Sharjah Museums Authority celebrates International Museum Day with an online exhibition 

With audiences isolating at home, venues shutdown and events cancelled, Sharjah Museums Authority (SMA) is holding “Diversity in Times of Adversity” online exhibition to bring people together to appreciate the role of arts and creativity during a world crisis. 

On the occasion of International Museum Day (IMD) 2020, celebrated by museums around the world under the theme ‘Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion’, SMA marks the day by inviting young talents to submit their artistic creations to be part of a unique digital exhibition.

IMD has been celebrated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) since 1977 with a different theme every year to highlight museum issues in society with this year’s crucial theme corresponding to a worldwide health crisis. 

Realising how fundamental the role of creativity, art and design is in uniting people and helping them find solace during critical times and how vulnerable creativity can be amid sweeping lockdowns as a result of covid-19, SMA decided to open its digital forms for the public to share moments of creativity and solidarity.

Amateur young artists aged between 16-25 are invited to submit their artworks, musical pieces, poems, short films and videos that are responding to this year’s IMD theme and the global need for creativity during an international health crisis via the email address SocialMedia@sma.gov.ae before May 10,2020. 

Description in either English or Arabic languages of the submissions that are created specifically for this event, need to be filed along with a 50-word explanation of how the work relates to this year’s IMD theme. 

Selected contributions by a special committee from SMA will be shared through this specially curated digital exhibition.  

“At times of social distancing and museum closures, we continue to find ways to connect with the community virtually and engage them in our programs as we always did when our doors were open,” Manal Ataya, Director General of SMA said. 

“We have always been focused at providing our audiences with access to all SMA’s museums and programs, something that is at the heart of IMD’s current theme, and during these difficult times its very important we continue to do so via digital means.” Ataya added. 

For more information about the digital exhibition, important criteria for participation and how to take part, please visit www.sharjahmuseums.ae