UNESCO organizes 2nd webinar on Museums, Sustainable Development in Egypt

18 / 08 / 2020

• conferences
• news

The UNESCO Regional Bureau for Sciences in the Arab States organizes the Second Webinar on Museums and Sustainable Development in Egypt and Sudan within the framework of UNESCO Priority Africa and ResiliArt Dialogue.

The event – due to be held online in Alexandria on September 5 – is organized in tandem with  the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST).

In 1960, at the request of the Egyptian and the Sudanese Governments, UNESCO launched the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia that were threatened by the rising waters as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The campaign successfully mobilized not only voluntary contributions from 50 member states but also the teams of archaeologists and experts who carried out excavations in the threatened areas.

During this 20-year campaign, a total of 22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated with the assistance of UNESCO. This includes the Abu Simbel and Philae Temple in Egypt. Some temples in Nubia were also re-erected in the garden of the Sudanese National Museum (SNM) in Khartoum according to the same orientation of their original location surrounding an artificial strip of water that symbolizes the Nile. Mural paintings from the Faras Cathedral dated between the 9th and 13th century detached during the International Campaign are exhibited at the SNM.

The successful rescue of the monuments of Nubia, however, was not the end of the story. UNESCO worked to assist the Egyptian authorities to build two museums, one in Aswan and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo. The establishment of the Nubia Museum in Aswan was completed in 1997, and the opening of the remaining Galleries at the NMEC in Cairo is imminent.

The Webinar will provide the opportunity to learn updates on the museum development projects in Egypt and Sudan, their achievements, progress, as well as challenges and opportunities within the framework of UNESCO Priority Africa and ResiliArt Dialogue.