Cultural Narratives in Transition: The Virtual Museum of People Project in Egypt

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Autor/s

 Ali Mahfouz

 ali_mahfouz55@yahoo.com

 FalconViz

Abstract:

Egypt has some active and inactive national and private Ethnographic Museums and Collections. They are: the small Ethnographic collection in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC), the Ethnographic Museum in the Geographical Association of Egypt in Cairo, which is currently closed, the Ethnographic Diorama Collection in the Scientific Collection in Agriculture Museum in Cairo which is temporarily closed, the Ethnographic Dioramas Collection in Nubia Museum Aswan, Animalia Museum in Elephantine Island in Aswan, and Mut Ethnographic Museum in Dakhla Oases. However, none of these institutions comprehensively represents the rich cultural heritage diversity encompassing all Egyptian ethnic groups.

Notably, the Ethnographic Museum in Cairo was stuffed with significant losses during the 25th of January 2011 Revolution, with many of its collections destroyed, extending beyond Egypt’s borders. Conversely, the Ethnographic Diorama Collection in the Agriculture Museum provides general insights into local areas, while the Nubia Museum and Animalia Museum predominantly focus on Nubian heritage. Similarly, the Ethnographic Museum in Dakhla Oasis concentrates only on the heritage and costumes of the national people residing in the five oases of the Western Desert. Finally, the Ethnographic collection in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) is limited to representing some traditional costumes with their jewellery.

This paper examines the current landscape of ethnographic museums and collections in Egypt, emphasizing their role in translating various elements of culture, including objects, people, traditions, cultures, folklore, costumes, dietary practices, music, and dance. It explores the diverse methods employed by ethnographic museums for this translation. Furthermore, this paper discusses efforts to devise innovative translation strategies within our proposed virtual Ethnographic Museum project, known as the “Museum of People”, which aims to encompass the material culture and intangible heritage of all the Egyptian ethnic groups.

Keyword:

Egypt, Ethnographic Museum, Ethnic Group, Virtual Museum, Museum of People.

Bibliografía

Norhan is a Dynamic Museum Curator with 12+ years of experience in Digital Documentation, Exhibition Design, and Heritage Management at the Egyptian Museum (on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites’ Waiting List). She is an expert with a Proven track record in EU-funded projects, and Multilingual teamwork. Her academic background is based on Archaeology, Egyptology, History of Art, and Anthropology.

She has worked in different specialities and positions since 2012. Currently, she is a member of the Technical Office of the General Director, in addition to being involved in designing and implementing permanent and temporary exhibitions and museum displays at the museum, including Developing the idea and scenario of the display, whether it is permanent or temporary, where she contributes to both creating the briefs, and the installations of them, as well as the interpretation materials (labels, panels, brochures, video films content, Facebook posts and so on). She also partakes in the Documentation and Registration works for “the Repatriated Artefacts” as she has a wide-scale knowledge of Registration, Documentation, Databases, Data Entry works, Heritage site management projects for museums and sites, in addition to coordinating the Cultural-Educational Programmes and Events that make the museum or site interact with other national and international organisations and audiences, through enhancing the role and the meaning of Community Engagement and establishing spaces for understanding the Intangible and interpreting the tangible Heritage. She has been involved in several projects running inside and outside the museum. From 2021 to the present, she has volunteered through the “Egypt Heritage Association”; she is the Head of Workshops and Training Programmes” because she finds these activities allow her to be involved with her colleagues from different governors, students, and the local community.