Archealogical Museum in Betancuria opens on 22 December 2020

[Captain Sensible]

The new archaelogical museum in Betancuria opens on 22 December 2020.

https://www.ondafuerteventura.es/arqueol...fZuRBb57BA

It's taken a long time to get to this stage - I was doing some English classes in Betancuria primary school in 2011 when they started it.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

'One island, thousands of stories', the new motto to promote the Museums of Fuerteventura

“Museums of Fuerteventura, one island, thousands of stories”, is the motto that synthesizes the new graphic image of the Fuerteventura Museum Network and that fuses the culture, memory, art and history of the Island, making it more accessible to all kinds of audiences. Thus, the island's museums receive a strong impulse that aims to update the concept and value museums as creative, exhibition, dynamic and participatory spaces.

The Department of Culture , Historical Heritage and Dissemination of Cultural Heritage of the Island Council points out that this new graphic image also responds to the effort that has been made in the development of the different conditioning and improvement projects that are being carried out, such as the renovation of the Alcogida Ecomuseum, which includes a specific exhibition on traditional Majorera architecture, the promotion and award of the works project to improve the Morro Velosa Viewpoint (Betancuria), the Tostón Lighthouse (Cotillo) and the Llano Cave (Villaverde ).

Also included in this renewal drive is the opening of the new Archaeological Museum in the Villa de Betancuria with 4 temporary exhibitions of great value: “Archaeological Fuerteventura, where our history begins”, “Betancuria, a Faith in the stone”, “Challenges / Remains for a Museum ”and“ Footprints ”.

Likewise, it is planned to incorporate the New musealization, already awarded and soon to open, of the Battle of Tamasite Interpretation Center in the building known as Casa de Las Simonas, the opening of the Poblado de la Atalayita; an opening that integrates an educational program, with the aim of turning this space into the next archaeological park on the island. In addition to the Upper House of Tindaya, whose comprehensive museum project will go out to tender in the coming months, but will open its doors shortly with a surprising temporary exhibition.

Within the framework of this renovating initiative, the counselor, Andrés Briansó, has indicated that “it is intended that the museums of Fuerteventura be lively and dynamic spaces that can even host small-format shows so that art can travel the island and get closer to the people".
You can consult the entire update of the museums, schedules, reservations at cabildofuer.es

[Maggie76]

Visited the museum a few weeks ago and can highly recommend it. Absolutely brilliant, interesting, modern, friendly staff, can't rate it highly enough.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

from Radio Sintonia:

(Tamara - published yesterday but says starts in October! 
unfortunately it's only in Spanish - I wish they would do perhaps once a month in a different language so that more people could participate, or headphones with different language choices. I know it's my responsibility to learn Spanish, and I am trying, but I can't see me ever getting good enough to get the most out of an event like this  )

Guided tours begin at the Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura.
The Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura begins next Tuesday, October 23, a program of guided tours of its temporary exhibitions, with the aim of disseminating the values of the culture of the majos and the archaeology of the Island. In this way, the museum will facilitate learning, making known in a didactic way the collections that are exhibited and making the public participate in the history of the ancient inhabitants of the Island.

The visits will take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11.30 am, will be held in Spanish and will last one hour, being necessary to go ten minutes before the start. This activity will be free and will be aimed at a general public, over 15 years old.

Guided tours will focus on the temporary exhibitions on the first floor of the museum. 'Fuerteventura Archaeological: where our history begins' aims to take a tour of different places and unique sites that will show the indigenous past of the Island. In this exhibition materials from the funds of the Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura are exhibited, most of them donations from the population and resulting from the archaeological excavations that have been carried out in the last forty years.

For its part, the exhibition speech of room B, entitled 'Remains / Challenges', tries to analyze the past, present and future of the Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura, influencing the functions of conservation, research and dissemination that mark the management of the institution. The visit will include access to the conservation and restoration work that the museum carries out on those archaeological materials from donations or archaeological excavations, processes in which the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands collaborates.

In addition, thanks to the collaboration of the Canarian Museum and the Archaeological Museum of Tenerife, some objects that left Fuerteventura at the end of the nineteenth century, the result of the rise of collecting, characteristic of this era, are exhibited for the first time. Among the materials of the exhibition are ceramics from different sites, podomorphs, beads plates, idols, stone engravings, hand mills or bioanthropological remains from the Canary Islands Museum and the latest excavations carried out in Fuerteventura.

According to the Minister of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura, Rayco León, "guided tours are one of the best tools to disseminate the island's heritage, contributing to a better knowledge of the ancient inhabitants of the Island".
To participate it is necessary to register in advance through the email museoaf@cabildofuer.es, or the telephone number 928 17 14 14, and must indicate name, surname, ID, postal address and telephone.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Radio Sintonia:

The Archaeological Site of Fuerteventura exhibits in the "zero showcase" one of its most exceptional pieces.

