4th SAWA Museum Academy Hosts International Participants

Sharjah Museums Authority, SMA, has recently welcomed international students and young museum professionals from the Middle East and Germany to participate in the annual SAWA Museum Academy cross-cultural exchange programme.

SHARJAH, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 22nd Sep, 2018) Sharjah Museums Authority, SMA, has recently welcomed international students and young museum professionals from the middle East and Germany to participate in the annual SAWA Museum academy cross-cultural exchange programme.

Each year, SMA invites a group of young professionals to Sharjah to work alongside its team of experts and museum staff. Now in its fourth edition, participants in this year’s SAWA Museum Academy will study four main modules during their time in Sharjah. These include, museology, collecting and documenting, curating, and museum communication.

During their time with SMA, the students will learn about the history of the Arabian Peninsula, how to adapt a museum’s offering to local and international perspectives and how to develop strategies for curating exhibits.

In June 2019, the group of 15 specially selected young professionals will travel to Berlin for the next stage of the course where they will continue their studies into the essential areas of museum management and museology.

Participants include individuals from the UAE, Germany, Oman, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt.

Manal Ataya, SMA Director-General, said, "We are delighted to welcome the latest group of international students and museum professionals to Sharjah to participate in this year’s SAWA Museum Academy."

"SAWA creates a unique environment which is stimulating and encourages a multicultural learning experience. SMA’s initiative SAWA is vital in laying the foundations for a long-term exchange of ideas and long term cross cultural collaborations in the future," she added.

The 10-day multicultural project is part of a long-running collaboration between SMA and the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region and the University of Applied Sciences, HTW Berlin, with the support of the Staatliche Museen Berlin - Stiftung Preu?ischer Kulturbesitz.

The initiative is part of SMA’s ongoing work to ‘bridge’ the cultural and knowledge divide between museums in Europe, the Middle East, and around the world through regular collaborative events.

SAWA Museum Academy is designed to bring together students of museum studies and the next generation of young museum professionals from the Arab region and from Germany.

Fareed Majari, Director of the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region, said, "SAWA was created to promote mutual learning and shared experiences between museums, peoples and nations.

"It was a pioneering idea when it was launched. Now in its fourth edition, I am proud that the SAWA Museum Academy has gone from strength to strength and continues to achieve its goals with each new intake of Arab and German students."

Gundula Avenarius, organisational manager of SAWA at HTW Berlin, said, "The SAWA Museum Academy has been created by museum experts to encourage a culture of cooperation between staff and institutions. By learning first-hand how staff at Sharjah Museums Authority and their colleagues in Berlin operate, the students and professionals are exposed to essential, hands-on experiences in the workplace that will benefit them throughout their careers."