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Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Information, The University of Sharjah and The American University of Sharjah, the Sharjah Museums Department (SMD) hosted the 4th ICCROM ATHAR workshop, entitled “Making ATHARnet effective, Making Conservation Relevant – Towards a Professional Body of Conservation Professional Specialists in the Arab Region”, which took place from 28 to 30 March 2011 at the Sharjah Archaeology Museum.
The workshop aimed to establish a regional body of qualified professional conservators and specialists, and to make conservation sustainable and relevant, as well as to emphasise the importance of delivering educational programmes that make museums relevant to young people, including children aged six to 11, scholars and teenagers.
Over 100 participants from 20 countries took part in the workshop, including representatives of regional and international organisations and institutions such as ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property), UNESCO, ALECSO (Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation), the Association of Arab Universities, EuroMed Heritage Programme, ECCO (European Confederation of Conservators Association), ICON (Institute of Conservation, UK), GCI (Getty Conservation Institute, USA), UCL (University College London, UK), as well as national institutions and universities from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE.
Dr Mufid Samarai, Senior Advisor at the Sharjah Research Academy (SRA) and Technical Coordinator of the ATHAR workshop, praised the wise policies of HH Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in establishing a cultural database to develop cultural heritage through a strategic plan, a decision whose results can be seen in the many accomplishments in the field of cultural heritage. He added that Sharjah has established a plan to conserve and protect cultural heritage through careful planning, implementing relevant policies, supporting related projects, providing valuable suggestions to local authorities, and organising workshops, seminars and conferences to develop and enhance activities related to cultural heritage.
SMD Director Manal Ataya stressed the strong need to improve the relationship between professional education and practice in the realm of cultural heritage conservation, saying, “This workshop underscores how, thorough collaborative effort, cultural professionals who have recognised the gaps in the field of practice and education can make recommendations to make a positive difference.” She emphasised that SMD created and distributed education packs for historic houses, which were well received by teachers and have proven extremely helpful both in preparing lessons and ensuring learners get the most out of their experience when visiting the museums.
SMD is currently working to produce a handbook for teachers that focuses on school programmes that are directly linked to the school curriculum. Education specialists across Sharjah have reviewed all the books that are currently being taught in schools to find clear links that would fit best with the emirate’s museums. In the long term this will raise school attendance that are linked to school curriculum and therefore raise awareness of the importance of considering heritage conservation as a career.
SMD has also been working with children aged six to 11 to teach them about heritage, art, conservation, and history. This has been very successful and attendance has increased from around ten family members in 2007 to almost 50 bookings for this year.
“This workshop, along with numerous other activities being supported by SMD and the Sharjah Research Academy, provides an important platform to discuss the necessary links between practical heritage conservation and youth education. The collaborative effort will allow for a focused dialogue between primary and high school educators and those working in the field of heritage and cultural preservation, which we hope will result in the identification of concrete steps forward”.
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