Saadiyaat Cultural District Stand - Hall 8D 90
Is a focused panel discussion aimed at highlighting the crucial role of the Zayed National Museum in the cultural preservation and historical education of the United Arab Emirates. This discussion will feature insights from leading experts in museum management, archaeology, and cultural studies. The panel will discuss the museum's unique architecture, innovative curatorial approaches, and educational programs that connect the community with the UAE's rich heritage. This engaging session is designed to attract educators, students, historians, and cultural enthusiasts, offering a deeper understanding of how the museum honors the vision of Sheikh Zayed by keeping the nation's history alive for future generations.
Dr Peter Magee is the Director of the in-construction Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi. He also serves as Chair of the International Association for the Study of Arabia. He has over 25 years of experience in researching and promoting the cultural heritage of the United Arab Emirates and Arab world. He is the recipient of numerous awards for research and scholarship from universities and funding bodies in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In 2018 he was awarded the Sheikh Mubarak bin Mohammed Prize for Services to UAE Archaeology.
He has directed archaeological field projects throughout the region, beginning with excavations in the UAE in 1992. His work was initially located in the academic sphere, serving for 20 years as a Professor of Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, USA and prior to that in Research Positions in Belgium and Australia. Since 2015, he has focussed his career on Museums, Heritage Site-Activation and Public Education.
Dr Magee is the author of over 70 scientific publications including books by Harvard University Press and Cambridge University Press. His scientific papers have been published in the world's leading scientific journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; The American Journal of Archaeology; Antiquity, Archiv für Orient-forschung; South Asian Studies; Current Anthropology, Paléorient: Revue pluridisciplinaire de prehistoire; and Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy.
He is passionately committed to the exploration of history and archaeology from a community engagement perspective. He currently serves on the editorial boards of scientific journals. In 2015 he was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Nassra Hasan Albuainain is a museum educator and visual artist. After obtaining her Master’s degree from Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, she contributed to key cultural projects, including Louvre Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Backed by a diverse range of expertise spanning a decade in the cultural industry, she currently leads Museum Interpretation and Learning at the forthcoming Zayed National Museum. She advocates an audience-centered approach, considering museums to be social spaces designed for active engagement. Nassra is an alumnus of the Getty Leadership Institute NextGen: Executive Education for the Next Generation of Museum Leaders.
Louvre Abu Dhabi’s head of cultural engagement with extensive expertise and experience in Arts and Culture.
Attended Durham University in 2007-2008 graduated with MA in Photo Image and her thesis was on the Memory and the Photographic Archive.
A leader in the field representing the UAE in international platforms as an author and artist, art advisor and advocate for cultural dialogues.