27 July 2021
“Masterclass for Museum Professionals, Scholars, and Students Boosts Oman’s Cultural Institutions”
The National Museum and the Smithsonian Institution – the world’s largest museum and research complex and the United States’ preeminent cultural center – are collaborating in launching a series of six lectures on 21st century curatorship for Omani museum professionals, specialists and students to boost Oman’s cultural institution starting July 27th, 2021, and continuing throughout the end of the year.
The lectures are hosted by Dr. Paul Michael Taylor, an anthropologist who is Curator for Asian, European, and Middle Eastern Cultures, as well as Director of the Asian Cultural History Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. He will lead a team of experts to share new research, museum technologies, and insights to advance cultural studies at museums and historic sites. Under Dr. Taylor’s leadership, the Asian Cultural History Program has hosted “Heritage” projects focused on research, exhibition, collection improvements, virtual engagement, and international outreach and training in various regions of the world.
The first lecture was held on Tuesday, July 27th, titled “Visitor Services: Greeting, Ticketing, Crowd Management and presented by Dr. Paul Michael Taylor. He will also present four follow-on lectures on (1) The History of Representing Cultures in Museums and Cultural Centers, with an Introduction to the Smithsonian; (2) Virtual Exhibitions, and other Museum Uses of the Web; (3) Program Development: Developing Dynamic Programming and Visitor Engagement; and (4) Activities of a Modern Museum or Cultural Center: Thriving in the 21st Century. In addition, a sixth lecture will be presented regarding the Exhibition Development: A case study on “Money as Material Culture: Collections and Curation at America’s Money Museum” by Douglas Moud from the Money Museum in Colorado, in the United States.
This initiative, by the US Embassy in Oman, focuses on visitor management, exhibition development, cultural preservation and virtual exhibitions. Previously, the U.S. Embassy facilitated similar training opportunities by sending specialists from the National Museum, the National Records and Archive Authority and what was previously the Ministry of Heritage and Culture to the United States for a multi-week International Visitor Leadership Program.