Challenges and Unconventional Strategies

 

 

The Arab world is in the midst of a radical transformation process. At this critical juncture, perhaps more than ever, the region needs integrated, open spaces to discuss and set its future course. This future will not be decided solely by the current elites—even in the medium term, it will necessitate the participation of the younger, more technologically savvy citizens who are largely excluded from decision-making processes at present. 

 

Museums can play an important role in this transformation process. To find out what the status is of assuming this role, we discussed the goal and process of transforming Arab museums in line with the ambitious or perhaps even utopian "places for change” model with museum professionals from Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, and Germany. The development of Arab museums, it turns out, is not so much handicapped by the obvious technological challenges (related to skills and resources). Perhaps even more importantly, though, digital transformation efforts are often hindered by a lack of motivation and incentives to "rewrite” the national (past and future) narrative within a restrictive cultural and political context. This is sometimes combined with a general fear of losing control over the definition and interpretation of national histories and cultures at a crucial time when digitization is adversely affecting Arab societies in various ways (job losses, power shifts, …). Furthermore, in those Arab societies where the political and cultural climate allows museums to play a more assertive role, another problem has become apparent: In these often crisis-prone societies, culture has ceased to be a valuable instrument of the political class and is left to itself, often in a dire state, putting limits on the capacity to leverage cultural resources on the national and global stage and support societies. 

 

Thus, before becoming places of change, museums must change themselves. This reimagination can be achieved by piloting new combinations of modern tools and traditional institutions and events to reach new audiences. This broadly decentralized, experimental, and step-by-step approach should be augmented by an Arab museum platform that encourages exchanges of skill and experience between museums in the region with their specific needs and contexts. A flagship project that combines the skills and ambitions of agile Arab cultural professionals and institutions with the technological and financial capacities of Arab "prestige” museums could play a tremendous role in guiding and inspiring this process.

 

 

The expert discussions used as a source in this article focused in large part on the technical resources and capabilities needed to digitize Arab museums and their artefacts.[2] Investment in cultural institutions is often not seen as a priority in countries faced with existential economic, social and political challenges. However, in most cases, resource constraints were not held to be the biggest issue holding back digital transformation. Complications due to the political role of culture and attempts to control and influence it often overshadowed resource-related issues. Thus, although it is a technologically driven strategy, the digitization of museums quickly acquired a highly political connotation, described here as "cultural openness”: the possibility to reflect on and participate in culture freely, with limited explicit interference by the authorities. Along these trajectories, the issues, ambitions, and strategies of the different countries take different shapes. A mapping of the experiences in different countries along these two dimensions of "digital capability” and "cultural openness” yields the very rough matrix depicted in Figure 1. 

 

 

In this quadrant, museums are very much kept in their current model and roles by limited financial and technological resources but also by political limitations. Although digital knowledge is quite ubiquitous and widespread, especially among the younger generation, these resources seem to be difficult to operationalize. This might be linked to the absence of digital strategies and motivating success stories as well as a conservative management layer.[3] Accordingly, technical opportunities, although always somewhat limited, are not fully exploited and explained away by the rigidity of the cultural narrative.[4]  

 

Technological projects seem to focus on building sufficient databases for artefacts. But even this process faces difficulties, as cataloging requires renewed labeling that has a disruptive potential; it is therefore met with high caution and reluctance.[5] Added to this conservatism is skepticism towards the openness and participatory potential of digitization.[6] In Egypt, Al-Azhar University, for example, decided to take their manuscripts offline again because it feared their misuse.[7] 

 

Another set of obstacles has emerged due to the dominant western influence and the possibilities to "copy” digital images of artefacts and thus lose control of the narrative.[8] Considering this, institutions are reluctant to widely share even existing data and images. Projects with foreign partners that could help to address shortfalls in technological and financial resources are not always viewed positively. Paradoxically, this dependency on the West is not counterbalanced by a stronger cooperation and shared investment strategy among Arab (or African) museums.[9]  

