The embroidered bedroom slippers under a canopied four-poster bed

Tag : arabian slippers
Museums evoke a host of associations, primary among them beingabout man-made spaces that impart ideas and knowledge throughartefacts representing heritage, culture and endeavour.

However, all over the world, museums are now moving away from beingoverwhelmingly variegated, passive spectacles and arere-interpreting the way they present knowledge to visitors.

The attempt is to make museums as much spaces of directcommunication and interactivity as places of documentation andpreservation.

Bait Al Zubair, or House of Zubair, is one of Muscat’sleading museums showcasing Omani heritage. It displays the AlZubair family’s private collection of artefacts that rangefrom khanjars to costumes and jewellery to prints.

The museum comprises three sections — the Bait Al Bagh, orHouse of Garden, the Bait Al Dalaleel, where Dalaleel refers to theneighbourhood in which Bait Al Zubair is located, and the newlyopened Bait Al Oud, or The Grand House.

A fourth section is under construction. Built in 1914 by Shaikh AlZubair Bin Ali, the Bait Al Zubair was opened as a museum in 1998by Bin Ali’s son, Mohammad Al Zubair, who is the EconomicAffairs Adviser to Sultan Qaboos Bin Said.

Apart from housing what is considered to be one of the finestprivate collections anywhere, the Bait Al Zubair has significantlyredefined the museum experience for visitors by employinginnovative features.

In the museum’s gardens, one can see recreations of Omaniarchitecture and culture such as a falaj (irrigation channelindigenous to Oman), a coastal barasti dwelling, a shop in a souk,a fishing village complete with beach sand, boats and brightlycoloured wooden doors, and a restored townhouse, the Bait AlDalaleel, which allow visitors to experience Omani culture atvarious levels.

The Bait Al Zubair provides visitors — new and those familiarwith Oman — with a thoroughly researched and curated culturalexperience; it seeks to extend these ambitions further with itslatest wing, the Bait Al Oud.

Rare glimpses of grandeur

The new gallery was opened on March 26 this year on the occasion ofthe tenth anniversary celebrations of Bait Al Zubair.

Apart from a large temporary exhibition hall that has alreadyhosted several exhibitions, the Bait Al Oud’s new gallerieson the first floor include early maps, charts, models of boats andnavigational equipment, and typical “Muscati”furniture.

The galleries on the second floor display rare images includingearly prints of the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa, and earlyphotographs of Muscat and key people in Oman’s history.

Sarah White, arts adviser and manager, Bait Al Zubair FoundationLLC, and her team have been actively involved in the supervisionand execution of this new wing over the past few years.

“A museum is a storehouse of knowledge, and a modern museummust demonstrate a social relevance and use,” she said,adding that a museum should be a permanent institution in theservice of society and its development.

“Thanks to the leadership of His Excellency Mohammad AlZubair and family, the museum team is encouraged to promotepositive change, and initiate cultural exchange and dialogue.

"We are constantly working on new projects and exhibitions,following [the Al Zubair family’s] mission to promote,preserve and present Oman’s rich cultural heritage as well asestablishing it as an exciting destination,” White said.

The collections at the Bait Al Oud had never been exhibitedearlier. Prior to being exhibited, the collections were documentedand researched, and the team formulated a concept forinterpretation.

“His Excellency Mohammad Al Zubair and Ms Suhailah M AlZubair were very much involved [in] all stages and this collectiveeffort has received much praise. We had several brainstormingsessions to ensure ... the best results,” White said,describing the ideation and execution process.

For over ten years, local and international museums were studiedin-depth to understand what visitors wanted and how to ensurequality care and service, she added.

The Bait Al Oud building, which showcases facets of Omani heritage,does not function merely as a shell that displays various things;it demands instead to be engaged with as a cultural entity in itsown right.

The Bait Al Oud was inspired, White said, by the grand houses ofMuscat with high, vaulted ceilings, internal courtyards and stainedglass windows.

“It was designed to reflect a residence bearing the same namethat was the birthplace of Shaikh Ali Bin Jumah, a senior trader inthe country and close adviser to Sultan Thuwayni Bin Said andSultan Turki Bin Said in Oman, and Sultan Bargash Bin Said andSultan Majid Bin Said, rulers of Zanzibar,” White said.

The original residence was located within the walls of Muscat, justbehind the Bab Al Kabir (Muscat’s main gateway).

It was, however, demolished in the 1940s to provide more space forvehicles to access the royal palace.

The Bait Al Oud pays homage to its predecessor as well as thebuildings of that era. Further, old, restored pieces of furniture(such as mandoos), doors, windows and mirror frames that dot thehallways, function as fascinating visual experiences.

While visitors can enjoy these visual experiences, the new wingaims to also provide a nuanced understanding of Oman’svarious cultural and historical contexts through carefullypresented information that accompanies the items on display.

“We are always conscious of our audience and want to make iteasy for them to assimilate knowledge through our collections; inthe map room, [for instance,] we [have provided some historicalinformation] on map-makers and the importance of maps,” Whitesaid.

