The Polar Museum
SPRI operates the Polar Museum, which features artefacts (particularly from the Heroic Age of Exploration), paintings, drawings, photographs (which includes cinematographic film, lantern slides, and daguerreotypes), and other material relating to polar history, exploration, science and art.
In 2010 the renovated Polar Museum opened its doors to the public. It now displays more of its collections than before. The new displays are based on the theme of exploration into science, emphasising both the history of exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic and the wider environmental significance of the poles in a changing world.
Art and artefacts from the people who call the Arctic home are displayed alongside the last letters of Captain Scott and iconic Antarctic photographs by Herbert Ponting. A series of exhibits shows how science is undertaken in the harsh conditions of the polar regions.
As well as these permanent exhibits, the Museum regularly hosts special exhibitions and shows of modern polar art. The Museum is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, admission is free.
Outside the institute stands a monument to all those that have carried out hazardous duties in the pursuit of scientific knowledge in the British Antarctic Territory. It was unveiled on 12 May 2011 by the sculptor, Oliver Barratt and Roderick Rhys Jones (Chairman of the British Antarctic Monument Trust). The monument is made of British oak and represents the mould from which the another part, a stainless steel needle, has been cast and will be situated on the Falkland Islands when a site has been found.
Read more about this topic: Scott Polar Research Institute
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