By Ross Jackson/Staff Reporter
The Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) celebrated yesterday the 35th International Museum Day with a conference highlighting the theme of this year’s event: “Museums in a Changing World. New Challenges, New Inspiration”.QMA also celebrated its new membership in the International Council of Museums (ICOM).QMA chief executive Mansoor al-Khater said: “With new challenges and new aspirations, we see everything changing on a political level everywhere in the world. The ICOM Qatar National Committee always strives to establish more museums that are specialised in most fields so that we can really have state-of-the-art technologies.“This is a way for us to be committed to our cultural role, so that we can develop our society and have the positive change that we need while we are really conserving our religious traditions that are based on the National Heritage.”Al-Khater added: “We know that our region, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, is one of the richest in the world on the cultural level, with some of the oldest cultures and civilisations in the world.“The development of museums in our region will help us conserve our rich culture and will be a way for us to explain … to give everyone an idea of how we contribute to international and world heritage.”Al-Khater has been recommended by the ICOM Qatar National Committee to be its next president.ICOM Qatar National Committee vice-chairperson Nasser al-Hammadi called on all Arab and GCC countries to join ICOM, as at the moment Qatar and Oman are the only members from the region.ICOM president Hans-Martin Hinz said that this year’s theme “is highly important in a time of rapid political and societal change in many parts of the world”.“While exhibitions about culture in the past, museums are in a position to help by offering perspectives for the future and putting visitors in a position to find answers to the movements and questions of the present,” he added.He emphasised that rapid societal change is nothing new, as the 19th century saw dramatic changes, especially in Europe, where there was a shift from agricultural to industrial societies, as well as the rise of colonialism worldwide.At the time, national movements led to the development of national museums, often in iconic buildings in the centre of capital cities.The ICOM president said that today we are seeing changes on a more global level than in the 19th century, in “labour markets, internationalisation of everyday life, migration for economic and other reasons, alongside massive and widespread political changes, including the end of the Cold War and apartheid, the emergence of new Democratic movements, as well as military conflicts in many parts of the world”.And there are similar reactions in cultural policy, with new historical and cultural museums beginning to be developed since the early 1980s, “followed by comparative discussions with structurally similar conceptions,” he said.The nature of museums has changed with the times, as “new museums present a multi-perspective view of culture and history, often accompanied by international comparisons with an increased focus on political history, while in most cases still using the means most common to museums – original historical artefacts”.Intangible culture is also growing in importance.Hinz said: “If museums want to foster mutual understanding, sustainable behaviour and better knowledge of the past of the respective nations and societies, as well as the culture and history of others, then it is important on the one hand to explain the history and culture of the country with its diverse population in terms of social, political, religious and other aspects.”He added: “On the other hand, it is important to reflect on the impact of the history of neighbouring countries and societies on one’s own development, and vice-versa.”“In recent decades museums have increasingly developed as a place in the reconciliation, and in some areas museums act as trend setters in this important field of work for societies,” said Hinz.Germany’s history of the Nazi era, Japan’s history of colonialism, South African apartheid and Latin America’s military dictatorships, as well issues like the slave trade are important subjects addressed in museums.Hinz added: “We are all impressed by museum development in the Arabian Gulf, especially here in Qatar. In less than one generation a fully-formed museum landscape has emerged – new national museums in the region, new art museums, presenting the history and the artistry of the region and the individual states as well world culture.”Other speakers at yesterday’s conference included ICOM Europe president Damodar Frlan, director of the Nubian Museum in Aswan, Ossama Abdel Meguid, and Chedlia Annabi, curator at the Museum of Carthage in Tunisia.ICOM established the International Museum Day to encourage public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society.ICOM has a network of over 30,000 members in nearly 140 countries, which facilitates the sharing of experiences with colleagues from different regions with different histories and cultures.ICOM has 31 international committees with a broad spectrum of themes, from museums theory to highly practical aspects of museum work, from educational work to management, and collection of documentation for all types and levels of museums.