Msheireb Museums hosted students, academics, media and other invited guests from key local Ministries and educational establishments to mark the 2016 edition of the global event held under the theme ‘Museums and Cultural Landscapes’.
Celebration of International Museum Day 2016 began with opening remarks from Hafiz Ali, Director of Msheireb Museums. Welcome speech was followed by a lecture delivered by Dr. Robert Carter, Professor of Arabian and Middle Eastern Archaeology at UCL Qatar, who shared his insights into the development of Msheireb and Doha with evidence from archaeology, oral history, maps and aerial imagery.
AEB’s GCEO and Chief Architect took part in the panel discussion on the challenges in adapting the heritage houses used by Msheireb Museums to make them suitable for the 21st century, including the methods of restoration, protection and conservation used to create ‘living heritage’.
International Museum Day has been acknowledged on May 18 since 1977, with more than 35,000 museums participating in 2015 across 145 countries. The objective of International Museum Day is to raise awareness of the fact that museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among people.