18 May 2021
In celebration of International Museum Day, Bahrain Culture Authority Launches, Two Initiatives to develop children and teens’ knowledge and creativity
The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, keen to emphasis on the central role played by museums in cultural and knowledge exchange and developing mutual understanding, cooperation and peace between peoples, celebrates the International Day of Museums, which falls on the 18th of May every year with this year’s theme, "The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine”. Bahrain Culture Authority has, indeed, launched two initiatives that are intended to involve the local community, children and adolescents in particular, in acquiring knowledge and cognitive skills and use them creatively.
In the first initiative, the Bahrain National Museum succeeded to develop an interactive educational game called "Dilmun Burials" targeting children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 12 to explore the burial rituals in the ancient Dilmun burials and learn about their content. This game focuses on identifying the types of burial mounds and classifying artifacts from the collections of the Bahrain National Museum. This free game can be accessed easily by visiting the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities website, culture.gov.bh. It can also be downloaded on Apple and Android devices.
In addition, the Bahrain National Museum is also launching a community initiative in cooperation with a local educational institution to organize a project that explores the traditions of pearling in Bahrain and draws inspiration from the Pearling Path project in the old city of Muharraq. This project invites children and adolescents between the ages of 8 and 16 to create a presentation consisting of drawings, models, or handicrafts on the ancient pearling profession in Bahrain, with the aim of deepening the understanding of this age category group for an important period in Bahrain's history. The final presentation of the project will take in the Pearling Path Visitors Center, and the deadline to receive participations and entries is December 31st , 2021. Participants are invited to register via BACA’s official website. In addition, Bahrain National Museum has opened its doors to receive its visitors free of charge from 16 to 21 of May 2021 as part of its celebration of the International Day of Museums, which is celebrated also by more than 129 countries in almost 32 thousand museums around the world.
International Museum Day was officially established in 1977 with the adoption of a resolution during the ICOM General Assembly in Moscow to create an annual event "with the aim of further unifying the creative aspirations and efforts of museums and drawing the attention of the world public to their activity." International Museum Day was meant to convey the message that "Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples." Every year this organization chooses a separate theme and coordinates it. Some of the themes focus on globalization, indigenous peoples, bridging cultural gaps, caring for the environment, etc. On this day, since 1977, every year all the museums of the world are invited to participate and promote the role of museums in the world by organizing several activities that are focused on the theme. However, it is essentially important also to remind everyone that the museum, though it plays an important role in preserving and promoting our cultural heritage, collects and preserves our objects and materials of religious, cultural, and historical value, but it should be also regarded as a cultural and enlightenment lighthouse that paves the way for historical national achievements.
