MUSEOS DE LA SEDA / SILK MUSEUMS

when the MAM decided to organize a temporary exhibition on the history of silk in Mur- cia, which coincided also with the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the SSM. This exhibition, entitled: “Silk in Murcia: Stories hanging by a thread” was held with great public success from March 12 to May 31, 2017. The silkworm expositive patrimony of the SSM, kept in the MAM, was exposed after some restoration, and after that, the MAM decided to transfer all this exhibition material to the IMIDA again. After the success of the exhibition and with the new dynamism around the subject of the silk, it has been decided to develop a new project that will lead to the creation of a new Museum of the Silk in the facilities of the IMIDA. This new project integrates two different approaches. One first approach is the exhibition of the expositive patrimony of the old SSM. A second approach takes advantage of the pioneering research made by the IMIDA in the field of the new applications of Sericulture, described above. So, this project for a new Museum is singular, in the sense that not only recovers the memory of the old heritage of an activity that disappeared, but also exposes to the public all the new technologies and scientific developments around the silk carried out in recent years. Thus, the mission and denomination of this project is The Museum of the Science of the Silk of Murcia. The program of this Museum will consist of three focal elements: a) Exhibition of the expositive patrimony of instruments and equipment for sericulture technology remaining from the SSM, illustrating the ancient technical developments. b) Activities and workshops for silkworm rearing of diverse races and cocoon processing for traditional textile uses. c) Exhibition of a modern laboratory equipment and workshops on processing of silk for fabrication of biomaterials for Tissue Engineering and Nanomedicine. This Museum will be housed in the old “Ahogadero”, building originally constructed for the cocoon stifling in 1914, and that presents an adequate state of conservation, with the prospect of restoration and adaptation to its new use. This Museum recovers and continues the tradition and mission from the old Sericultural Station of Murcia to the modern IMIDA as developers and providers of science and technology for the sericultural activity in Spain. 5) Virtual Museum In parallel with the creation of the physical Museum of the Science of Silk, a virtual Museum is being developed by the IMIDA, containing information, videos and images related to the sericultural activity in Murcia in the past and present. In the following link, it is possible to find a virtual visit to the exposition of the Archaeological Museum of Murcia in 2017, as well as a virtual visit to the IMIDA. http://www.rutadelaseda.eu/ Acknowledgements The author acknowledges the valuable help of Dr. Salvador Aznar-Cervantes in the preparation of this manuscript. 66