2025-03-13 12:28:20

We are proud to announce the launch of our new online exhibition:
THE TABLE IS SET: Food Traditions and Legacies in the Islamic World .

and invite you to join our
International Online Press Conference
on Tuesday, 25 March at 11:00 AM CET (London 10 AM, Doha/Istanbul 1 PM, Oman 2 PM)

Here the link to join on PC, Mac, iPad or Android https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83427094737 (no registration is needed!)

During the press conference we will present the exhibition from different perspectives starting with its curatorial concept, the artefacts and monuments on display, the cooperation with our Partners and the experience of the team that was in charge of the elaboration of the exhibition. We will speak also about the background of a new definition of museums and about the new opportunities that online exhibitions offer for our Partners and for our Visitors.

Speakers
Adriano NAPOLI, Islamic Art Curator, Museum of Civilisations, Rome (Welcome)
Michael H. FABER, President AVICOM
Eva SCHUBERT, Chair and CEO, Museum With No Frontiers
Dina TURKIEH (University of Leicester), Curator, ‘The Table Is Set’
Nael CHAMI (La Sapienza University, Rome), Curator, ‘The Table Is Set’
Moderation: Mehmet KAHYAOGLU (Yasar University, Izmir), Curator ‘The Table Is Set’

In cooperation with AVICOM – ICOM international committee for audiovisual, new technologies and social media

Under the patronage of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, UNOAC.

This exhibition by Museum With No Frontiers explores the Islamic world through its rich food and culinary traditions. It aims to deepen understanding of Islamic culture and promote cross-cultural dialogue.

What sets this exhibition apart is its unique international team of individuals from different cultures and backgrounds, a microcosm of the Museum With No Frontiers’ culturally diverse contributors.

Food is a basic human necessity that can unite or divide, foster peace, or spark conflict. It is not merely a means of survival, but a reflection of cultural identity, personal preferences, and the dynamics of social, political, and economic power.

In regions where heritage is under threat, highlighting the culinary traditions of the Islamic world reinforces cultural pride and resilience. It provides a platform to foster tolerance by illustrating how foods transcend borders, reflect shared histories, and encourage coexistence.

In today’s globalised world, food culture serves as an ambassador, capable of wielding soft power to bridge divides and bring together opposites. This exhibition celebrates food’s universal language, emphasising its role in shaping identities, preserving heritages, and promoting understanding across cultures.


New MWNF online exhibition: THE TABLE IS SET: Food Traditions and Legacies in the Islamic World

2024-08-10 13:56:07

With the official acceptance of the United Nations last year, the Republic of Turkey will now be referred to as the Republic of Türkiye on international platforms.

On the MWNF website the name has been replaced in all Country listings but remains unchanged in other texts published till today. From now on, the new name will be used consistently everywhere.

Turkey's name changed to Türkiye

2023-08-21 12:01:37

Doha, Qatar, 5 June 2023

Under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, Museum With No Frontiers (MWNF) launched a new online exhibition platform with a live event in Doha co-hosted by the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum. The launch event included a panel of ten cultural institutions who already have an existing partnership with Museum With No Frontiers, brought together to discuss an array of potential uses for the new online platform. These debates ranged ranged from education and exhibition programming to interaction with physical exhibitions. Representatives in attendance included cultural organisations from Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, in additional to a number of dignitaries, ambassadors, local and international media representatives.

The presentation of the new platform was based on a demo exhibition titled “The Use of Colours in Art” that enables users to scroll through themes and digitally interact with collections on a faster, more dynamic system. The new, very visually appealing platform provides MWNF with the tools to smoothly guide audiences as they uncover history and art.

MWNF has an almost twenty-year history in developing and managing virtual exhibitions. The biggest achievement of this new online exhibition platform is its innovative technical solution, like the use of automated templates. Such developments minimise resources spent on programming and allow MWNF to devote more time to developing high-quality content alongside its international network of cultural partners.

Virtual exhibitions and programming are not new to MWNF. Founded in 1995, MWNF has built popular and wide-reaching online museums and galleries through strong collaborations with world-renowned sites and museums. Projects to date include “Discover Islamic Art”, “Discover Baroque Art”, and “Sharing History”, as well as MWNF Galleries where the material is sorted by medium or type of object such as “Discover Carpet Art” or “Discover Glass Art”.

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced an industry-wide shift towards digital & virtual cultural activities. While physical exhibitions have hit the ground running once more, there is still growing demand placed upon cultural institutions by audiences across the globe, who expect to have access to educational and artistic resources at their fingertips. This was the motivation behind MWNF’s desire to develop its new online platform: as a response to the situation the heritage industry finds itself in.

