MENA students join SAWA summer event in Sharjah

Sharjah / Emirates Business

Students from the Middle East and North Africa will, for the first
time, took part in the second edition of the cross-cultural SAWA Summer School initiative, held recently at
the Sharjah Museum of Islamic
Civilization.
A joint collaboration between Sharjah Museums Department, Goethe-Institut Gulf Region, Staatliche Museen Berlin – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and
University of Applied Sciences
(HTW Berlin), this year’s SAWA event is a follow-up to the successful first ever intercultural Summer School held in Sharjah and Berlin in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Building on a unique concept, SAWA, which means “together”, welcomes German, Emirati and — for the first time — MENA participants interested in museum management and museology to study together and at the same time learn from each other’s experience and expertise. In the same cross-cultural spirit, the SAWA Summer School, is taught jointly by European and Emirates-based experts.
“SAWA is dedicated to sharing
and exchanging experience and ideas in appropriate museum studies across continents and cultures and to encourage mutual learning,” explains Dr Gabriele Landwehr, executive director of the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region.
Manal Ataya, Director General of Sharjah Museums Department, added “The SAWA Summer School
is the latest in SMD’s ongoing
collaboration with Berlin State Museums and the Goethe-Institut
Gulf Region. With the second SAWA 2016, we now broaden its scope by inviting MENA as well as Emirati students to come to Sharjah to learn together in view of establishing a continuous program of SAWA
summer schools based both in Sharjah and in Berlin.”
“The SAWA school provides museology students from the UAE and the wider Middle East and North Africa region with a unique opportunity
for knowledge exchange with
their peers that will aid their professional development. We are very pleased to be able to facilitate these international programmes and look forward to further collaborations
in the future.”
Regarding the content and ethos of the SAWA Summer School, Dr Susan Kamel, who teaches Museum Studies at the HTW Berlin and is the academic programmer of the summer school, explains, “This term, three modules will address areas of
appropriate museum studies such as ‘Participative Strategies in Collecting and Documenting the present’, ‘Curatorial Strategies’ and the ‘Development of an Interpretational Plan for an Exhibition’.
“We brought experts from the various fields together – practitioners and academics – to teach the students and young professionals,”
Dr Ulrike Al Khamis, who helps to conceptualize and coordinate the summer school with the German colleagues on behalf of SMD, added, “This pioneering summer school is aimed at fostering cross-cultural knowledge and awareness in the field of appropriate museology
as well as furthering professional
development with a clear and
empathetic understanding of intercultural specificities.”