Pamela Erskine-Loftus
A uniquely distinguished range of professionals, with senior experience of museums, the arts and heritage in the Gulf and beyond, contribute to Reimagining Museums, a groundbreaking 696-page guide to best practice in 'the world's economic powerhouse' - and the thinking and innovation taking place there which are of international importance. The Gulf States have activated the most explosive museum building boom per capita in history. And with it a fundamental rethinking of museums' role. Currently museums see themselves as a place rather than a process - but there is nothing inherent to the ICOM museum definition which requires a museum to function, engage, or operate in the way Western museums do... Economic growth in the Gulf States of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia is happening at extreme speed, with results both familiar and spectacular: ultra-modern cities, major new tourism destinations, and unprecedented global economic engagement through huge sovereign wealth funds investing worldwide. Mirroring this development, the last five years have also witnessed extensive and rapid growth in museum activity, with the regeneration of existing museums, the founding of major new ones, and the creation of international satellites. Reimagining Museums - now in this revised, colour edition - is the first book to examine the emerging - and innovative - globally-significant museum developments taking place in this fascinating and increasingly influential region. Ultimately its contents aim to inspire museum practice both in the region and around the world.
