Doha: Qatar Museums (QM) is currently collaborating with schools to incorporate cultural heritage and preservation into the curriculum.
Chairperson of Qatar Museums, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, stated during a panel discussion on Heritage for Tomorrow on Thursday at the Art for Tomorrow conference in Italy that integrating cultural heritage education and preservation into curriculum is a way to inspire students to become interested in archaeology and ultimately become archaeologists.
“One of the most important things for us in the work that we do when it comes to cultural heritage and preservation whether it’s in Qatar or the [Middle East] region is the curriculum development in schools,” Sheikha Mayassa said.
“Right now in the north of Qatar, we have many archaeological sites and schools that are there don't have much to do in the area because it’s not as developed as the Doha, the capital. So, we’re working with the schools to develop the curriculum specifically in these areas where students can come and work on our sites, learn about archeology; [and we] encourage them to become archaeologists,” she explained.
The Chairperson of Qatar Museums also revealed on Thursday that there are over 9,000 archeological sites in the country of which they have been working with international missions to help excavate and find things.
Currently, Qatar Museums is providing students, teachers, and families with the chance to visit heritage sites and engage with archaeologists’ work through its Cultural Heritage Education programme.
Workshops include pottery restoration, tool-making, excavation, and field surveys, which teach participants how to excavate and correctly record finds. Aside from that, QM organises frequent field trips to heritage sites as well as lectures on various aspects of the discipline.
Sheikha Mayassa was among the three panellists during the said talk; others were Irina Bokova, former Director General, Unesco, and Chair, Democracy and Culture Foundation; and Andreas Görgen, Secretary-General, Federal Ministry for Culture and the Media, Germany.
She also discussed the protection of cultural sites in the context of conflict, stating that Unesco’s involvement at this period is crucial.
“In Sudan, we had a big project with 45 international missions, many of which were Europeans where we were working in the Nubian civilisation which predates the pyramids in Egypt and it was a very important project.. and with the current situation in Sudan, it becomes impossible to pursue such project and this is where I think the role of the Unesco becomes critical in terms of how you preserve heritage sites in times of conflict.”
The conflict in the Northeast African country began on the second week of April.
The Art for Tomorrow conference was founded in 2015, with its inaugural gathering held in Doha, and subsequent years - 2016, and 2017. It was hosted in Berlin in 2018; relaunched in Doha in 2021, and was held in Greece last year. The event explores the relationship between the arts and society, as well as the social and economic influence of culture. It will run until April 30.
