Sharjah Museums Authority’s (SMA) Director General Manal Ataya has been awarded the Order of Merit by Germany in recognition of her outstanding efforts to enhance the cultural exchanges between Germany and the UAE.

 

The award was conferred on her by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. German Ambassador to the UAE Ernest Peter Fischer presented the award during a ceremony held at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization on February 16.

 

Ataya received the order in recognition of her decade-long commitment and efforts to strengthen the cultural and intellectual links between the UAE and Germany since the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between SMA and Berlin State Museums in 2013.

 

The long-standing collaboration has successfully resulted in organizing three major exhibitions titled “The Radiance of Islam, Early Capitals of Islamic Culture, and ‘Crossroads: Cultural Exchange between the Islamic Civilization, Europe and Beyond’ that showcased exclusive artifacts that were curated by SMA in collaboration with Berlin State Museums. 

 

Another major collaboration that ran parallel to this is the SAWA Museums Studies program, a unique initiative of its kind that was launched in 2015 by SMA in cooperation with Berlin State Museums, Goethe-Institut Gulf Region and the University of Applied Sciences (HTW Berlin) for students of museums studies and young museum professionals.

 

The program, which is funded by SMA and Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offers participants an opportunity to learn together about diverse museology disciplines through theoretical and practical seminars at renowned museums in Berlin and Sharjah. 

 

SMA has won the “Best Cultural Collaboration” in the International Leading Cultural Destinations Award 2020 and the Humanities Award for ‘Promoting the Role and Value of the Humanities in Research, Education and Society’ from the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) in Berlin, for its innovative SAWA Museums Studies program. 

 

“I am extremely honoured to be awarded with the Order of Merit of Germany which I dedicate to all my fellow colleagues here and in Germany for their support and hard work that made this partnership so pioneering and successful,” said SMA’s Director General.

 

She added: “I wish to thank His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in both the UAE and Germany and HE Ambassador Fischer, for all their continued support.” -TradeArabia News Service