a 'Monster Creepy Crawlies' show also provide interactive displays.
Right: gorgeous garden at the Horniman Museum
The other new gallery, the Centenary gallery, celebrates the 100 years of collections by Horniman and the museum. The Natural History gallery, Aquarium, and African Worlds exhibit remain in the old part of the building.
£10 million of the money for the project has come from lottery funds and the rest through fund-raising.
Festivities to mark the re-opening begin this Friday, June 14, including live Latin American music, arts and craft sessions, and tours of the museum galleries. There is also face-painting and story-telling for children. Admission to the museum and activities are free.
