WOMEN, MUSEUMS, AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE Author(s) : Carol Malt

WOMEN, MUSEUMS, AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE
Author(s): Carol Malt

Source: Journal of Middle East Women's Studies , Vol. 2, No. 2, Special Issue: Women's
Activism and the Public Sphere (Spring 2006), pp. 115-136
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/mew.2006.2.2.115
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/mew.2006.2.2.115?seq=1&cid=pdf-
reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Duke University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Journal of Middle East Women's Studies
This content downloaded from

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CAROL MALT 
115
WOMEN, MUSEUMS, AND

THE PUBLIC SPHERE
Carol Malt

ABSTRACT
As more women enter the museum profession in the MENA coun-

tries, they are using their influence as instruments of change to put
forward issues of women’s equality in museum programs, displays,
and publications and thus ultimately help shape the future image
and status of women.
T his paper documents the development and use of museums as agents

for women’s empowerment, specifically in Jordan and Morocco, and
how existing cultural frameworks and the physical facilities of museums
can and are being used effectively to benefit women culturally, politically,
economically, and personally. Also identified are relevant issues of pub-
lic/private space, employment, image reinterpretation, democratic so-
cialization, communication, global awareness, and gender equality. The
paper posits that because the societies of Jordan and Morocco are becom-
ing “feminized” due to women’s emergence in professional organizations
as civil servants, intellectuals, political activists, voters, and participants
in civil society, the traditional patriarchal structures of these countries
are being challenged. Also, due to the large number of women in posi-
tions of authority in the museum profession, women are beginning to
use their influence as instruments for change to put forward issues of
women’s equality in museum programs, displays, and publications and
JOURNAL OF MIDDLE EAST WOMEN’S STUDIES

Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 2006). © 2006

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
116 
thus ultimately help shape the future image and status of women.
This paper reflects both previous and ongoing research on muse-
ums and their importance as agents of identity, empowerment, and the
democratic process. It focuses on the women who founded, administer,
and support museums, and research that was conducted in every city,
town, and village with a museum or an art center, either public or private. I
investigated thirty-six museums in Jordan and twenty-nine in Morocco
and interviewed twenty-four women in Jordan and fourteen in Morocco.
In MENA countries, the establishment of museums largely resulted
from the development of economies and politics. Over time, these mu-
seums have begun to play a major role in shaping contemporary society,
national identity, and cultural representation. Museums in MENA coun-
tries may also now become instruments for the promotion of women’s
issues and the encouragement of women’s activism by using their global
resources for local benefit. Their support of women can include the op-
portunity to have a respected career in museum work and economic em-
powerment through the sale of products made by women. Furthermore,
they present to women culturally appropriate and safe meeting places
that encourage the sharing of ideas and promotion of intellectual and
social interaction between women of different demographic groups. Mu-
seum personnel can work with established women’s organizations, assist
in training for public service, and develop activities promoting awareness
of local women’s issues while linking internationally to mentors and pro-
fessional museum organizations.
Local women and women’s organizations can utilize the infrastruc-
ture of existing museums, museum exhibits, and museum collections to
develop and produce programs on women’s history and advocacy. Net-
working globally, MENA museums can use media, their own collections,
publications, and staff to develop programs showing a progressive image
of women in multifaceted contexts.
What international resources are available globally for women in
the museum profession that are relevant to or reinforce women’s equal-
ity? Numerous organizations exist such as the International Council of
Museums (ICOM).1 Based in Paris, the umbrella organization represents
the profession, sets standards, offers expertise, and hosts regional and af-
filiate committees, of which ICOMArab serves the MENA countries. One
such service is a newsletter focusing on relevant museological issues and

