DOHA: The Sheikh Faisal Museum recently organised its first mobile exhibition in a classroom at Gulf English School.
Twenty-three Year Five students celebrated International Museum Day with a Museum School Workshop, led by the museum’s Curator of Islamic Art, Dr Esameddin AlHadi.
They learnt about beautifully designed ceramic, silver and bronze historical household pieces used hundreds of years ago.
“Museums present our historical memory and show us what our ancestors used and why they used such things. Museums are important places for people to visit and learn about the past to get an idea of history. Our museum pieces can teach us a lot about art, culture and history,” said Dr AlHadi.
The collection comprised a glazed ceramic soup bowl over 1,000 years old; a bronze pestle and mortar for grinding coffee or spices over 300 years old; and a bronze incense burner some 300 years old, produced at a time when the incense trade was popular in the region.
Other pieces included a ceramic oil lamp over 1,500 years old; a bronze metal plate over 300 years old; a ceramic water bottle for travelling on horseback or by camel, nearly 300 years old; and an exquisite silver-coated bronze coffee pot, also 300 years old.
The children were asked to create their designs on a paper plate using materials such as markers, felt tips, crayons, chalk pastels, coloured pencils and water colour paints, incorporating patterns, lines and shapes.
The students were also given illustrated sheets on the exhibits and asked to describe them.
Dr AlHadi said: “The value for schoolchildren is that these museum pieces make them think about the importance of culture and art and bring history alive for them.
“Museums are important as they present and preserve our cultural heritage. With this workshop, we were creating a connection between the school and the museum to underline the museum’s interdisciplinary learning philosophy. By shedding light on historical and geographical attributes of the pieces, we hoped to underline the socio-cultural meanings behind our mini-collection,” he added. The Peninsula
