World Museums Day celebration opens Monday in Egypt

At the National Museums of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC), the Ministry of Antiquities is to celebrate World Museum Day through a seminar on the latest museological techniques and training.

Elham Salah, head of the museums sector, told Ahram Online that during the seminar opening ceremony, Minster of Antiquities Mamdouh El-Damaty is to give awards to museums that exerted exceptional efforts to transform themselves into museological institutes beyond presenting Egypt's heritage.

These museums are the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo, the Luxor Museum, and the New Valley Museum in Gharga Oasis.

Salah announced that an amount of LE3,000 provided by the International Committee of Museums - Egypt (ICOM) is to be awarded to the restoration departments of the Grand Egyptian Museum and the NMEC, while similar amount is to be given to the Alexandria National Museum, Suez Museum, and the Museum of Modern Arts.

Salah pointed out that three permanent exhibitions are to be inaugurated to highlight the aim of this year's celebration, entitled "The Museum is a Sustainable Community."

This title, Salah explains, underlines how Egyptians since the Pharaonic age through to modern times look forward to sustainable stability based on reason, science and creation.

He pointed out that all museums would be open for free for Egyptian tomorrow, to celebrate World Museums Day

Mahmoud Elhalwagy head of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir said that a documentary showing restoration works carried on several objects in the museum would be screened and a replica of Tutankhamun's mummy is to be put on show in the museum garden to welcome visitors.

Racha Kamal, head of the Children's Museum, told Ahram Online that the replica mummy would be used in a workshop for children to teach them the ancient Egyptian mummification process.

CULTNAT (the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage, an Egyptian cultural centre affiliated with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina) offered these museums the Culturama for their three month-long exhibitions.

Culturama is a cultural panorama over nine screens, the first ever patented nine-projector interactive system. It is an innovative harmonised mix of cultural and natural heritage information, using an informative and attractive multimedia programme and the latest display technology.
  http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/130481.aspx
17/5/15
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