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
117
acting as a forum for the exchange of ideas. ICOM also hosts meetings in
different countries on a rotating basis, providing opportunities to discuss
topics, including women’s issues. Women in the museum profession, such
as Eman al Qudah (curator of the Folklore Museum in Amman, Jordan)
and Hafsa El Hassani (curator of the Dar Jamaï in Meknes, Morocco),
have voiced their opinions and described their projects through ICOM’s
publications (al Qudah 1994:165-6; el Hassani 2002:9). In addition,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) offers information, financial support, and networking oppor-
tunities for women in the museum profession (and their institutions), as
does the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization
(ALESCO) and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi-
zation (ISESCO).
Another global resource for women in the profession is the Inter-
national Partnerships Among Museums (IPAM), which offers exchange
opportunities for museum personnel in the United States and the MENA
countries. Jordan took advantage of this program by sending Siham
Balqar, then-curator of the Archeological Museum at Amman’s citadel,
to study at the Harvard Semitic Museum in Massachusetts (to date,
there have been no IPAM professional exchanges from Morocco). Many
embassies and consulates operate cultural centers (e.g., the Goethe
Institute, the French Cultural Center, the British Council, the Turkish
Cultural Center and the Spanish Culture Center) that present exhibitions
and sponsor training programs in their home countries as well as semi-
nars on museological issues. Online, in print, through personal contact,
and at conferences, women can benefit professionally and personally
through these organizations.
Museums can go from dusty, unused repositories of forgotten
objects of glory to vibrant centers for public interaction that do not
perpetuate stereotypes but instead promote culturally appropriate ser-
vices benefiting women. The key lies in reevaluating and reinterpreting
facilities, programs, and historic collections, as well as retooling their
purposes, promoting their spaces, redefining and increasing their audi-
ences, and renaming themselves as educators.
Are MENA museums and museum personnel taking advantage of
the many opportunities available? If so, how successful are they? If not,
how can they be encouraged to do so?

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
118 
MUSEUMS AND THE WORKFORCE
According to a 2004 report by l’Organization Arabe du Travail

(OAT), women represent 25 percent of the workforce in the Arab coun-
tries (2004:3). That number is estimated at 104 million women and does
not include the work women do as homemakers or in informal work
sectors. Statistics also confirm that a high percentage of MENA women
are employed in curatorial and administrative positions in the museum
profession, higher than in Western countries.2 Studies have shown that
women in Muslim countries appear to have a very low preference for
public-contact professions (Mujahid 1982), or occupations in which the
possibility for indiscriminate contact with male outsiders is highest. This
might reinforce the thought that women who work in museums are in
some way protected from public contact or that there is an aura of isola-
tion or exclusivity about their work. Perceptions such as “only nice people
come to museums, so it’s a career women are safe in” by Jafar Tukan
(December 21, 1998, interview), a Jordanian architect who has designed
museums, reflect the idea that there is an association of respectability
about museums, which is why women are attracted to them and Muslim
men consider them acceptable.
Why do women choose museums? Could it be the exclusivity? Or is
it a job description that seems tailored to suit women’s talents? Are there
few other creative employment opportunities for history, archeology, or
anthropology graduates? Is it because this work is perceived as a maternal
profession or as being noncompetitive with men? Do women see museum
work as a way to influence society or communicate their ideas about
women’s issues? Do activist women consider museums appropriate fo-
rums for debate? None of the women I interviewed in Jordan or Morocco
claimed to be political or suggested that their choice of profession had
been determined by women’s activism. Their awareness of the potential
for museums to promote women’s empowerment came after employment.
Administrators and curators in Jordan began to answer these questions
and point to some reasons for this career choice. “Museum work, it’s
a polite job,” said Manal Awamleh, Administrator of the University
of Jordan’s Archeological Museum (March 14, 1999, interview), while
a passion for history convinced Curator Eman al Qudah (January 15,
1999, questionnaire). Eman Oweis, Curator of the Jerash Archeological

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
119
Museum, admitted that “[i]nitially I wanted to study philosophy, later

history. I wanted to know more about the past” (April 2, 1999, question-
naire). Nayef Ghassous, Director of the Numismatic Museum of the
Jordan National Bank, added his perspective. “Working women are men
and ladies at the same time because of their obligations in the home and
workplace” (April 6, 1999, interview).
In Jordan, the development of museums has been a high priority
for the government. A museum has been established at every major
archeological site (with the exception of the desert castles). As of 2001,
twenty-four women had been involved in Jordan’s thirty-six museums
as curators/administrators, and more recently, Queen Rania has cham-
pioned the Children’s Museum in Amman. Morocco also has developed
its museums, begun to take advantage of the opportunities museums
can offer, and to consider them as part of the educational system. I have
identified twenty women who have been involved in Morocco’s twenty-
nine museums.
As in Jordan, female museum personnel in Morocco often referred
to their interest in history as one of the reasons for their choice of career.
But others, like Moroccan curator Zhor Amhaouch of the Sidi Moham-
med Ben Abdellah Museum in Essaouria, thought women chose the mu-
seum profession because “[m]useums are close to the reality of women.
Women understand the aesthetics of objects” (December 9, 2004, inter-
view). Patti Birch believed “[w]omen choose to work in museums because
it requires very little strength but a great culture and intelligence” (De-
cember 24, 2004, questionnaire). Hafsa El Hassani, who has a specialty
in anthropology, chose museum work “because it deals with life—it an-
swers the questions of how women’s lives are organized and shows their
customs, ceremonies” (September 29, 2004, interview). Elena Prentice,
former director of the Museum of the American Legation in Tangier, felt
that “women are natural transmitters of history” (September 23, 2004,
interview). Nadia Erzini, Curator of the Museum of the Religious and
Spiritual Heritage of North Morocco in Tetouan, has had an interest in
archeology and history since childhood and said, “I wanted to document
my society” (November 29, 2004, interview). Nadia Laroussi, Curator of
the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tangier, wasted no words about
her career choice: “Women are in the profession because they like it!”
(October 11, 2004, interview)

