The National Museum and Smithsonian Institution launch a series of Seminars on Museum Administration and International collaborations on loan collections

The National Museum, represented by the learning centre, in collaboration with the US Embassy in the Sultanate of Oman and the Smithsonian Institution – the world’s largest museum and research complex and the United States’ preeminent cultural center – launched a series of (3) seminars.

Those seminars focus on museum administration and international collaborations on the loan of collections to Omani museum professionals, scholars, and university students during the period (December 13-15,2022 CE).

Dr. Paul Michael Taylor, the curator for Asian, European, and Middle Eastern Cultures, and Director of the Asian Cultural History Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, will lead a team of experts to share new research, museum technologies, and insights to advance cultural studies at museums and historic sites in Oman.

The seminars run by Dr. Taylor and Matthew Arnold, the Program Manager for the Smithsonian’s Asian Cultural History Program, covered topics including “Facilities Reports and Loan Agreements for Smithsonian loans” and” Philanthropy in Museum: Museum Fundraising and Modes of External Funding for Museum Programs” which related to the Oman Vision 2040 goals including “monetisation, fundraising, and commercial aspects” of the museum field. They will also host a roundtable discussion which focuses on the International Collaborations and Planning for the Future, this is an open discussion about ways the ideas expressed during the first two seminars.