23 July 2018
The State Hermitage in Russia hosts the Sultanate’s celebration of the Renaissance Day entitled (Oman Day) and the inauguration of the first international exhibition between the National Museum and the National Records and Archives Authority
As part of the Memorandum of Understanding between the
National Museum of Oman and the State Hermitage of Russia, coinciding the celebrations of the Renaissance Day, the city of Saint Petersburg
hosted a number of cultural events in relation to the Sultanate under the name
of ‘Oman Day’ at the State Hermitage on Monday 23rd July 2018.
The Omani delegation was
headed by His Excellency Dr. Hamad bin Muhammad al-Dhoyani, Chairman of
the National Records and Archives
Authority and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Museum, and included
His Excellency Yousef bin Issa al-Zadjali,
the Sultanate’s Ambassador to Russia, Jamal bin Hassan al-Moosawi, Director
General of the National Museum, and Rahma bint Qasim al-Farsi, Director General
of Museums at Ministry of Heritage and Culture.
Participants
from the Sultanate in the event included the National Museum, Ministry of
Heritage and Culture, Ministry of Tourism, National Records and Archives
Authority, the Royal Oman
Symphony Orchestra, and the Sultanate’s Embassy in Russia.
The event
included many activities such as a theatrical performance at the Hermitage
Theater, a welcoming speech by Professor Dr.
Mikhail Piotrovskiy, General Director of the State Hermitage, a speech
presented by Dr. Hamad bin Muhammad
al-Dhoyani, on behalf of the Omani delegation, on the Omani-Russian relations
in the diplomatic, cultural, tourism and economical aspects.
An academic seminar was also
organised in which Jamal bin Hassan al-Moosawi, Director General of the
National Museum gave a presentation entitled ‘The National Museum in the
Sultanate; a 21st century Museum’ in Russian, Dr. Alexander Sedov,
Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Academy of Sciences in
Moscow presented a paper entitled ‘Sumhuram: a historical port at the edges of
Dhofar Governorate’, Professor Alessandra Avanzini, Chair Professor
of Semitic Philology at the University of Pisa, presented a paper entitled ‘The
Archeological Site of Sallut; the Heart of Oman’, and Dr. Efim Anatolievich
Rezvan, Deputy Director of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and
Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, presented a paper
entitled ‘The Archeological Excavations in Oman’.
The event included the launch of a UHD
film on the history of the Sultanate under the title ‘Oman: an eastern jewel, a
land of hope’ with Russian dubbing, a live quartet instrumental performance
from the Royal Oman
Symphony Orchestra, followed by the inauguration of the first international
exhibition between the National Museum and the National Records and Archives
Authority at the Apollo Venue in the State Hermitage lasting until the end of
September 2018.
The National Museum, established by royal decree in 2013 and opened July
30, 2016, is the Sultanate`s flagship cultural institution, showcasing the
nation’s cultural heritage from the earliest human settlement in the Oman
Peninsula some two million years ago through to the present day.
As a national institution with global outreach, the museum is dedicated to
ensuring Oman’s cultural heritage is understood and appreciated not only within
the Sultanate, but also internationally. Further, it aims to provide
opportunities for cultural expression, innovation, and the transfer of
traditional skills and knowledge from one generation to the next.
The museum is located in the heart of Muscat in a purpose-designed
building. The total area of the building is 13,700 square metres, including
4,000 square metres allocated for 14 permanent galleries – The Land and the
People Gallery, Maritime History Gallery, Arms and Armour Gallery, Aflaj
Gallery, Currency Gallery, Prehistory and Ancient History Galleries, Splendours
of Islam Gallery, Oman and the World Gallery, Intangible Heritage Gallery and
Renaissance Gallery, among others. A further 400 square metres are allocated
for temporary exhibitions.
The National Museum houses more than 5,500 objects and offers 43 digital
immersive experiences, a fully equipped Learning Centre, state-of-the-art
conservation facilities, a UHD cinema and discovery areas for children. It
features an integrated infrastructure for special needs and is the first museum
in the Middle East to adopt Arabic Braille script for the visually impaired. It
also houses the region’s first open-plan museum storage concept, where visitors
can learn about the various processes that artefacts go through before they are
put on display.
It’s worth mentioning that the State
Hermitage in Saint Petersburg is one of the largest museums in the world
showcasing 3 million artefacts, as well as being one of the oldest museums in
the world. The museum has international dependencies in Amsterdam,
London, Las Vegas and Ferrara.
The Hermitage is known for the
massive size of its 5 buildings and the collections of global and local
artists, and is considered one of the main tourist attractions in Russia.
There are 2300 museums in Russia
exhibiting almost 80 million artefacts, 50 thousand libraries with more than a
billion publications. The staff of the State Hermitage are 1500 persons; 160 of
them are scientists and experts in arts and archeology. Almost 5.3 million people
visit the Hermitage annually; its buildings contain 350 galleries showcasing 15
thousand paintings, 12 thousand statues, 600 thousand artefacts, more than a
million coins, guns and medallions, and tens of thousands of ancient Christian
icons.