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I Love SarawakNews · Culture · Land of the Hornbills
Culture & HeritageKuching

Borneo Cultures Museum

Malaysia's largest museum — five floors of Borneo's story, in a striking golden landmark in central Kuching.

By · Editor, I Love Sarawak

Facts checked

The golden facade of the Borneo Cultures Museum in Kuching
Photo: Medelam (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The place

Opened in March 2022, the Borneo Cultures Museum is the largest museum in Malaysia and among the largest in Southeast Asia — a gleaming, rattan-inspired golden landmark rising beside the gardens of the old Sarawak Museum in central Kuching.

Across five floors of modern galleries, it tells Borneo's whole story: rainforest and river ecology, archaeology reaching back to the Niah skull, the material culture of Sarawak's many peoples, and immersive, child-friendly interactive halls. It has quickly become the single best first stop for understanding everything else you'll see in Sarawak.

Front view of the Borneo Cultures Museum
Photo: 愛子棋枰 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The museum seen from the old Sarawak Museum gardens
Photo: Cerevisae (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Highlights

  1. Five floors of galleries — nature, archaeology, culture and interactive halls
  2. Treasures including finds from the Niah caves
  3. Striking modern architecture inspired by woven rattan
  4. A perfect first-day primer before exploring the rest of Sarawak

Getting there

Ways to reach Borneo Cultures Museum, compared
HowFromTakesCosts
Walkthe waterfront and most city hotels——an easy walk or short ride; on Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg

The museum stands in central Kuching on Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg, an easy walk or short ride from the waterfront and most city hotels.

Good to know

  • Closed on certain public holidays and typically busiest at weekends — check current hours and ticket prices before you go
  • Combine with the old Sarawak Museum gardens and the Kuching waterfront nearby

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