SAWA Museum Studies Program is a practical museological cross-cultural exchange program organized in Sharjah and Berlin with the aim to acknowledge differences and commonalities to inspire innovative museum practices. It serves as a platform for knowledge sharing and networking for emerging museum practitioners.
In Arabic, سوا – SAWA means ‘together’. This name was chosen to shed light on the collaborative nature of this Museum Studies Program. It is designed to bring together facilitators and participants in equal parts from Arabic-speaking countries and Europe, creating a diverse and inclusive learning space. Each module is led by a team of two museum experts, one from the UAE and one from Europe, providing a broad range of expertise and perspectives.
With a critical approach to the museum definition, the curriculum is jointly and continuously developed by all facilitators to meet the needs of a diverse group of participants working in various museum-related fields.
Learn more about the SAWA experience: Instagram | TikTok | LinkedIn | YouTube
The publication “Reflections on a 10-year Journey” was published on the occasion of the Conference “SAWA: A Decade of Cross-Cultural Museum Learning“. Hosted by the Sharjah Museums Authority, the conference took place on the 4th and 5th November 2024 in Sharjah, bringing together experts and Alumni to celebrate a decade of impactful cross-cultural learning in Museums.
The aim of the program is to enhance participant’s knowledge and competencies in two key areas: adapting museology to local conditions and fostering dialogue based on both similarities and differences among all participants and facilitators. The program begins with a non-discriminatory diversity training and a joint reflection on the history and role of museums in different societies.
SAWA’s purpose is to raise awareness of discrimination and privilege, diversify audiences, and broaden perspectives within museum practices. Together, participants and facilitators analyze the challenges museums face across different countries in the MENA region and Europe.
Appropriate museology is a core focus of the SAWA Museum Studies Program. It promotes a bottom-up, community-based approach to museum development and training, emphasizing that museum practices and strategies must align with local cultural contexts and conditions.
For the SAWA Museum Studies Program, it is essential that museums, as public institutions, reflect on prejudice and discrimination. Participants and facilitators work consciously to deconstruct their own biases and develop discrimination-critical strategies for new and appropriate museum practices.
In the SAWA Museum Studies Program, diversity serves as a guiding principle in creating a space where participants share their professional experience while also learning to accept a maximum of cultural differences and range of diversity.
Collaborative learning shapes how SAWA Museum Studies Program participants work in museums, present objects, provide information, and engage with visitors. The program’s long-term learning outcomes highlight what makes SAWA truly unique.
SAWA Museum Studies Program is a cooperation between SAWA Museum Studies Program is a cooperation between Sharjah Museums Authority, with the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Goethe-Institute Gulf Region, the University of Applied Sciences Berlin (HTW), and The Africa Institute, and the Global Studies University.
![Gsu tai+with line[1]](https://www.sawamuseumstudies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GSU_TAIwith-line1-1.png)
The project was funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung from 2016 until 2021.
The German Federal Foreign Office co-funded the project from 2021 to 2024.