The Museum of Islamic Art’s ‘Ambassador Programme’ concluded this week with a fitting tribute to students from secondary schools across Qatar for their dedication to research.
The programme forms part MIA’s continued focus and commitment to educating society about the arts, heritage and creativity.
In a statement, MIA said the programme, launchwed in October 2016 under the patronage of Qatar Museums chairperson HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, sought to introduce young generations to the culture of museums and promote their creative skills through active participation in cultural programmes.
The programme saw MIA reach out to a number of schools from around Qatar to introduce students to MIA and its different departments, including conservation, exhibitions and art education.
Following an in-depth introduction to museum operations, each school chose a department within MIA that they wanted to research and get involved with through further meetings, library visits and tours of the museum.
Participating schools included Ibn Taymia Secondary School for Boys, Jordanian Community School, Al Karanna Secondary School for Girls, Saliyyah Secondary School for Girls, Saliyyah Secondary School for Boys, Audio Education School, Al Resala Secondary School for Girls, Al Wakra Secondary School for Girls, Sherborne School Qatar, Al Tamakon for Comprehensive Education School, Hassan bin Thabet Secondary School for Boys, the Lebanese School, Al Hayat International School, and Middle East International School.
The final stage of the initiative, held recently at the MIA Auditorium, saw school teams present their findings in a variety of creative formats to a panel of judges, which included representatives from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and MIA.
Prizes have been awarded to first, second and third place winners. Al Wakra Secondary Independent School for Girls bagged the top prize while Middle East International School took home the second prize and Ibn Taymir Secondary School for Boys came in third.
The winning teams demonstrated true passion for the project, putting together visually stunning presentations, according to MIA.
“One of our key priorities is to align with the school curriculum in Qatar and find creative ways to inspire students to consider the impact of art on their cultural heritage and daily life,”
Salem al-Aswad, deputy director, Learning and Outreach at MIA, said.
“The programme was a major contributor to that by encouraging students to improve their sense of responsibility and involve them in research to help achieve winning results,” he noted.
The MIA Ambassador event was sponsored by Seashore Group.

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