Similarly, in the prints room, there are various types of printswith their depictions and representations of Muscat.

These indicate a multitude of perspectives and sources over thecenturies: Some of the examples include the Omani Family (c 1870AD), Omani Shaikh (c 1860 AD) and Male Dress in Muscat (c 1860)that have been printed in Britain, France and Germany.

“We felt it was important to provide information not justabout dates of the images but the technical aspects of how theywere produced [so as to educate visitors on various print-makingtechniques],” White said.

In the old photographs gallery, too, visitors are providedinformation on development of the technology over time.

The gallery has cameras from the 19th and 20th centuries ondisplay. The insights into the progress of technology make thevisitor aware of the rapid transition from prints to photographs,and the many developments in photography itself.

One of the most popular galleries has furniture on display. Themajority of furniture in this collection, carefully preserved,belonged to the late Shaikh Al Zubair Bin Ali.

“The collection represents the cosmopolitan lifestyle andsophistication of typical Muscat residences from the 18th to 20thcentury,” White said, adding that this may be the onlycollection of the period available, as the majority of them weredestroyed or lost.

The collection provides valuable insights into the culturalinfluences of those times that had an impact on the wayMuscat’s elite lived.

“It was common for Muscat residences to feature importedfurniture and porcelain. The furniture often came from England,bound for markets in India. [From India] it was often re-exportedor copied by the local artisans and sold in the markets ofMuscat,” White said.

The historical, sociological and cultural significance of thefurniture collection notwithstanding, what is equally significantis the meticulous attention paid to the manner in which thefurniture has been arranged in the display — be it theembroidered bedroom slippers under a canopied four-poster bed, thehalf-open cupboards revealing iridescently hued garments or theimmaculately laid out tea-table.

The overall effect on the viewer in this carefully cultivated spaceis akin to what one experiences in a theatre while anticipating thearrival of actors.

The black-and-white photographs featuring the very same furniturein the display vivifies the past, easily allowing the viewer toimagine the furniture as it was in use, rather than a seeminglyinanimate object.

“Furniture relates to everyone at every level — madefor humans by humans; people have described our furniture displaysin all the three sections of the museums as ‘timecapsules’. They make the past a reality,” White said,dwelling upon the reasons for the section’s popularity amongvisitors.

“Furniture expresses many things such as culture and status;people are always interested in other people and how they live— be it in the past, present or the future,” she said.

Such displays function as a window to the past, creating a feelingof a great affinity with the visitors. An Omani remarked aftervisiting the gallery that he was amazed to find that the museum wasable to obtain and display furniture that brought back fondmemories of his childhood.

Viewers visiting the old-photographs section also feel nostalgic;it has early black-and-white photographs of Muscat taken over a100-year period from the mid- to late-1800s to the mid- tolate-1900s.

The display also includes images of key figures in the history ofOman — progressing through the reign of Sultan Faisal BinTurki to Sultan Said Bin Taimur.

The range of photographs is as varied as the hues of imagesthemselves, which graduate from black-and-white to sepia to grainycolour.

“Modern Omanis are fascinated by these photographs and spendtime seeing the who’s who [of the past] with a great sense ofnostalgia and pride,” White said.

Apart from obvious symbolic and nationalist significance of theimages for the Omanis, the section also demonstrates the power ofphotography to effectively transport its viewer to bygone eras.

One image — of a man dressed in a blazer, hat and dishdasha— stands out for its clear depiction of the cosmopolitaninfluences in the ways of dressing, similar to the influencesevident in the furniture display.

“We need to understand the past to understand thefuture,” White said.

“But as fashions change and technology advances, the past isforgotten. These images therefore reveal a lot more than the peopleand the places; they display the sophistication and tradition ofthat past which has helped [shape the present].”

The new wing has been received favourably by Omanis as can bewitnessed by the rush of visitors, including long-time residents aswell as tourists.

“Many people have called to congratulate us on our new wing,the exhibits, the interpretation and the building itself,”White said.

An Omani woman said she felt she had taken a voyage back in time— indicating the nature of her personal engagement with themuseum.

Some European guests remarked that the displays were world-class:The travellers’ quotes and historical information brought theexhibits to life.

Kudos from the fraternity

The museum fraternity was all praise for the Bait Al Oud.

Invitees of the British Council for a museum management seminar anda team of museum professionals from the United Kingdom —including those from University of London Museums and the BritishMuseum — who visited Bait Al Oud prior to its officialopening, were impressed by the quality of the exhibits and the wayin which these were interpreted, White said.

Well-known Muscati educationist and writer, Dr Patricia Groveswrote: “What sets [the] Bait Al Zubair and its new wing apartis not only its objects of historical interest but also thecuratorial quality of the exhibition.

"The Bait Al Oud exhibits have been designed not just toinform but to communicate with a range of viewers.”

Many museums are working towards reinventing themselves as spaceswhere visitors are encouraged to actively participate in thelearning process and Bait Al Oud certainly invites the visitors todo that, providing them [with material for thought] while they areat the museum and even after they have left.