A NEW gallery is opening at a prestigious museum.

Occupying a whole floor of Durham University's Oriental Museum, the gallery is devoted to its Himalayan, Indian and Southeast Asian collections.

Now completely refurbished, it features a dazzling array of objects from a Tibetan Buddhist skull cup to carved Indian jades and a headhunting sword from Borneo.

The objects on display range in date from ancient Indus valley ceramics dating back to 2,500 BC to a modern safety helmet decorated with Islamic motifs by its owner in Indonesia.

The opening of the gallery is the culmination of 18 months of intensive research into the museum’s collections, with curators having re-examined thousands of objects and re-evaluated their importance with the assistance of members of local South Asian and Southeast Asian communities.

Museum curator Craig Barclay said: “One of the most exciting aspects of this project has been the opportunity to work with local people to improve our understanding of the objects in our care that relate to their cultures and faiths.

“We are particularly grateful to the members of the local Sikh and Hindu communities who have given so much of their time.

“We have also benefitted from the input of Durham University students from right across South and Southeast Asia and university academics working in the region.”

The gallery has been named the Roberts Gallery in honour of Dr and Mrs JT Roberts of Northumberland, who donated a significant collection of 20th Century Southeast Asian art to the museum in the 1990s.

It opens to the public tomorrow (Friday, February 13). Entry costs £1.50 for adults, 75p for children over five and the over 60s and is free for under-fives and students.

The museum is on Elvet Hill, Durham. For more information, visit durham.ac.uk/oriental.museum or call 0191-334-5694.