Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Muscat: The National Museum, launched a series of six lectures on museum management in the 21st century for Omani museum professionals and students.
The lectures, starting from 27 July until the end of 2021, are delivered in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution; the largest museum and research complex in the world and the most prominent cultural centre in the USA.
The lectures will be supervised by Dr Paul Michael Taylor, anthropologist, Curator of Asian, European and Middle Eastern Cultures and Director of the Asian Cultural History Programme at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Dr Taylor will lead and familiarise a team of experts with new techniques in museum research and insights to advance cultural studies at museums and historical sites.
This initiative, by the US Embassy in Oman, focuses on visitor management, exhibition development, preserving cultural heritage and virtual exhibitions.
The US Embassy has provided similar training opportunities by dispatching specialists from the National Museum, the National Records and Archives Authority (NRAA), and the Ministry of Heritage and Culture (formerly) to the USA for the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) for several weeks.
Recently, with the US Embassy’s support, the National Museum restored a photo album containing historically significant images, including the oldest known photo of Muttrah, Al Rustaq Fort, Jabreen Castle, and the Beehive Tombs.
The 88-page album contains significant photos from the first US Consul to Oman and illustrates the long historical ties between the United States and Oman.
The album’s restoration was one of only three projects in the Middle East to be awarded a grant from the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation in 2019. The Technical Committee recognised the project “Oman: Restoration of Nineteenth Century Photographs from the Collection of the National Museum” from a field of valuable international proposals.
