LEARNING JOURNEY: Children taking a tour of the Marvellous Creatures exhibition. Right: Diana Rizk, Head of Events at MIA Photo by Anand Holla
By Anand Holla
The exquisite interiors of the Museum of Islamic Art was pitch-dark, save for the distant shimmer of the ever-resplendent West Bay skyline beaming through the large, three-story glass window of the atrium café, overlooking the Doha Corniche.
All lights were off for it was Tuesday night — the weekly holiday for the museum (MIA). But it wasn’t exactly quiet.
Children wearing colourful LED bracelets scampered about through the hallway, their giggles echoing through the vast expanse of the venue. Some cracked jokes, while some chose to stay close to their teachers who diligently shepherded them through the evening.
In a way, it was a child’s dream come true — to hang out in the dark, soaking up an adventure both indoors and outdoors. That suited just right for the organisers, too, as it was a nice setting for some unconventional edutainment.
At a first-of-its-kind event titled Night at the Museum, as part of MIA’s fascinating new exhibition Marvellous Creatures: Animal Fables in Islamic Art that is on till July 11, 45 children — boys and girls aged 7-12 from four schools — had an awesome time from 6pm to 10pm, Tuesday, experiencing the museum “after hours”.
Organised in partnership with local non-governmental organisation Teach for Qatar, the event offered the children an opportunity to perceive the exhibition objects and themes in new, exciting and engaging ways, by “creating magical experiences of discovery and wonder that reflect and enhance the extraordinary stories showcased through objects inside the exhibition.”
Diana Rizk, Head of Events at MIA, who could be seen running around throughout the event, explained the arrangement to Community, “Students reached the museum in the evening, accompanied by two teachers from each of the four participating schools. Upon registering them, we handed them LED bracelets, head-mounted flashlights, and divided them into four groups, each having their own mythical creature identity — Elephant, Fish, Bird and Simurgh (a huge ancient bird of Persian legend credited with possessing great wisdom).”
To make matters easy, the organisers had chalked out a neat little map marking six stations that strung together the programme. So after a round at the photo booth station, the kids were taken on a torch-lit tour of Marvellous Creatures inside the museum, before being escorted to the Western courtyard where they were treated to an interactive storytelling session on dhows.
After star-gazing atop the hillocks of the beautiful MIA Park put together by the Qatar Astronomy Club via their two faithful Celestron telescopes, the kids were taken to a sea-facing BBQ area where they dug into some music and puppetry before relaxing at a tent at MIA Park inside which they had dinner, seated on pretty, pop-coloured LED chairs and tables.
“In the photo booth, every child had a chance to get a personalised photo clicked with the background of Marvellous Creatures,” Rizk said, “The torch-lit tour of the exhibition went on for 40 minutes as MIA’s curators and guides familiarised them with the history, just so they could experience it in a different way. The children also looked around for the stories behind these beautiful objects.”
Even the story chosen for the dhows was The Three Fish, taken from the famous tales of Kalila Wa Dimna and clearly, very relevant to the exhibition. “I was on the dhow with the kids during the storytelling, and they were so excited and happy,” Rizk said.
“On the dhow, we asked them about the experience and they all remembered the four elements covered in the exhibition — earth, water, fire and air. They could relate to the elements, and to the animals that relate to those elements. This was interesting for us because it meant that they understood the tour and could enjoy the experience that we were aiming for,” Rizk pointed out.
Night at the Museum, an initiative never before offered by museums in the Gulf region, the MIA says, forms part of its continued efforts in providing dynamic exhibition activities that appeal to diverse communities, fostering an indigenous culture of creativity and innovation.
The reason why the MIA chose to hold this event on a Tuesday night instead of a weekend, when the schools are closed, is simple. “The museum is closed only on Tuesdays and we wanted to have an exclusive event at this time of the day for children,” Rizk said.
It’s not that MIA doesn’t line up a cool range of activities to complement the several exhibitions that it rolls out. “Each exhibition we open comes with a series of events, workshops, lectures, library events, family activities, school tours, and so on, throughout its duration,” Rizk said.
It may look innocuously simple, but an event like Night at the Museum takes a whole lot of planning.
“We began working on it a year ago. We brainstormed on what events will go well with the exhibition. We had to figure out procurement with our head office to get all the suppliers in place, co-ordinate with Teach for Qatar, work with Maktaba storytellers, the stargazing team, and so on,” Rizk shared.
“My role is to work on the VIP opening of the exhibitions, and also to plan the events that go along with it. Once we assess the results and gather feedback from everyone involved with this event, we may have more of these in the future. Maybe next time, we will include the families,” said Rizk, smiling.
Habes Howail, Head of Outreach and External Relations of Teach for Qatar, said, “Our NGO, established under the leadership of Founder and Chairperson Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, is working hard to recruit and hire the top talents of youth in Qatar; those who freshly graduate from the university, or young professionals from different industries to join the system as teachers to create change within the classroom, school and the community.”
This is Teach for Qatar’s first such collaboration with Qatar Museums (QM) to create new and fun learning opportunities for the students, Howail said. “Part of our role as teachers is to design a learning journey out of the schools for the kids,” he said.
Upon receiving invitation to participate in the event, Teach for Qatar chose four out of their 17 partner schools in Qatar and brought in their students.
“A key aspect of our strategy is to figure how to develop relationships between teachers and students out of school,” explained Howail, whose two children were also part of the event, “Through Night at the Museum, we found them so happy and so deeply engaged with the activities. I really haven’t seen the children so happy before.”
As a measure of how the various museum staff works as a cohesive unit, 30 volunteers of MIA were on field, slugging out through the dusk and beyond.
“We are very happy that the entire staff worked with us for this, and the children had a blast,” said Rizk, “We are also trying to show the children and the schools how excited we are to host such an event and we want to hold more of these for the children and the community of Qatar.”
Interestingly, the purpose of this event — to encourage children to think outside the box and to get them to experience something new — is what lies at the heart of MIA’s entire summer programme, loaded with exciting events and educational activities.
The educational activities on offer this summer, for instance, include talks and tours, family activities, library activities, activities for schools, calligraphy workshops and art workshops.