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
120 
The women interviewed for this research did not mention being
drawn to museum work because it was a secular or an internationally
connected profession. Most of the women were focused on their own
culture’s history and traditions but used Western models of museology
in their work. If one looked to dress for an indication of the secularity of
museum work, four of the twenty-four women in Jordan’s museums and
six of the fourteen women interviewed in Morocco’s wore the ∏ijāb. This
indicates both secularity and seclusion.
MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC SPACE
Islam uses space as a device for sexual control (Afkhami 1995:71);

museums confront this issue of traditional space in Islamic society, as
they succeed in being public spaces where private space is respected if
one understands and adheres to certain rules. Sadiqi (2003:183) recog-
nizes this: “To feel comfortable in public space, urban women need a
special type of dress and behavior.” Museums ameliorate some of the
demands made on women who interact in the public space because they
provide a sphere with the perception of safety, participation carries no
association of shame or ownership, and women’s history holds weight
equal to men’s.
In Morocco, both Mohamed Ettakkal, Head of the Cultural Direc-
torate of Chefchaouen, and Elena Prentice defined museums in terms
of space. Prentice spoke of the private sphere and of the importance she
gained by being director of such an impressive building in the medina:
“I became powerful in that space because it was historical, important”
(September 23, 2004, interview). Ettakkal placed museums in the public
sphere: “A museum is a space to meet with other people, to hear other
ideas and enrich oneself” (October 14, 2004, interview). Hadia Temli,
Administrator for the Dar Al Bacha Patti Birch Morocco Palace of Arts,
considers a museum more universal, “a working space where women
need not fight for competition and can enjoy the beauty and splendor of
all humanity” (December 8, 2004, interview).
Although there is a large and growing body of scholarship on
MENA women’s political emergence, none addresses the role of museums
as participants in women’s empowerment. How are women facilitating
feminist objectives in museums, those institutions traditionally thought

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
121
of as the bastion of patriarchal identity? There is an absence of documen-

tation in the literature on the communication strategies that curators and
directors use to communicate their feelings about women’s public image
and personal identity. However, the exhibits they curate contribute to
the growing visual evidence of their current awareness of the role they
play and their attention to feminist and women’s identity issues. The Salt,
Jordan Ethnographic Museum permanent exhibit “Typical Life” sends
silent messages about power and identity, as it displays women in work
clothes engaged in weaving, cooking, and grinding while well-dressed
men are shown at leisure, smoking, lounging on pillows, or drinking cof-
fee. These dioramas reinforce subservience and the inequality of women
and perpetuate traditional stereotypes. Comparatively, one of the first
things done by Ijlal Meslouhi, Curator of the Ethnographic Museum of
Tetouan, was to redesign the family diorama settings of the museum’s
second floor, which had similar presentations but now features a woman
in fashionable dress seated and drinking tea in a social setting indicative
of leisure. What, then, is the connection between museums, women, and
empowerment? Patti Birch is succinct: “Museums participate in women’s
empowerment because they are a visible example of their abilities”
(December 20, 2004, questionnaire).
HISTORY OF MUSEUMS
Beginning in ancient times, museums have represented places hold-

ing objects of heritage and power. Because collecting could enhance the
prestige, continuity, and the maintenance of the keeper’s authority, the
objects most often collected were the spoils of war or documents of for-
eign trade, not objects of beauty. The presentation of captured booty from
other cultures reinforced power roles, and the exhibition of indigenous
objects promoted collective pride.
Accumulating objects necessitated making a home for them. The
tradition of collecting artifacts from the MENA region began early. Pliny
mentions how the Romans appreciated the opulence of the Middle East
and that art was collected and publicly displayed before the first century.
There was also an active art market, some of which came from sub-Sa-
haran areas through Northern Africa and from the east through Persia.
Alexander the Great is said to have sent Aristotle plunder from the lands

