The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) is truly a world-class museum. From the iconic architecture by I.M. Pei, to the stunning display cases and innovative use of audio guides, this museum has it all.

MIA is a collection of masterpieces with many artifacts unsurpassed anywhere else in the world. Given their importance, the exhibition designers have taken an ‘iconic’ approach to display with each object given a prime position with exquisite lighting. This minimalistic approach draws deserving attention to the objects themselves rather than than text panels and this is where the innovative audio guides come in handy.

The audio tour is delivered through a touch screen hand-held device about the size of an iPhone with a wide range of additional digital material such as geographical tours of important cities of the modern and ancient Islamic worlds. There is no prescribed audio tour and the user is encouraged to choose the objects they are interested in. There are described by a narrator who brings in the international experts from the Smithsonian, the V&A, Stanford University (to name but a few) to discuss the importance and relevance of the object.

Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization

The museum is located by the water on the Sharjah Corniche and housed in a beautifully restored traditional Souk.  On entering the building, I was impressed by the use of space and light – there is a refined spaciousness similar to that of older Victorian museums. This spaciousness is coupled with well designed displays, good use of technology and beautiful cabinetry supplied by the world renowned Click Netherfield.

Unfortunately, I had less time in the museum than I would have liked but the following describes some of my personal highlights.

One of the galleries concentrates on Islamic contributions to technology, especially in the fields of cartography and horography. In it are numerous interesting working models of complicated mechanisms and devices.

Another gallery focuses on the importance of Mecca, the Kaaba and the Kiswah in the Islamic world. It includes some remarkable photographs of Mecca during Hajj with literally millions of people circling the Kaaba stone.

Timeline showing Islamic developments and developments in the rest of the world

One exhibit I found especially interesting was a timeline wall chart displaying major Islamic events and achievements along side those in other parts of the world. This is the first time I have seen this approach and in my opinion, it works rather well and should be used more frequently.

In conclusion, the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization is a must see attraction in Shajah and deserving of a journey from Dubai and even Abu Dhabi. There are more museums/galleries I’ve yet to see in the Sharjah Museums Department but this one will take some beating.

And the winners are……

1. louvre.fr (link)

2. hermitagemuseum.org (link)

3. vam.ac.uk – Victoria and Albert Museum (link)

4. rijksmuseum.nl (link)

5. mhs.ox.ac.uk – Museum of the History of Science (link)

6. culture24.org.uk (link)

7. si.edu – The Smithsonian (link)

8. nationalarchives.gov.uk (link)

9. museumstuff.com (link)

10. sciencemuseum.org.uk (link)

For the full article see – http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article7016077.ece

The museum’s six galleries are divided into the history of the bank; the history of the building; money; building societies; life assurance; and bank employees. These themes are used to look at topics such as trade, technology, design, crime and security.

Whilst the museum shares the building with the bank offices, it has a dedicated entrance and there is little sense of the museum and the bank co-existing.

 Major outbreaks of cholera in the city led to the Public Health Act of 1848, which gave local authorities responsibility for clean water and sewage disposal.

In 1855 a decision was finally taken to supply the city with water from Loch Katrine, some 26 miles away. This project became one of the outstanding civil engineering projects of the 19th century.

The Mitchell Library has put together an interesting display, with material from the Library Collections and Glasgow Museums – including the silver handle and chair used by Queen Victoria during the opening ceremony.

Good points

• Simple methods used to produce dramatic effect – the black cloth on the walls greatly accentuates the display cabinets.
• Display cases are fairly basic but succeed in giving life to the objects within.

Could work on

• Whilst the low lighting draws attention to the top-lit display cases, it makes the other objects in the room quite dark and hard to appreciate.
• The one piece of multimedia equipment in the room was not working.
• There was little signage within the library to direct you to the exhibition.

The Micro Museum (name is a reference to physical size rather than any aspects of the collections) is a great little museum space which interacts very well with the public areas around it. It is designed to illustrate two hundred years of health care delivery and to be of particular interest to the doctors and nurses of tomorrow. The Micro Museum is located within the impressive atrium of the Wolfson Medical School at the University of Glasgow and was opened in March 2009.

The first exhibition concerns a local country surgeon, James Bouglas (1798-1882) who became a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow in 1826. He then practised as ‘Surgeon and Pharmacie’ in the small village of Carluke in Lanarkshire until he died at the age of 84. There is a display of items from his early life as a student in Glasgow, followed by his work as a surgeon and as Medical Attendant to the Poor of the area. These displays are complemented by three multimedia presentations which allow the interested visitor to find out more about his life and times.

The Micro Museum is the creation of Dr. Marjorie Allison who inherited much of the memorabilia seen in the collection from her mother and father who in turn inherited it from the daughter of Dr. James Bouglas.

Multimedia Presentation (double click to start)

Good Points….

• Works very well with the public space - it looks appealing and draws in visitors whilst also being unobtrusive and not disturbing a very busy public area.
• Makes maximum use of the 15ft x 15ft space it occupies.
• It uses good signage and clear text panels.
• The multimedia elements are very easy to use.
• The bespoke display case is highly versatile and can be rearranged to display new collections materials.

Could Work On….

• Would benefit from more web exposure and additional promotion around the University.