The National Poo Museum on the Isle of Wight, southern England, is a museum dedicated to the collection, conservation and display of faeces. The museum, which opened on 25 March 2016, originally as a mobile museum, is now permanently located at Sandown Barrack Battery.[1][2]
Overview
The faeces are displayed in resin spheres, where it can be viewed and held. The process involves drying the poo, which can take up to two weeks, before it is encapsulated and placed in a vacuum chamber, so that air bubbles are removed.[3] The main aim of the museum is to break down the 'taboo' surrounding poo in human life,[4] and the museum hopes to do this by receiving donations of poo from celebrities.[5][6] The museum also aims to educate people about the issues related to poo including dog fouling[broken anchor] and sanitation.[1]
The museum was founded by members of Eccleston George who are "a collection of creative people who work together on many different kinds of projects", based on the Isle of Wight.[7]
Poo at the Zoo
The first public exhibition, named Poo at the Zoo, opened on 25 March 2016 at the Isle of Wight Zoo, where 20 excrements belonging to different animals were on display. The animals and faeces included:[8][1]
Sandown Barrack Battery is a 19th-century fort built on the southwest coast of the Isle of Wight.[9] The National Poo Museum is converting two of the derelict buildings at the battery in order to house exhibits permanently and build a cafe. This is being done with £15,000 from the local authority and a further £2,500 from a crowdfunding campaign.[10][6]
Reception
The crowdfunding campaign received money from 76 donors over 42 days.[11] The campaign was supported by Kate Humble, the presenter of Curious Creatures - a nature quiz TV series on BBC Two. The series used faeces provided by the museum for a round called 'Whose poo?' where contestants guessed the animal which the faeces belonged to.[12] Humble, a wildlife presenter, said that "The world would be a much poorer place without the National Poo Museum".[13]
Gallery
Faeces undergoing the drying process
Lion poo in a resin sphere outside Sandown Library
The surface of the faeces has to be frozen before being collected, so that it does not lose its shape
Lion poo (right) and human poo (left) at Sandown Library
Fox poo in a resin sphere
Unique cube-shaped wombat poo awaiting processing and preservation
Red panda poo awaiting processing and preservation
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