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
122 
he conquered, and Ptolemy Soter, influenced by the Hellenizing policy

of Alexander, founded the museum in Alexandria, Egypt. Although it
was actually a library, it illustrates how libraries contained objects we
now identify as works of art, e.g., illuminated manuscripts, miniature
paintings, and drawings. Libraries therefore provided another avenue
for museum development and a public place where, at least in the early
centuries of Islam, women came for enlightenment. Many public and
private libraries were established in the ninth and tenth centuries in the
major urban centers of the MENA countries, in Baghdad, Damascus,
Alexandria, Cairo, Fes, and Tetouan. While an early tradition of amass-
ing cultural objects for the benefit of citizens of the state did not exist in
the MENA countries, important objects and information were collected,
preserved, and available for interpretation in the madressas (schools) and
through the Waqf system, the Muslim organization that owns religious
sites. Royal objects, especially those inherited, often were kept by rul-
ers in the khazneh (treasury). These early repositories were patriarchal
power centers, containing objects made by and for men, and therefore
their audience was intended to be male. Early museums were not envi-
sioned as places for the general public—not meant to be part of the public
sphere—but for the educated, initiated, or privileged.
The first institutions in the Middle East to be known as museums
were established in Ottoman Turkey, in Istanbul. Later, in the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, museums were established in other Middle
Eastern countries. In 1867, the American University of Beirut’s museum
was opened with the collection of the American consul, General Ces-
nolla. The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo opened in 1902,
and Syria’s National Museum in Damascus opened in 1919. The Palestine
Archeological Museum in Jerusalem (Rockefeller Museum), which was
funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., opened in 1938, and Iraq’s National
Museum was founded in 1923. These early museums, with one exception,
were established and administered by men, 3 but as the twentieth cen-
tury progressed, many museums were founded by women and featured
objects made by and for women. Throughout the MENA countries, this
trend coincided with the beginning of women’s entry into the museum
field.
Early museum work often attracted Western professionals and
the indigenous elite. Women of the elite class often volunteered their

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
123
time, even though they were not professionally trained. Museum work
demanded high education levels, and the women involved in museums
were the elite—wives/families of the monarchy, government officials,
educators, and doctors—which encouraged both ethnographic and con-
temporary art collecting (e.g., Jordan’s Sa’adieh Al Tel for the Museum
of Popular Traditions and Wijdan Ali for the Jordan National Gallery).
By the 1980s, women of the middle and lower classes began choosing
museum work as a scholarly profession and working alongside their male
counterparts.
WOMEN AND MUSEUMS
Who were these women? A social profile of museum founders and

curators in Jordan reveals that of the twenty-four women in my study,
seven were unmarried. Eighteen were Muslim, six were Christian, four
were Palestinian, and three were Circassian. All had received their BAs,
and six held graduate degrees. In age, the largest group (eleven) was be-
tween thirty and forty years old, while five were between forty and fifty,
and four were in the twenty-to-thirty and over-fifty groups, the latter of
which included the more socially elite. In Morocco, five of the fourteen
women interviewed were unmarried; all but one were Muslim. The larg-
est age group (with five) was the fifty-plus group, followed by four in the
thirty-to-forty group, three in the forty-to-fifty group, and two in the
twenty-to-thirty age group. They all held a BA, and three held graduate
degrees. Social elites were represented in each group.
Jordan’s first museum, in Jerash, was founded in 1923, by the edict
of Emir Abdullah and administered by the Englishman G. Lankester
Harding. Jordan’s flagship museum in Amman, the Jordan Archeologi-
cal Museum, was built in 1951/2, and the Archeological Museum of the
University of Jordan opened in 1962. Most of the other museums, which
are archaeological in discipline, opened in the late 1980s and are gov-
erned by the Department of Antiquities of the Ministry of Tourism and
Antiquities.
Morocco’s first museum, the Kasbah Museum, opened in 1922, its
collection amassed by the French scholar Edouard Michaux-Bellaire dur-
ing the late nineteenth century. This was followed by the opening of the
Dar Jamaï in Meknes in 1920 and the Archeological Museum in Rabat

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
124 
in 1932. Most of the others were founded after Independence, in 1956.

