A NORTH-East museum has been given more than £100,000 to transform access to some of its Eastern treasures.

Durham University’s Oriental Museum, in Durham City, has secured £114,000 from the Arts Council’s Renaissance Strategic Support Fund to develop its South Asian and Himalayan collections.

The money will fund a two-year project involving research into the artefacts, youth and community engagement projects and resources for a planned new gallery at the museum, due to open in 2015.

Alison Clark-Jenkins, regional director of the Arts Council England, said: “This two-year project will transform the South Asian and Himalayan collections of the Durham University Oriental Museum into an accessible resource; enhancing the visitor experience, supporting community and youth engagement work and promoting scholarship.

“To complement a new permanent gallery at the museum this project will develop a complementary regional touring exhibition, review and research the collections, develop learning resources for schools and build community links and programmes.

“Our investment will enable people to engage with the fabulous collections in the North-East.”

Last year, the Oriental Museum won £87,600 to improve its exhibitions of Japanese and Korean art. Both the Egyptian and Chinese galleries have also been upgraded.