MultakaOxford ملتقى أكسفورد
Multaka in Arabic translates in English to 'meeting point'. MultakaOxford aims to create volunteer opportunities and to use museums and collections as a ‘meeting point’ for bringing people together. The project is funded until September 2019 by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund.
MultakaOxford is being delivered jointly by the Pitt Rivers Museum and the History of Science Museum. It is run in collaboration with the local organisations Asylum Welcome, Connection Support Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme and Refugee Resource. Nuha Abdo from Syrian Sisters is the Community Ambassador. Volunteers are at the centre of the project.
The Multaka team of staff and volunteers are working with two collections: the Islamic scientific instruments at the History of Science Museum, and a recent donation from Jenny Balfour Paul of textiles from the Arab World at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Together they are researching, learning and discovering other perspectives about these collections. This wealth of knowledge and understanding is being added to the museums’ databases and is being shared with a wider community through multi-lingual events, tours, blogs and displays.
The project is inspired by Multaka: Museums as a meeting point, which is based in Berlin.
يهدف إلى خلق فرص التطوع للمهاجرين قسريًا واستخدام المتاحف والمقتنيات “كنقطة التقاء” لجمع الأفراد معًا
ملتقى أكسفورد هو مشروع ممول مادياً من صندوق ازمي فيربين كوليكشن حتى أيلول سنة ٢٠١٩
.سيكون هناك تعاون مشترك بين متحف پيت رڤيرز ومتحف تاريخ العلوم، جنبا إلى جنب مع منظمات المجتمع المحلي والجماعات الشعبية والأفراد
.ملتقى اكسفورد يهدف إلى إشراك النازحين في العمل اليومي للمتاحف من خلال خلق فرص عمل تطوعي شاملة وسيتم تمكين فريق المتطوعين لتقديم جميع جوانب المشروع – من أبحاث المجموعات الى المشاركة العامة
.ويركز المشروع على مجموعتين من مقتنيات المتحفين: المجموعة الاولى من الأدوات الفلكية الإسلامية في متحف تاريخ العلوم، ومقتنيات الثانية من المنسوجات المكتسبة حديثاً من الشرق الأوسط في پيت ريڤيرز
هذا المشروع مستوحى فكرته من مشروع ملتقى متاحف برلين: المتاحف كنقطة التقاء، والتي توفر الفرص للأفراد لإنشاء جولات في المتحف باللغة العربية عبر أربعة متاحف في المدينة. كلمة العربية تعني “نقطة التقاء” واهداف مشروعيأكسفورد وبرلين و هي إنشاء مكان يمكن للأفراد الاجتماع فيه وتبادل خبراتهم ومعرفتهم ومهاراتهم مع بعضهم البعض ومع الموظفين.
.ومن خلال ذلك، نهدف إلى تعزيز التفاهم وسرد الروايات والمشاركة فيما يخص مقتنيات المتحف، كذلك دعم المتطوعين في بناء الثقة واكتساب الخبرة العملية ودعم التكامل المجتمع
New Funding News November 2021
The award-winning MultakaOxford project has received landmark new funding. A generous £1million donation from Alwaleed Philanthropies will allow this innovative project at Oxford University's Pitt Rivers Museum and History of Science Museum to run for a further five years. The new five-year programme was announced at a signing ceremony attended by HRH Princess Lamia bint Made Saud al Saud, Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies, Professor Louise Richardson, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Professor Anne Trefethen, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM) at the University of Oxford, Dr Silke Ackermann, Directory of the History of Science Museum and Dr Laura Van Broekhoven, Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum.
Alwaleed Philanthropies are an international philanthropic organisation collaborating with a range of philanthropic, governmental and educational organisations across 189 countries to combat poverty, empower women and youth, develop communities, provide disaster relief, and create cultural understanding through education. For the last 40 years, their work has sought to innovate and foster a new meaning of peace and inclusiveness through education, art and conversational exchange through communities.
The funding from Alwaleed Philanthropies will enable the Museums to recruit, train and support a new team of 200 volunteers from across Oxfordshire to work with a range of collections - such as textiles, objects and material from the Photographic and Sound Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum and scientific instruments from the Islamic World at the History of Science Museum, as well as delivering events, leading tours and object handling sessions and co-curating displays sharing artefacts from the Islamic world.
Contact the team
Email: outreach@oum.ox.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1865 282 456
https://player.vimeo.com/video/367027243
About the collections
Researching and sharing knowledge about museum collections is an essential element of MultakaOxford. At the Pitt Rivers Museum, MultakaOxford is looking at a collection of textiles from the Arab world recently donated by Dr Jenny Balfour-Paul. The volunteers have incredible knowledge, understanding and connections to objects in the collections.
In the press
The project has gained coverage in the local, national and international press. Some of the coverage can be seen on the Gardens, Libraries & Museums website.
Most recently MultakaOxford was named winner of the 2019 Collections Trust Award at a ceremony on Thursday 12 September. The annual award recognises the often unsung achievements of those who manage museum collections. Read more about the award here.

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