In Photos: Egypt, US launch Centralized Museum Repository Project

Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 19 Sep 2024

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in collaboration with the US embassy in Cairo and the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE) has launched a Centralized Museum Repository Project to support the implementation of the ministry's Central Information System: Data Rescue, Training and Needs Assessment Project.

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The launch of the project came at a cultural event in the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo.

The project is funded by a grant under the US government's Cultural Property Agreement Implementation Grant (CPAIG) and will be carried out in partnership with ARCE.

It aims to implement the ministry's Central Information System for antiquities museums, focusing on data documentation as well as training and needs assessment.

This initiative will support several key museums in Cairo, including the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo, the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in Bab El-Khalq, and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat.

The CPAIG is made possible through the US-Egypt Cultural Property Protection Memorandum of Understanding, which was initially signed in 2016 and reaffirmed in 2021.

The grant will increase the professional capacity of Egyptian museums' staff in documentation and collections management as well as information technology.

Furthermore, it will lay the groundwork for a centralized documentation and collections management system that can bring together objects in different antiquities museums through a one-search interface, thus guaranteeing the proper tracking and documentation of artefacts.

"The project is important. It aligns with one of the ministry's key strategic objectives, documenting and registering artefacts, creating a centralized system to connect museums' databases, and developing the necessary capacity for such efforts," Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Yomna Elbahar said.

In addition, she highlighted the ministry's ongoing commitment to protecting cultural heritage and adopting best practices in museum management.

"This project falls under the ministry's current process of implementing a comprehensive programme to open new museums and track their collections, throughout Cairo," Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Mohamed Ismail Khaled asserted.

He explained that the ministry would then expand the project to all Egyptian museums nationwide.

"Under an improved information technological framework, having a stronger collections management system would strengthen our capacity to document, monitor, and track all artefacts. Museums are scientific institutions, and one of the ministry's goals is to ensure their sustainability and efficiency in the long term," Khaled pointed out.

US Ambassador to Egypt Herro Mustafa Garg also highlighted the importance of preserving culture and history for future generations, saying that this partnership is not only about preserving the past but also about shaping a future where the cultural richness of Egypt continues to thrive.

"We look forward to continuing to partner with the Egyptian people and the Egyptian government to ensure that Egypt's rich cultural heritage is preserved and protected for centuries to come," She added.

"ARCE is very pleased to partner with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on this very important project to upgrade the Egyptian Museum databases and help them assess the feasibility of a central museum database,'' Executive Director of ARCE Louise Bertini said.

"Our continued collaboration with the Egyptian government contributes to the shared goal of cultural heritage preservation and advancing research on all aspects of Egyptian history and culture," Bertini affirmed.

The US government has invested over $140 million in cultural heritage preservation efforts in Egypt over the past 30 years. This includes more than $75 million through the United States Agency for International Development for projects implemented by ARCE, with work continuing in Sohag and Luxor.

Additionally, it has allocated more than $3.5 million through the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) for 17 projects in Egypt. These include two current restoration and preservation projects: Takiyyat Ibrahim Al-Gulshani and the Mausoleum of Sultan Al-Ashraf Qaitbay.

The US embassy in Cairo will solicit applications for additional sites in Egypt to be considered for funding through the 2024 CPAIG this November.