The Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura organized a study visit to the Colombo National Museum and the National Museum of Natural History for 3rd-year History and Archaeology students, who are following Museology as a course unit, on the 14th of September 2023.
Under the guidance of the Head of the Department of History and Archaeology, Sen. Lect. (Ven.) Dambara Amila, Prof. K.M. Alexander of the same department, and the Curator of the Archaeology Museum of the department, Mrs. Nilmini Neththasinghe, requested the Department of National Museums to schedule a guided program for the students to gain the maximum from the study visit.
Accordingly, the students were first able to witness the special morning procedures of unlocking and opening the museum and its galleries. The students were then given an introductory lecture by Ms. Sanjeewani Widyarathna on the Colombo National Museum, including its history, collection, and its role and contribution to the society, followed by a guided museum tour.
Accordingly, the students visited the museum storage, which can be accessed only for academic and research purposes upon obtaining the relevant permission. Next, the students were guided to the Science Division galleries and laboratories in the fields such as Botany, Geology, Zoology, and Osteology of the National Museum of Natural History, followed by a comprehensive awareness made on Coins and Paper Conservation at the laboratory of the Conservation Division. The galleries of the Cultural Division (Ethnology & Anthropology) of the Colombo National Museum including the historical period-wise galleries and object typology-wise galleries such as, stone, paintings, textiles, pottery and ceramic, coins and currency, armaments, etc. were then visited by the students. At each division and gallery, the museum officers provided a comprehensive understanding to the students. Since the students were given their mid-assignment topic for the Museology course unit based on this field visit, students were much more keen to gather information during this visit.
The Department of History and Archaeology would like to express sincere thanks to the Director-General of the Department of National Museums, Mrs. Sanuja Kasthuriarachchi, the Additional Director-General (Cultural), Mr. Senerath Wickramasinghe, Mr. Ranjith Hewage, the Museum Keeper of the Colombo National Museum and all the staff members of the Department of National Museums for the arrangements to make this study visit fruitful to the students.
