Renaissance for downtown treasure trove?
Wafaa El-Sediq -- the newly appointed curator of the Egyptian museum -- tells Nevine El-Aref about her bold plans for the antiquity showcase's future
Wafaa El-Sediq
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Wafaa El-Sediq, only the second woman to be named curator in the 100-year history of the Egyptian Museum, plans to make the Tahrir landmark -- one of the country's most visited tourist spots -- much more user-friendly. Sediq's plans also aim at improving the museum's inner workings; she believes the "well being" of its keepers, inspectors and other employees "will reflect on the museum's status".
El-Sediq, who has been with the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) since 1983, previously headed its scientific department. Her PhD in ancient Egyptian antiquities is from Vienna University, and she has extensive experience in other archaeological and museum-related fields, some of it gained while working in Germany, where she also headed the International Union for Children.
El-Sediq told Al-Ahram Weekly that developing the museum does not just mean upgrading the building itself. "First of all, we must recapture the museum's traditional eminence as an educational and historical institution. We must give back the museum's inspectors the respect they deserve." According to El-Sediq, the inspectors have been stuffed in small, substandard offices, three to a desk, for at least a decade. Describing their frustration, she asked, "how can they be expected to do their ordinary work, or conduct scientific research, let alone rejuvenate the museum's activities?"
El-Sediq, whose own simple office is furnished in a pharaonic-inspired style, said that as soon as that particular human resource issue is settled, the museum plans to publish a periodical guide including news of the latest research conducted by the staff. She also dreams of publishing an archeological dictionary similar to that of the British Museum.
El-Sediq said she would be trying to build bridges between the Egyptian Museum and its counterparts around the world. Part of this will include participating in scholarship programmes hosted by international museums to train restorers and keepers in the latest museum techniques. "A few of these scholarships have already been implemented as part of the deals worked out when our antiquities are exhibited abroad," El- Sediq said. Two or three training placements are usually granted with every exhibition. El-Sediq said the cooperative efforts would also include an "exchange of scientific research and information."
Future museum visitors, meanwhile, can expect changes in the way objects are displayed. El-Sediq said she plans to remove many of the overflowing showcases scattered all over the museum's corridors, as well as provide more modern replacements for some of the older display cases. The interior lighting system used inside the showcases will also be upgraded, as will, in many cases, the display methods themselves.
More accurate information labels written in Arabic, English and French are planned for every object on display. A computerised documentation project for the museum's 160,000 objects -- including artefacts in storage -- is in the works, as is a project meant to protect and restore the century-old writings of early Egyptologists like Mariette and Maspero.
Space is also being made for changeable thematic exhibitions, some of which may feature artefacts borrowed from other local and foreign museums. El-Sediq hopes to organise shows featuring civilisations and societies as diverse as those of the Native Americans, the Japanese and the Mayans. She also wants to host the world-famous Lego exhibition, The Pride of Ancient Egyptians -- a multimedia Ancient Egypt- inspired extravaganza featuring 50,000 Lego pieces.
Other ambitious projects include building an annex with a scientific library, visitor centre and souvenir shops.
The most intriguing part of El- Sediq's plan, however, is inspired by her expertise in pedagogy and children's museological education. El- Sediq wants the museum to develop a special section where children can have unforgettable birthday parties featuring ancient Egyptian themes. The birthday boy or girl would be decked out in the costumes and jewels of Ramses II, Tutankhamun, Akhenaton, Nefertiti or Hatshepsut, while the guests would be viziers and high ranking officials. Before blowing out the candles, a tour of the chosen king or queen's treasures would take place.
