17 January 2023
The National Museum hosts conference titled “Oman in Photography” in collaboration with the French Embassy
The National Museum represented by the learning Centre, in collaboration with the French Embassy in the Sultanate of Oman, hosted today the conference titled “Oman in Photography: A Scenographic Experience Through the Lens of Omani and French Photographers”.
The conference was attended by Her Excellency Veronique Aulagnon, Ambassador of France to the Sultanate of Oman, and a number of those interested in photography. Members of photographic societies, students and teachers, professionals and amateurs’ photographers, reputed and emerging visual artists attended the event.
For his part, Dr. Abdulmonam bin Mansour al-Hassani, the former Omani Minister of Information and founder of the Photo Society of the Sultan Qaboos University, at the beginning of the conference, he touched on the stages that photography went through in Oman from 1970 CE until today.
The conference included a discussion session in which a number of photographers from the Sultanate of Oman and the French Republic participated, namely: Dr. Genevieve Galliano, Chief Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon, the French photographer Mr.Ferrante Ferranti, the photographer Mrs.Reem al-Shaikh, and the photographers Mr.Mahmoud al-Zadjali and Mrs.Israa Al-Balushi from the Stal Gallery.
The conference was accompanied by a mini-exhibition of 8 artworks selected by the artists for an inclusive experience of the audience.
It is worth noting that the conference, offering a global panorama on the art of photography as it is practiced nowadays, described the experience of French and Omani photographers in capturing the heritage, landscapes, archeological sites and soul of Oman. It allowed the public to understand the scope of the art of photography in the region, its challenges, needs and prospects. Building bridges between French and Omani photographers works, reputed and emerging, the conference raised the questions of identity, memory and legacy.
Hosting the conference came within the framework of the museum and cultural collaboration between the National Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon and the French Embassy to the Sultanate of Oman, which resulted in the holding of the “Fragrant Journeys” exhibition at Bayt Greiza during the period (October 17, 2022 - May 7, 2023).
In preparation for the second phase of this collaboration, the French Embassy invited the French photographer Ferranti to photograph landscapes and archaeological sites in the Sultanate of Oman in order to define the context of the museum display of Omani artifacts to participate in the exhibition that will be launched by the National Museum at the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon, starting in May 2023. Then in the National Museum in 2024 CE.