A unique living archive by museum practitioners

March 30, 2022 / 5:24 PM

Sharjah24: A first of its kind project that provides museum practitioners and the wider public with a plethora of museological terms in three languages, was launched during a panel discussion organized by Sharjah Museums Authority (SMA) at the German pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020.

The project, ‘A Museum Glossary: An Encounter of Words’ is part of SAWA Museum Studies Program which was first launched in 2015 and has since received several international awards including AGYA award for ‘promoting the role and value of the humanities in research, education and society’ in Berlin in 2019.

In 2020, SAWA also won the Best Cultural Collaboration Award at LCD Berlin which honors and celebrates the world’s top cultural destinations and is considered the 'Oscars for Museums', while this year the Director General of SMA, Manal Ataya was awarded Germany's Order of Merit for her work in strengthening cultural links between the UAE and Germany.

Held in cooperation between SMA, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Goethe Institut Gulf Region, and the University of Applied Sciences (HTW Berlin), SAWA brings together young museum professionals from Arab countries and Germany to share knowledge, skills and best museum practices that support their individual professional development within a larger global context.

When the pandemic hindered physical gatherings, a virtual SAWA series was launched last February allowing Alumni to discuss museological terms such as collections, plans, educational ecosystem, inquiry-based learning or material culture, among others.

While these words seem simple to the general public, Alumni explored their specific connotations and how they are frequently used but often understood differently within the museum framework.

Following the discussions, the first edition of a multicultural conversation on words covering English, Arabic and German language is now accessible as a living archive on SAWA’s official website .

Staff members from SMA, museology experts and young museum professionals who took part in the project elaborated on the process of creating the glossary during the launch ceremony.

They highlighted the significance of the glossary project noting that it will become richer with time as future SAWA participants keep adding to it with an aim to make conversations more comprehensible.