Sharjah Museums Department hosts pioneering SAWA Summer School for young museum professionals from Germany and the MENA region

Dubai, UAE, September 8, 2016:  Students from the Middle East and North Africa will, for the first time, take part in the second edition of the cross-cultural SAWA Summer School initiative, held at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization between September 3rdand September 8th. 

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 firstever intercultural Summer School held in Sharjah and Berlin in2015and2016 respectively.

Building on a unique  concept, SAWA, which means “together”, welcomesGerman, Emirati and-for the  first  time -MENA participants interested in  museum management and  museology  tostudy together and at the same time learn from each other’s experience and expertise. In the same cross-cultural spirit,the SAWA Summer School, istaught jointly by Europeanand Emirates-basedexperts.  

“SAWA is dedicated to sharing and exchangingexperience 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 Generalof Sharjah Museums Department,added “The SAWASummer School is the latest in SMD’s ongoing collaboration with Berlin State Museums and the Goethe-Institut  Gulf Region. With the second SAWA 2016, wenowbroaden its scope by inviting MENA as well as Emirati students to come to Sharjah to learn together in view of establishinga continuous program of SAWA summer schools basedboth in Sharjah and in Berlin.”

“The SAWA school provides museology students from the UAE and the wider Middle East and North Africa region with aunique opportunityfor  knowledge exchange with their peers that will aid their professional development. We are very pleased to be able to facilitate theseinternational 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 fromthe various fields together-practitioners and academics–to teach the students and young professionals,” 

Dr Ulrike Al Khamis, who helpsto conceptualizeand coordinate the summer school with the German colleagues on behalf  of SMD,added, “This pioneering summer school isaimed at fostering cross-cultural knowledge and awareness in the field of appropriate museology as well as  furthering professional developmentwith a clear and empathetic understanding of intercultural specificities."