 

 

This limited digital progress is also a feature in Arab countries that operate in a more open political and cultural climate. Of course, clear red lines also exist here.[10] But national structures are generally not able to dominate the cultural narrative the way the "Traditional heritage” model does.[11] However, in many cases, this openness does not seem to stem from a deliberate political choice but rather from a deterioration of national cohesion; a consequently weak state class is thus unwilling or unable to invest in culture.[12] This inability to use technology to enhance the potential of museums and to provide a much needed "public space” for societies in crisis must therefore be organizational in origin.

 

This paradox was already recognized by Adorno: "While culture suffers damage when it is controlled by politics, when it is left to itself, however, everything cultural threatens not only to lose its possibility of effect, but its very existence as well.”[13] The organizational issues are understandably rooted in weak civil societies exhausted by war, occupation, civil strife, unemployment and a self-privileging ruling class. This has severely damaged abilities to self-organize cultural expression.[14] Despite these limitations, this model also focuses on building databases to secure often endangered artefacts. But - in contrast of "traditional heritage” institutions - it is nonetheless able to use the digitized content more often to advance into open spaces by reaching out to new audiences and pushing the borders for civil society.[15] The fear of losing control of artifacts seems to decline as the advantages of attracting new target groups become clear.[16] Also, digitization seems to enable collaboration within countries and even the region.[17] 

 

To some extent, the Arab Gulf societies are already futuristic societies. Advanced modernity in this scenario is central, yet it is not supposed to interfere with the traditional culture. On the contrary, the comfort and wealth it produces paper over the civilizational cracks, including the tension between traditional values and the liberties of a wealthy global culture.[18] The prestige museum projects in the Gulf region are built to impress or even "cultivate” the local population so that they can re-align with the requirements of the future and could be already considered "places for change”.[19] However, perhaps even more so, these projects are also geared towards the (Western) foreign visitor as part of some sort of cultural diplomacy initiative, but in any case, they appear to have little connection to the local population and culture.[20]  

 

Because of the financial and technological potency of these museums they produce further effects: By buying and conserving Islamic art and mixing it with global artefacts, they generate a kind of pan-Arab or pan-Islamic sphere that differs from previous iterations in catering to global tastes. They can therefore also be considered islands - "foundations” in Asimov’s sense - for art in a tumultuous region. Another interesting observation is that these islands cause some kind of debate and criticism in their societies, which are usually not open to such discussions. Thus, a further - unintended and paradoxical - effect of these museums is that they can enable a more open debate about identity and cultural narratives.[21]  

 

 

The museum and society conceived in this quadrant do not yet exist in the region (and may not exist anywhere except as a general idealization).[22] However, it is plausible that institutions that are now "preparing for dissemination” of their databases would move into this direction. Certainly, the necessary self-confidence and technical capability is already present in some cases.[23] This does not mean that all museums must go in this direction.[24] But it could be argued that even the use of technology to enhance the traditional role of the museum (to protect artefacts) could contribute to the political discourse.[25]  

 

This move towards a more inclusive and participative museum platform could also be furthered by collaborating with island museums and utilizing their databases, technical experience, and resources to develop joint exhibitions. Thus, this quadrant could be a meeting point for technological capability and new concepts of a fluid and accessible culture that helps society to reflect on the options and effects of the societal transformation triggered by digitization.[26] 

 

 

Based on the possible trajectories of the different models, we derive some strategies and operational measures that could support these development paths.

