Sharjah:The Sharjah Museums Authority (SMA) is geared up to organize its online conference themed “The Evolving Museum: Adapting, Learning and Exhibiting in the New Era”, bringing together more than 15 museum experts to share their insights on how museums are rethinking and reworking their spaces to provide a richer and more attractive visitor experience.

Taking place on December 14-15, the conference will highlight the role of museums in the formal education system and their influence in cultural diversity, as well as the display methods of museum collections in the 21st century.

The two-day event will also touch on how museums can turn challenges into opportunities, with a focus on their digital practices of exhibiting their collections via their digital platforms and how the audience reacted to the new digital museum experience.

The conference will feature seven sessions over the course of two days, during which museum experts will engage in discussions highlighting how exhibition design is transforming, what curatorial decisions are being made in their museums, and how they opted to take their collections into the digital world to create inspiring and intriguing museum experiences during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Additionally, the event will witness the launch of several outreach initiatives for communities and academic institutions that aim to help them learn about museum collections at anytime, anywhere, and even at the comfort of their homes.

An impressive cluster of museum experts from the UAE and beyond will take part at the event including experts from the American University of Sharjah, Sharjah Art Foundation, Barjeel Art Foundation, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Dubai Museum of the Future, and OliOli® Children’s Museum, Dubai.

Several museums from New York, namely the Museum of Modern Art, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Gallery London, will also participate in the conference.

The event will begin with an opening keynote by Manal Ataya, Director General of Sharjah Museums Authority, followed by a session titled “The Future of Museum Exhibitions”.

The session will examine how museums have been influenced by technological advancements and the role played by museum educators and curators in incorporating interactive display methods into exhibitions to increase audience engagement, as studies have shown that the new techniques have resulted in an increased visitor engagement.

Moderated by Frederic Gmeiner, Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah, the session will see the participation of Lāth Carlson, Executive Director, Museum of the Future, Dubai  and teamLab, Tokyo.

They will discuss how a unique experience created by interactive media and technology, is used in a physical exhibition space that complements objects and collections. It will also highlight the opportunities that are offered, and the challenges created.

The “Diversity in Art Exhibitions” session, moderated by Alya Al Mulla, Curator of Sharjah Art Museum, brings together Suheyla Takesh, Curator, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, and Ute Marxreiter, Curator of Education, Ethnological Museum and Museum of Asian Art, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, to share their experiences in creating diversity in art exhibitions.

The session will focus on diversifying museum collections and embracing modern approaches in creating interactive museum experiences and positive audience reaction in art exhibitions. The speakers will also tackle diverse approaches and methods adopted to ensure the historical and cultural diversity in museums.

Moderated by Maissa Al Suwaidi, Museums Services Manager at Sharjah Museums Authority, the third session titled “Touchless Experiences in Children’s Museums Post-Covid 19”, will spotlight on challenges and difficulties facing children’s museums when reopening during 2020 due to the current pandemic.

During the session, Amine Kharchach, Interpretation & Mediation Manager, Education & Cultural Engagement Department, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Purshotam Ramchandani, Founder and CEO of OliOli® Children's Museum, Dubai, will address issues of interactive experiences and how museums are adapting to make them more comfortable for the public, taking into consideration the health and safety measures for the entire family.

Day one will conclude with a session themed “The Digital Experience for Museum Audiences”, which will be moderated by Zlatan Filipović, Associate Professor, College of Architecture, Art and Design, American University of Sharjah.

The session will feature Chris Michaels, Director of Digital, Communications and Technology, the National Gallery, London, and Elizabeth Galvin, Head of Learning and Digital Programs, V&A, London, who will share the lessons learned from the digital experience and how museums are rethinking their post Covid-19 exhibitions and programming strategies due to the lockdown and social distancing protocols. 

The session will also touch on how many museums opted to offer a wide variety of digital experiences through virtual exhibitions and live learning sessions and training courses, leading audiences to access new opportunities that were not possible before due to time or location boundaries.

Day 2 will see three sessions, starting with the “Outreach Initiatives for Inclusive Museums” session, which will examine how communities living outside the tangible dimension of museums and art centers have become more immersed than ever in the intellectual offerings of their collections.

Moderated by Aisha Deemas, Director of Executive Affairs at Sharjah Museums Authority, the session will bring together Sheikha Noora Al Mualla, Director of Learning and Research at Sharjah Art Foundation, and Synthia Griffins, Curator of Social Practice & Partnerships, Tate, London, who will highlight how these approaches can have a positive impact on communities.

The second session themed “The Museum’s Role in Supporting Schools’ and Universities’ Curricula” will look into museums as non-formal educational institutions and how they have sought to strengthen their role in the formal education scene.

Moderated by Alya Burhaima, Education Department Manager, Sharjah Museums Authority, the session will feature Lisa Mazzola, Assistant Director, School and Teacher Programs, Education Department, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Alia Bin Musabeh Al Shamsi, Acting Cultural Programming Manager, Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The session will spotlight on the growing educational role of museums that are constantly engaging with students of all ages, which have proven to be a successful method and approach of today’s learning. It will also tackle how these experiences spark curiosity and enhance learning from museum collections to support school and university curricula.

The conference will conclude with the “Accessible Experiences for Diverse Audiences” session, moderated by Anijo Mathew, Head of Department of Art and Design, American University of Sharjah, and brings together Janice Monger, President and CEO at Staten Island Museum, New York, and Fatima Al Obeidli, Education Specialist, Accessibility Programs Division, Sharjah Museums Authority.

Speakers will emphasize the museums’ shared responsibility of making their dimensions accessible to all individuals from diverse backgrounds and needs, with a focus on the idea that allowing museum access for people with all abilities should not only be limited to facilities such as wheelchairs, elevators, and ramps, but extends to ensuring an intellectual access where everyone can enjoy a comfortable learning experience by engaging and enabling them to draw their own perspectives and conclusions.

To register to attend the first day of the conference

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0XZIuw68Su28ueE4rgP96w

Registration Day2:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iajeopSKRJ-CogAVNPnAjg

For more information about the conference and other SMA events, please visit https://www.sharjahmuseums.ae/en-US/WhatsOn