May 18, 2022
The American Center of Research joins in marking the 2022 International Museum Day (IDM), which was launched by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 1977 to acknowledge all the world’s museums and celebrate their value in the development of societies. With this year’s global theme, “The Power of Museums,” we feature how we have helped museums achieve sustainability for their local communities, innovate through digitalization and improved accessibility, and help build communities through education.
Through their collections and other displays, museums can express the identities of peoples in their local communities. They are rich sources of knowledge about the cultures and civilizations that have often had profound impacts on a country. Museums and their exhibits allow stories, heritage, and history to be shared internationally, as when foreign tourists visit or objects are loaned abroad. The power of museums extends far beyond their walls.
The American Center has recently supported several museum-centered projects, and today we share with you some of their success stories.
The first success story that we share is the support the American Center of Research gave to help establish the first natural science museum in southern Jordan, located at Al Hussein Bin Talal University’s College of Science.
The funding and technical support that the American Center provided to the museum has enabled them to display scenes of southern Jordan’s natural landscape, including its animal and plant life. Today, the Natural Science Museum contains a large variety of taxidermy mounts, rare plants, and murals that reflect the topography of southern Jordan.
Image: Ceremony of the Natural Science Museum at Al Hussein Bin Talal University’s College of Science. (Photo by Abed Al Fattah Ghareeb.)
The second success story we share is the American Center of Research’s support for the works of the Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project (MRAMP). This project will result in the first museum of its kind in Jordan. Part of it will be the archaeological site in the Western Madaba Archaeological Park known as the Burnt Palace.
This support has already produced many results, most notably intensive studies of the site, and also its development, restoration, and documentation. Plans and studies have been completed using advanced three-dimensional techniques to clarify the design of the building in its final form, and artifacts that may be displayed within the museum have been documented.
Image: Architectural Concept Design of the Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project by Studio Strati of Rome.
The third success story is support from the American Center of Research for the rehabilitation of the University of Jordan’s National Heritage Museum. Located on the university campus, this museum was established in 1986 to represent the lifestyles and activities of Jordanians in villages and deserts.
The project included restructuring the exhibition spaces and installing special monitoring devices for temperature and humidity control within the museum environment. Displays were also renewed, using current technology to provide the museum with interactive exhibits. Students have been involved, too, digitizing the museum’s objects and creating an electronic database of all its holdings.
Image: The University of Jordan’s National Heritage Museum. (Photo by Abed Al Fattah Ghareeb.)
All these projects have been successful and realized thanks to many partners, local communities, and volunteers through the American Center of Research’s USAID-funded Sustainable Cultural Heritage Through Engagement of Local Communities Project (SCHEP).