The new online platform is an extension of the Museum’s pioneering approach – collaborating with local experts and focusing on local priorities to combine their interpretation of artifacts and monuments with the cultural and historical context. With the new platform in place, MWNF intends to achieve the following goals:

- Create international exhibition projects that all Partners join with the same possibilities.
- To promote internationalisation, primarily in the elaboration of curatorial concepts
- To make the results of research accessible and enjoyable to a larger audience.
- Improved visual formatting, making educational content more appealing.
- The development of exhibitions for specific educational groups, focusing on age-appropriate information for different levels of schooling.
- The chance to use virtual and physical exhibitions side-by-side, increasing their potential audience or improving the experience of visitors to physical spaces.
- Providing opportunities to young people and students in relevant fields, allowing them to understand the process of creating exhibitions & the possibility virtual space provides.

Museum With No Frontiers (MWNF) launches new online Exhibition platform.

2022-11-02 23:15:17

Since the launch of the Discover Islamic Art online museum in 2005, the MWNF database includes an important collection of Islamic glass. Artefacts made of glass from the Baroque period and the 19th century were added within the Discover Baroque Art and Sharing History projects. Building on this unique resource, MWNF has launched the Discover Glass Art Gallery, which constitutes the only multinational online resource dedicated to Glass. Many new Partners joint on the occasion of the celebrative year 2022 and Partners from previous projects expand their presence in MWNG with new Glass material. Currently, Discover Glass Art displays material from Ancient Rome to the present. The collection continues growing and will be developed further also in the coming years. To learn more click here.

MWNF’s Discover Glass Art Gallery on the occasion of the UN International Year of Glass 2022

2022-11-02 23:13:08

The newest title of MWNF’s Islamic Art in the Mediterranean thematic travel guides is dedicated to Algeria. Five Itineraries, each organised in three days, allow discovering Algeria’s fascinating heritage across the country. From a sumptuous palace in Algiers to a hand-built dam in the highlands, from an adobe house in a remote valley to a whitewashed minaret in the plains, the guide takes the reader to places that document diverse cultural movements and their enduring monuments. Each site is described and illustrated, and side trips and scenic detours are suggested.

We thank Barakat Trust for its support in the production of this book.

Algeria: An Architecture of Light. Islamic Art in Algeria

2021-07-09 18:44:14

The Monastery of Schlierbach, situated in Upper Austria, inaugurates a new phase for this thematic museum.

Thanks to the initiative of the Munich-based art historian Peter Jahn, who has enthusiastically cooperated with MWNF for many years and was in charge of the Austrian and German contributions to Discover Baroque Art, we were introduced to Gabriele Liechtenstein. An Austrian art historian and passionate about Baroque art, Gabriele develops the MWNF Austrian database further – starting with little known masterpieces in Upper Austria. All new monuments added to MWNF's Baroque database will also be available on Explore with MWNF.

We invite you to return regularly to experience the incredible additions.

Discover Baroque Art / Austria

Explore with MWNF / Austria

Inspired by the Austrian initiative, various Partners in Portugal are also determined to further develop their presence in Discover Baroque Art. Cristina Correia, MWNF Vice President, and our pillar in Portugal since the foundation of MWNF, is the driving force behind this expansion.

We look forward to welcoming more Partners in the near future!

NEW AUSTRIAN MONUMENTS FOR DISCOVER BAROQUE ART

2021-07-09 18:39:17

The new MWNF homepage, at a glance.

After eight years of service, a well-deserved retirement of MWNFs old homepage was in order.

With this update we hope to facilitate orientation and give more visibility to our online exhibitions and to the videos produced by our Partners. A brand-new section, Learning Resources, aims to encourage the educational use of the MWNF platform and will be a priority to develop in the coming months and years, in addition to the creation of new exhibitions. Additionally, MWNF Galleries and Explore with MWNF are now also accessible via the homepage – just like our Virtual Museums: Discover Islamic Art, Discover Baroque Art and Sharing History.

MWNF’s new homepage is the result of incredible teamwork that involved colleagues from around the globe – and we are happy to introduce you to the team that made this possible:

Neng MOHD, Singapore, created the overall design concept.

Eva WOO, San Francisco, took care of front-end development, significantly contributed to the design and is responsible for the shining final outfit of the homepage.

Rajith and Sunila (working at Preigo Fover Technologies), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (India) took care of database and virtual office updates and set up the API (Application Programming Interface).

Pascal HAVELANGE, Brussels, server administrator and mastermind of the MWNF database, guided the before mentioned colleagues and took care of IT quality control.

Sarah HÖNIGSCHNABEL, Vienna, MWNF content manager, patiently performed the countless tests needed for virtual office and design updates and addressed other related virtual office work.

Taylor DEAN, San Francisco, was of great help in selecting the randomly changing images and suggested important navigation and design improvements.

Many other colleagues, who, unfortunately, cannot all be listed individually, took care of writing and editing tasks, contributed to tests, regularly checked updates and shared their feedback.

Last but not least, Eva SCHUBERT, the founder and manager of MWNF, acted as the driving force and overall quality control during the entire process.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW HOMEPAGE

2019-12-16 16:25:02

To a large extend we are relying on volunteer resources and our team includes volunteers from all over the world. If you are interested in art and cultural heritage and if you have some time to dedicate, please get in touch with us at office@museumwnf.net.