The piece was found by chance by a citizen and is now exposed to the public after conservation and restoration work.
The Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura reported today in a press release that it exhibits one of the most surprising ceramics that make up the museographic collections of the mahos. This unique ceramic was presented last December and responds to the donation by a twelve-year-old boy, who found the piece by chance in a cave in a malpaís of Fuerteventura. After the relevant conservation and restoration work, it is now exposed to the public in the 'zero showcase' located at the entrance of the museum.

Importance of the piece

The importance of the piece lies in the value of the site in which it was found, a space with great archaeological potential and that is related to places of religious worship of the Majo people. Its importance also lies in its decoration and typology, being unique in the register of canarian aboriginal cultures.

In addition, it is an exceptional ceramic for its decorative profusion, which occupies all its parts except the base. This makes it an even more special piece, since most of the preserved ceramics are decorated only in their upper third.

Find

After the notice by the child Juan José Hernández Cabrera and once communicated to the Historical Heritage Inspection Service of the Cabildo, the lifting of the ceramics was carried out and its transfer to the Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura.

Subsequently, the relevant conservation and restoration work has been carried out, with the collaboration of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, within the intervention project of the ceramic collection guarded by the Archaeological Museum of Fuerteventura, whose main objective is to preserve the legacy of the Maho people.

Characteristics of the piece

It is a ceramic with a flat bottom and oval shape, which stands out for its decorative profusion, presenting in its upper part two rows of small rounded protrusions that border the body of the vessel. From these mamelones to the base of the ceramics, traces of vertical grooves start, a very characteristic element of the decoration of the Maho people.

With a height of 7 centimeters, 15.5 centimeters in length and 12 centimeters in width, the piece presents a dark coloration in a large part of its dimension, probably due to a high presence of organic matter in the ceramic paste, as well as that its firing was reducing. That is, without the presence of oxygen at least during the final part of the process.

The most important alteration that it presented was the high erosion of the outer surface, accompanied by an important lamination in various points of the galbo and the mamelones. It also had several longitudinal cracks. Once the pastes and the state of the ceramics have been analyzed, conservation interventions have been carried out, such as the consolidation of the eroded surface, the arrangement of the fissures and the consolidation of the laminations.

What to do in case of finding

From the Ministry of Culture and Historical Heritage, directed by Rayco León, it is recalled that casual findings of archaeological materials must be communicated to the Cultural Heritage Service or the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA).
It is also recalled that not communicating the location, stealing or altering any type of archaeological material may be a crime provided for in the criminal code or administrative infraction of the Cultural Heritage Law of the Canary Islands.

link to article for pic

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Radio Sintonia:

More than 21,000 people have been interested in the culture of the Maho people that is exhibited in the Archaeological of Fuerteventura located in Betancuria. In addition, during the first half of 2022 visits have experienced an exponential growth, exceeding 9,300 people. This represents an increase of more than 50% compared to the same period of the previous year, when 4,465 people were counted.
 
Not only is the influx doubled, but April, with 2,185 users, has been the month with the highest number of visits since the opening of this museum space.
This increase responds, in part, to the arrival of tourists after the end of the restrictions, which have also allowed the promotion of cultural actions and the participation of educational centers in them.
The counselor of the area, Rayco León, highlights the importance of recovering this type of activities with schoolchildren as a fundamental tool to disseminate the archaeological heritage and aboriginal culture. It also emphasizes not only the great exhibition value of the museum, but also all the work it does as a research center to promote important projects that are then made known to visitors.

The most common type of attendance at the museum has been the family visit, being the profile of people between 40 and 50 years old, accompanied by children and young people over 18 years old. As the second age group, the sector of 30 to 40 years of age stands out.

Visitors of other nationalities account for 58.70% of the total, being visited in the first half of 2022 by 5,702 people from other countries. The British, Germans and French are the ones who have visited this space the most, in that order. The percentage of Italian and Polish citizens also stands out.

On the other hand, a total of 2,147 visitors came from the Canary Islands, which represents 22.10% of the visits. They are mostly residents of the island, but also of other islands, especially Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lanzarote. Finally, visitors from other autonomous communities account for 19.19% of the total, being their origin mainly Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country.

These data show the change in trend with respect to 2021, since for that same period (first semester) almost 78.96% of visits responded mostly to Canarian residents and peninsula, while only 21.3% corresponded to European tourists and other nationalities. Quite the opposite of current statistics, in which European visitors surpass national and Canarian tourism, with this same trend expected during the second half of 2022.

Visits
The Archaeological Museum can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., its main objective being the research, dissemination and conservation of the archaeological heritage of the island, paying special attention to the culture of the Maho people, tothe inhabitants of Fuerteventura.