week (1)

Introduction:

The first week was an introduction about interpreting cultures: A Consideration of Text. We started by telling different terms related to the “Museum” such as heritage, identity, messages, cultures, curators, history, stories, politics and art. We also discussed the idea of telling objects and how could the different narratives tell different stories from various perspectives about collections. also we discussed the reasons which may  prevent people from visiting museums.

Mieke Bal has started his chapter with a quotation for Karl Marks: “it is a definite social relation between men, that assume, in their eyes, the fantastic from a relation between things” this is emphasize the idea which compare narratives with newspapers reports. The “facts” always have been seen from one side and one eye,then the audience accepted it as the only “facts”. 

Reflections:

Lots of questions were raised from the introduction: 

•  What are the Saudi heritage collections? And at what point they became collections.

•   KSA is a young kingdom (100 years) and the society is moving fast towards the future that offers new life style. However, people are not aware of the value of their traditional heritage and the importance to collect different artifacts before they lose them. In this term, who are the responsible to collect and how “they” could start this process? And is it possible to create a link between visiting museums as a story of the past and looking forward to the future.

• There is a strong argument in KSA about the value of the heritage which were exist before the Kingdome united especially the aria are rich of historical sights. What is the government political position on these aspects of “non pure Saudi” culture. And what kind of meanings the stories might hold?

• The painting above for Deena Alfadl, she is a Saudi female artist. actually I don't know what is the real title of the painting. However,it seems to me  that it pictured the movement from the old city and the old life and leaving all the past behind...so, do we have to know the real intent of the artist in his work? or is it enough how the work could evoke the audience ?