There are many different ways to contribute to the work of MWNF. In the following some examples:

We regularly look for native-language translators to help with translations:
English to Arabic
English to Spanish
German to English
Spanish to English

If you are English native speaking and have experience in copy-editing, we will be happy to welcome you in our editorial team.

We are looking also for people who help us promoting the MWNF website via Blogs, by approaching relevant media, institutions, etc.

Our web team offers opportunities in the field of database maintenance, web design and web development.

Normally we don't offer curatorial jobs as all texts and images are prepared by our Partners. But if you are specifically interested in Islamic art, we can offer an opportunity in that field as well.

We look forward to hearing from you and remain at your disposal for further information.

Eva Schubert
And the MWNF Team
office@museumwnf.net

Get involved as a MWNF Volunteer

2019-12-15 14:49:40

Museum With No Frontiers promotes the knowledge of history, art and cultural heritage as a key to facilitate mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence.

Twenty five years ago we were the first to move the artistic legacy of Islam into the limelight of cultural policies with our "Islamic Art in the Mediterranean” travel books, followed by the creation of the “Discover Islamic Art” database, the only specialized multinational online resource.

If you like what we do, please consider making a donation. Also very small amounts make the difference.

Donations can be sent via PayPal to ‘management@museumwnf.net’ or can be transferred to our Vienna (Austria)-based bank-account:

Beneficiary Name: Museum Ohne Grenzen e.V
Beneficiary Bank Name: Erste Bank
Bank Address: 1150 Vienna, Austria
Account Name: Museum Ohne Grenzen
Account Nr: 292 5233 0400
IBAN-Code: AT28 2011 1292 5233 0400
Swift/BIC: BIC GIBAATWWXXX

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have further questions.

Eva Schubert
And the MWNF Team
office@museumwnf.net

Your support is vital and helps MWNF to remain independent as a free global online resource.

2017-12-10 21:29:00

We would like to thank our Jordanian Partners and, in particular, our colleague Mohammad Najjar, for their wonderful work in holding up the flag of hope and a vision for a better future.

In this context it is a great pleasure to share with you information about some of the activities that have been carried out recently by the Friends of Archaeology and Heritage (FOAH), focusing on education and awareness about cultural heritage in schools.

The MWNF Virtual Museums and website provided major references for all activities, in particular in promoting awareness about Jordan’s contribution to world heritage and history and facilitating understanding of local heritage and history within the wider regional context.

Training course Conservation and Management of Museum Collections
23 to 30 October, FOAH in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities (DoA)

The course covered the documentation, display, interpretation, conservation and storage of artefacts. It was attended by curators from the DoA, including curators from our Partner Museums in Amman, Jerash and Ajlun. Mohammad Najjar was one of the lecturers and Discover Islamic Art was presented as an innovative and successful example of interpretation through contextualisation and comparison.

The Friends of Archaeology and Heritage, Amman: A pillar of MWNF in Jordan

2017-12-10 21:24:54

This is a weekly activity (Fridays), carried out with the financial support of the Sustainable Cultural Heritage through the Engagement of Local Communities Project (SCHEP).

The aim is to demonstrate especially to the younger visitors to the Park why heritage is important and why we should preserve it. Through cooperation with local professional performers, messages on the significance of cultural heritage preservation were communicated to the children through simple and accessible short stories. The programme was successful and every week new faces were seen alongside those who had attended previously and had returned to listen to another story.

For the preparation of stories relating to Jordan’s Islamic history, story tellers were encouraged to refer to MWNF’s Discover Islamic Art Virtual Museum and Virtual Exhibitions.

Heritage story telling for visitors to the Cultural Village at King Hussein Park in Amman

2017-12-10 21:23:11

The Friends of Archaeology and Heritage is running this project in cooperation with six schools in Amman. The aim is to communicate the concept of cultural heritage preservation to schoolchildren by encouraging them to establish archaeology clubs in their schools. At present the FOAH team is working with the teachers who will eventually help the children to establish the clubs and identify the activities (lectures, field trips and festivals).

So far, two workshops for teachers have taken place at the FOAH premises, including one for teachers of art history, history, and social studies on how to use the MWNF Virtual Museums and Virtual Galleries as teaching aids. The workshop was coordinated by Mohammad Najjar, shown in the picture presenting the MWNF website.

The dialogue with teachers provides an opportunity to discuss new opportunities for using the MWNF website as an educational tool, in light of the region’s recent history. Possible updates of the existing Learn with MWNF platform will be addressed as well.

Promoting awareness about cultural heritage among schoolchildren

2017-12-10 21:15:39

The MWNF Travel Books are researched, written and illustrated by local experts and convey history, art and culture from the country's perspective. The series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean features specific aspects of Islamic art in Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Syria, Tunsia and Turkey. The eBook edition includes an Index of Locations and is available on most online bookshops such as Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo, among others.

Click here for more details about the books.

MWNF Travel Books Islamic Art in the Mediterranean now available as eBooks in four languages