Sunderland to Saigon !
Monkwearmouth Station Museum
What is the furthest you can travel from Sunderland by rail?
The answer is almost 9,300 miles to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, in Vietnam. An intrepid team of explorers from Monkwearmouth Station Museum will set out to complete the journey on Thursday 25 January 2007.
Their trip will form the basis of the first exhibition to be shown at the redeveloped Monkwearmouth Station Museum when it re-opens in the summer.
Helen White, senior manager at Tyne & Wear Museums, explains:
“A film-maker, assistant and a member of Museum staff will be making this amazing journey, making links with various museums, railways and schools along the way.
“They will be collecting objects from the different countries they visit and making a film of their experiences. The aim is to find out about the cultures and people of the different countries, and also to let people across the world know about the City of Sunderland.”
The resulting film, photographs and objects will be on show at Monkwearmouth Station Museum when it opens in summer 2007. In the meantime, people can check the progress of the travellers by visiting the Monkwearmouth Station Museum website, www.twmuseums.org.uk/monkwearmouth, which will be updated throughout the journey.
The travellers hope to visit schools along the route, to help set up links with schools back in Sunderland and teach the pupils about their journey and life in Sunderland.
Links will also be made with railway museums in a number of different countries, including the China Railway Museum in Beijing, the Railway Museum in Belarus and Moscow’s Metro Museum.
The journey will include travel on the world-famous trans-Siberian railway, as well as metro and underground systems in several cities, with all the rail experiences being filmed for the final exhibition.
Helen White added:
“When it re-opens, Monkwearmouth Station Museum will explore journeys and modes of transport so it is an ideal way to celebrate the forthcoming re-launch of the Museum, and a way to raise the profile of the City internationally.”
The journey will take around forty days, with the group scheduled to arrive in Saigon on 6 March.
Monkwearmouth Station Museum, including the Sunderland to Saigon exhibition, will open in summer 2007.
The project is funded by Culture 10 and Renaissance in the Regions.
Media contact: Emma Pybus (0191) 277 2309
Email: emma.pybus@twmuseums.org.uk
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