Permanent exhibition - Prirodoslovni muzej Metković
The museological concept of the permanent exhibition
According to the museological concept of Nikola Tvrtković, Ph.D., the permanent exhibition of the Museum was realized by the employees of the Croatian Museum of Natural History in Zagreb; it was presented through informative panels, three-dimensional habitat displays (diorama), mounted animals exhibited in drawers and display cases, as well as multimedia audio-visual representations. The spatial organization is divided into five rooms, and the topics are presented in a circular layout.
The first room presents the geological and biospeleological peculiarities of the Neretva delta, the geological pillar, as well as a 3D cave display with underground specificities and the results of recent Neretva sand research. An interactive map of the delta with a spatial arrangement of speleological objects has been made for the visitors, which represents their distribution and richness in the delta.
Known data on endemic underground fauna, cave decoration (stalagmites, stalactites, flutes, curtains, cascades, sinter pools, etc.), as well as archaeological findings from various speleological objects are presented in the “cave diorama” which offers a comprehensive overview of underground karst phenomena.
Three-dimensional representations of aquatic and terrestrial habitats of the Neretva delta extend through the second, third, and fourth room – from swamps, reeds, canals, longitudinal watercourses, rocks, screes, and forest habitats to anthropogenically conditioned settlements and agricultural areas. The diorama displays end with an “airport” scene of birds migrating and wintering scenes in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. They are accompanied by video material on the behavior of animals in a specific habitat, the sounds of birds and amphibians, a multimedia display of habitat biodiversity, as well as the diversity of insects, snails, and shellfish in aquatic and terrestrial habitats of the Neretva delta. From the third room, there is an exit to the garden of the Museum, which in the autochthonous vegetation provides a home for birds and insects in birdhouses and an insect hotel.
The fifth room is dedicated to the active protection and conservation of biodiversity of this area, raising awareness of real threats of commercial use of nature, and contains an interactive corner that emphasizes the importance of systematic bird watching and the purpose of bird ringing. The exhibition ends with interesting short films and questionnaires for children. A special part is dedicated to the members of the Liska Hunting Club from Metković who, due to a long-term collaboration with Dragutin Rucner, managed to collect the Ornithological collection, which is kept in the Museum today.