 

 

One common thread in all discussions was that building a robust database for artefacts is the right and necessary thing to do, and that in fact many such efforts are under way.[27]  Museum need to digitize and archive their artefacts for immediate protection and recording. They also need to prepare for further steps that would allow or even require further dissemination of their content (sharing artefacts, uniting collections, etc.).[28]  This effort could be supported by a regional platform with a double functionality: 

 

This Arab "Cultural Wiki” may not only offer great potential synergies across participating institutions by leveraging and consolidating "Arab” capacities but could at the same time counterbalance Western dominance in this process and address fears regarding the loss of control over content that is regarded as a core part of a country’s national heritage.[29] 

 

 

Especially in countries with relatively few public meeting places, museums should prioritize the power of art and culture to literally bring people together. By building alliances with other cultural institutions and existing events, museums can reach perhaps more audiences. A joint and coordinated site or platform that functions as a cultural aggregator for (mostly) local/national audiences, cultural entities (private galleries and collections, music and film festivals) could include events and schedule news as well as online formats explaining/discussing featured artworks, from artifacts to songs. The tools used could be low-tech and include shared email distribution lists or social media channels like Facebook, which is an important tool in region. [30]  

 

 

While the aforementioned workstreams would prepare the digital ground and enable experiments with new technologies and narratives, there seems abundant space and options for at least one big pilot project that would demonstrate the huge capabilities and possibilities of the digital approach to facilitate broad cultural engagement. For this pilot to be effective, Arab museums from the "cultural island” and "digital basics” quadrants could cooperate and produce a joint venture that would also inspire other actors in the region.[31] For such a project to be successful and impactful, it would need to find an inspiring and motivating issue, not only on a national but on a regional if not global level. Although it might be extremely ambitious given the long history of enmity engendered by the Palestinian question, a museum of Palestinian identity could be a prime topic for a pioneering institution that uses cultural resources to foster an open discussion of a seemingly intractable geopolitical issue rather than silencing it.[32]  

 

 

Although museums are important civil society institutions, culture in general and museums in particular are currently limited in playing an active role in a time when Arab societies are facing fragmentation, economic challenges, and political stress. This is especially unfortunate, as culture could provide an important avenue for discussing the future shape of Arab societies using narratives, artefacts, and symbols that are deeply ingrained in these embattled societies. This role for museums as "places for change” that use technology to assimilate and adapt technology could be furthered by constructing a platform for Arab museums. This should enable digital exhibitions and share resources that could help to lay the digital foundation for their evolution. Furthermore, familiar formats such as festivals could be used as a context in which to experiment with new tools, and with collaboration among traditional and grassroots cultural producers. Additionally, a regional pilot project with a vision that encourages and guides traditional institutions across various regional geographies would do much to facilitate exchange and collaboration. 

 

 

 

[1] Personal communication, November 5, 2020.

[15] (C): "There is nothing shameful about being political.” 

[16] (E): "We don’t adhere to the belief that secrets are still secrets. Our heritage has to be exposed.”

[17] See, for example, the initiative to preserve photographs in the Middle East: http://MEPPI.me

[18] Al Qadiri, Fatima, & Al-Maria, Sophia. (2012) On Golf Futurism. Dazed Digital (14 November 2012). https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/15037/1/al-qadiri-al-maria-on-gulf-futurism (Accessed 5 February 2021).

[19] Maziad, Marwa. (2016) Cultivating the Citizen of the Futuristic State. In Representing the Nation. Heritage, Museums, National Narratives and Identity in the Arab Gulf States, eds. Erskine-Loftus, P., Ibrahim Al-Mullah, M., and Penziner Hightower, V., 123-140. New York: Routledge.

[20] Exell, Karen. (2016) Locating Qatar on the World Stage. In Representing the Nation. Heritage, Museums, National Narratives and Identity in the Arab Gulf States, eds. Erskine-Loftus, P., Ibrahim Al-Mullah, M., and Penziner Hightower, V., 27-43. New York: Routledge: 36.

[21] "There is a discourse of dissent surrounding the employment of western expatriates in the new museums in Qatar and the investment in these western-style projects, an anxiety that is illustrative of wider state-society tensions” (Exell, loc. cit.: 33).

[22] The German Futurium museum in Berlin is perhaps a first prototype: https://futurium.de/