10 of the world’s most unusual museums
You’ve heard of art, science and history museums, but have you ever heard of an entire exhibition dedicated to hair? Focused on evolving trends and attitudes toward all sorts of hair, Paris’ Museum of Decorative Arts is running the exhibit, “Des Cheveux et des Poils” (“Hair and Body Hair”), through Sept. 17, per CNN.
Here’s a look at “Des Cheveux et des Poils” and nine other unusual museums.
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The BTS Museum
Location: Seoul, South Korea.
With roughly 33.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, the K-pop music group BTS has a strong international fan base. With its grand opening in 2021, South Korea’s BTS Museum was booked out a month in advance on the weekends, costing nearly $20 a ticket, per Lifestyle Asia. Though it has lost some steam since then, the museum is still operational and includes videos of the group’s most famous dance numbers on 360-degree screens, costumes worn by the members and various trophies.
The Spam Museum
Location: Austin, Minnesota.
Invented in 1937, Spam sustained soldiers in World War II, influenced South Korean food culture after being introduced by American soldiers in the 1950s and became a consistent product in the canned food aisle of American grocery stores. This museum located in Austin, Minnesota, explores how Spam has made an impact on history and offers free live virtual tours, per Spam’s website.
Cancun Underwater Museum
Location: Cancun, Mexico.
Highlighting 487 of Jason deCaires Taylor’s sculptures, this underwater museum is aimed specifically at certified scuba divers. Not only is this a once-in-a-lifetime underwater experience, but it is also “one of the most successful conservation projects in the world,” according to the dive center’s website, Solo Buceo Cancun.
Daxing Watermelon Museum
Location: Beijing, China.
Proving that anything can be fascinating, this museum is dedicated to the history of watermelons and is located in the highest watermelon producing area in the word, per Atlas Obscura. It includes wax watermelons, watermelon decor, an outdoor watermelon garden and even “ancient Chinese poems on display” that refer to watermelons.
“Des Cheveux et des Poils” (“Hair and Body Hair”)
Location: Paris, France.
Hair reflects history just as fashion does. This exhibit looks at the way hair styles and body hair have reflected history “in an academic way that is usually only reserved for fashion,” according to CNN. From 18th-century French aristocrats and their towering piles of hair to the 1920s bob, “Des Cheveux et des Poils” analyzes why hair trends are and how they have changed.
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
Location: Dallas, Texas.
This entire museum is dedicated to John F. Kennedy’s assassination and is located on the very floor of the building where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the gun. It includes over 90,000 artifacts related to the assassination of Kennedy and aims to educate museumgoers on the president’s legacy and the cultural atmosphere of the 1960s, per The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza’s website.
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The Dog Collar Museum
Location: Broomfield, England.
Leeds Castle holds a collection of dog collars sprawling from over four centuries. This museum began in 1977, when Gertrude Hunt donated her and her husband’s dog collar collection. Since her initial donation, many others have contributed, and now the collection ranges from “16th-century German iron collars with fearsome spikes and ornate gilt collars” to “20th century examples fashioned from tyres, beads and plastic,” according to Leeds Castle’s website.
Museo della Bora (Bora Museum)
Location: Trieste, Italy.
Italy’s northerly wind blowing along the Adriatic coastline is celebrated and explained at the Museo della Bora. It sponsors a collection of over 130 bottled winds from all over the world, an art collection with “wind themes,” and archives of photographs, scientific publications, newspapers, and scientific instruments, according to Museo della Bora. This isn’t just an average museum; it keeps museum-goers involved with elaborate kite demonstrations, pinwheels and more.
National Museum of Roller Skating
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska.
Located in Lincoln, Nebraska, this museum “contains the largest collection of roller skating artifacts and textual materials in the world,” per the museum’s website. Even though Lincoln doesn’t currently have a roller rink of its own, it does have the National Roller Skating Archives with everything to do with roller skating’s history.
