New Bedford Museum Assisting With Whaling Exhibits On Cape Verde

There's a ceremony on Cape Verde this weekend marking the contributions of Cape Verdeans to the whaling industry in the U.S. in general, and New Bedford in particular.

The New Bedford Whaling Musem is assisting with the permanent exhibits on Cape Verde.

Arthur Motta, a collections curator at the Whaling Museum recently returned from the islands. "One of the programs of the Ministry of Culture on Cape Verde is to construct a system of museums, which they call Memory houses, for each of the Islands. The first two sites selected were the island of Sao Nicolau and the island of Sao Vicente," said Motta .

Those locations will serve as "home" for the whaling exhibits, some of which are on loan from the Whaling Museum, while others are gifts. The artifacts include lots of photos on whaling, three ship models, some whaling tools, and pictures of the Cape Verdean community here.

Whaling Museum President James Russell is in Cape Verde taking part in the ceremonies.

Motta says the Whaling Museum's relationship with Cape Verde won't end with this weekend's ceremony. He says students exchanges, lectures and concerts are also planned, going forward.