The Labour Movement museum, showcasing the history of the workers’ struggle from across the world, is getting ready in Alappuzha.
The museum is being set up by converting the New Model Cooperative Society Limited, previously run by the Bombay Company.
A first of its kind in the country, it will portray, through pictures, documents and other exhibits, the class struggle and the history of Kerala’s labour movement, a statement issued by the Tourism Department said.
A huge repository of documents and exhibits that shaped the labour movements across the continents and impacted Alappuzha, the cradle of the labour movement in the country, will be on display at the museum.
The Labour Movement museum is located alongside the Port and Coir museums, which forms part of the Alappuzha Heritage Tourism Project.
The museums together will present the region’s social and cultural history. “Besides its unsurpassed natural beauty, Alappuzha has a rich commercial and maritime heritage dating back to ancient times and connected to distant lands. The Alappuzha Heritage Tourism project is conceived to bring this legacy before tourists, in which these museums are important components. They will also serve scholars specializing in the commercial and labour- related topics,” said Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran.
Officials said that the renovation of two coir museums—the Yarn museum and the Living Coir museum—had entered the final phase.
“Together with the initiation of the Travancore, the Thalassery and the Muziris Heritage Projects, Kerala is well on its way to showcasing its rich heritage and glorious history to the visitors of this beautiful land, making it a complete experience,” Rani George, principal secretary, Tourism, said.
Past glory
Alappuzha is getting its past glory restored through the renovation of centuries-old buildings situated west of the Circular Canal and the Commercial Canal, Tourism Director P. Balakiran said.
The heritage project is being executed by Muziris Project Limited.
The museums will open as soon as the restoration of heritage structures is complete.
Nurturing of a Miyawaki forest, renovation of the 150-year-old Alappuzha sea bridge, Leo XIII School, Saukar Masjid, Gujarati Heritage Centre, Makham Masjid, a new naval signal museum, Gandhi museum are progressing as part of the heritage project.
