Brunei Darussalam Maritime Museum, Brunei Overview

Brunei Darussalam Maritime Museum, also referred to as Muzium Maritim Brunei Darussalam in Malay is an impressive museum which showcases several artefacts and historical relics. It comprises of 3 galleries, two of which display a permanent exhibition and the third is for temporary exhibitions.

Opened in March 2015 the museum is situated on the banks of Brunei River at the place of the ancient city of Brunei. An immense skeleton of a ship stands at the entrance of the main hall. The exquisite historical artefacts also reveal the importance of Brunei in the maritime trade.

The history of trade and communication between Brunei and China can be dated back to approximately 1500 years which is displayed in the museum, Brunei shipwreck being the most important of all.

Exhibits

First Exhibition Gallery: ‘The Brunei Shipwreck’ presents a collection of approximately 13,500 artefacts which have been recovered from a shipwreck site. The artefacts were discovered in 1997 from the shipwreck site which is around 32 nautical miles away from the coast of Brunei. One-third of the artefacts, around 4565 of them include blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen of China’s Jiangxi province. The artefacts consist of foreign ceramics from Thailand, Vietnam and China which can be traced from the 15th and 16th centuries. This gallery is the main attraction point of the museum and is a permanent set up always open for the visitors.

Second Exhibition Gallery: The progress and manifestation of Kota Batu is presented at ‘Kota Batu as a Trading Centre’. It displays how during the span of the 14th century to the 17th century Kota Batu was a significant trading centre of human activities in Brunei. Some distinguished local cultural items as well as models of foreign ships are on display which came to Brunei for trade. This gallery occupies a permanent space in the museum.

Third Exhibition Gallery: It hosts temporary exhibitions. The trade relations between China and Brunei during the important days of Maritime Silk Road were exhibited in this gallery when the museum was first opened. An exhibition on Quanzhou Maritime Museum’s Maritime Silk Road was presented.