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Star Wars fans are in for a treat as young enthusiast and creative Armaan bin Awaz has unveiled his ‘private museum’ of artefacts from the beloved franchise, writes Rima Alhaddad.
Star Warsy Chewie Bahrain museum has been set up at the 12-year-old’s home in Abu Saiba, with items including toys, figurines, commissioned artworks and other interesting merchandise on display.
The collection features his personal articles, as well as a curated selection of items by fellow Bahrain-based Star Wars enthusiasts.
The Indian expatriate and student of the Bahrain Indian School started taking a keen interest in the show due to his ‘love for all things science’. However, he owned Star Wars-themed toys long before he discovered the sci-fi universe.
For the uninitiated, Star Wars is an American epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and has since expanded into numerous other films, shows, books, and video games.
Taking place ‘a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away’, it tells the adventures of characters across multiple fictional eras, in which humans and many species of aliens (often humanoid) co-exist with droids, which may be programmed for personal assistance or battle.
“I found out about Star Wars a year ago,” Armaan told GulfWeekly.
“But I realised that I already owned a cookie jar of the droid character BB8 my dad bought me when I was little. It inspired me to expand my collection so, I got a lightsaber and kept going from there,” added the young author, who published his debut book of poems two years ago.
A lightsaber is a neon sword-like weapon that is used by characters in the film.
At some point, Armaan learned about the Star Wars museum in America, Rancho Obi Wan, by Steeve Sansweet, which spurred him on to start his own. “It was frustrating initially because I reached out to several people, and they would reject me because I am 12 years old. But eventually, one artist agreed to display her artwork at my museum. It kept going from there and we kept receiving more interest.”
Armaan hopes to make the museum permanent and to continue growing his collection. He also has plans to ‘celebrate scientific factors of the films’.
“The museum will soon have a microscope which displays a mini Lego lightsaber,” revealed the science buff, who has plans to build a droid from scratch.
Armaan’s dad Awaz Bin Abid is a trade marketing manager and mum Natasha is an entrepreneur.
For details, follow @starwarsychewiebahrain on Instagram.