Today, in both government-sponsored or privately run museums, women
are in administrative and curatorial positions in twenty of the twenty-
nine museums. Most of these museums are governed by the Ministry of
Culture, exist in renovated villas and palaces, and are ethnographic in
discipline.
The primary purposes of the first museums in Jordan and Morocco
were presentation and preservation. They were passive spaces that now
are evolving into active spaces that keep politics, social agendas, and
the audience in mind. These museums are becoming social institutions
and as such can be catalysts for communication within specific histori-
cal contexts and a part of the process of women’s empowerment. Today,
these museums project themselves as spaces in which the educated, the
illiterate, the establishment, and the dissident can meet and express their
ideas and world views. In museums, unlike mosques, churches, temples,
and historic residences, there is no hereditary or ordained monopoly on
access. On the contrary, museums accommodate diverse contents and
ideas, the physical, and the philosophical.
IDENTITY AND EQUALITY
What connections have scholars made between museums, equality,

and their use as public spaces for a democratic style of social interaction?
Jorge Hardoy (1986:17) concludes in The Popular Sum of Knowledge and
the Museum that a museum, a place for collective thought, discussion,
and analyses, presents the most direct path to a country’s development
and the most direct support that can be given to democratic interac-
tion. Likewise, Flora Kaplan (1994:2) points out that “museums seem
to be unique—to thrive best in democratic situations . . .” and thus they
promote egalitarian interaction. In an ICOM publication on cultural
policy, Suheil Bisharat, former director of the Jordan National Gallery,
comments on the importance of museums vis-a-vis personal identity:
“The recent upsurge in interest in museums throughout much of the
Arab world comes from a new sense of defining and transmitting one’s
identity” (1994:160).
Creating a culture or shaping a new “identity” is not an easy task,
especially when ethnic, political, gender, and nationalist issues are in-

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
125
volved. Museums can be places of comfort or places of change. People

can find comfort in the continuity of their history—or confusion. How
are ideas, especially ones that involve radical social change like women’s
equality, best presented without alienating or confusing people?
What people see in a museum, what is preserved from the past and
on view in the present, will influence tomorrow. What a museum chooses
to collect, exhibit, and interpret and how it goes about doing so reflects
its leadership’s point of view (Pearce 1992). The objects that museums
present on their walls and in their cases—and what they omit—say a
great deal about the society they represent, about identity, government
policies, the freedoms people enjoy, and women’s role in society. Today,
women curators are having a major say in these presentations and in
museum publications. At Yarmouk University’s Museum of Jordanian
Heritage, two women, Seteney Shami and Birgit Mershen, worked with
international scholars and helped develop exhibits and programs for what
many museologists call the finest museum in Jordan.
Museums are seen as “purveyors of ideology and of a downward
spread of knowledge to the public, thereby contributing to an historical
process of democratization” (Kaplan 1994:3). They are neutral spaces in
which a mix of demographics freely mingles, thus promoting the free
exchange of ideas and exploration of identities (Layachi 1995; El Aoufi
1992).
In MENA countries, issues of equality, identity, and nationalism
are inherent or subtly fashioned into this downward spread via museum
presentations. While these presentations often are not so subtle, it is
through the government’s promotion of these institutions through free
and open access that issues of controversy are presented, discussed, and
allowed. Museums have presented exhibitions on issues such as Palestin-
ian identity vs. Jordanian identity in Jordan, colonialism and its impact
in Algeria, women’s roles and contributions to society in the Gulf
countries and the Maghreb, and historical vs. contemporary identity in
Egypt.
In Morocco, other issues merit investigation through museum
exhibitions, e.g., issues of identification, nationalism, and inclusiveness,
such as Arab vs. Berber, the use of French vs. Arabic vs. Darija vs. the
Berber languages, rural vs. city vs. globalization, geographic separation,
colonialization, Orientalism, and the changing status and role of women.

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
126 
How a museum’s exhibits and programs might be developed for women’s

empowerment and democracy remains a challenge to museum profes-
sionals and the government agencies running them (Belarbi 1989:455-65;
Brand 1998:29-69).
WOMEN’S HERITAGE PROGRAMS
“I think Moroccan museums are very open to new ideas. We have

only to choose the ones which are suitable to our conditions. . . but we
have to get people to come first, to be part of the museum, and then
to see what they like,” said Hafsa El Hassani, a strong female voice for
Morocco’s museums (November 2, 2004, correspondence). The idea
that people have to be enticed to come to museums poses a problem, for
people will come only if there is something worthwhile to see or do, i.e.,
relevant, curious, or spectacular. Hassani claims one program she orga-
nized for the Dar Jamaï proved very successful, for it served the needs of
the community, advertised the museum, and attracted a new audience
of young women. Conceived as an educational activity for the exhibition
“Trame des Signes Le Tapis,” which displayed carpets from the major
weaving centers of Morocco, she developed theatrical vignettes based on
the traditional stories and songs of women weavers. Girls rehearsed the
presentations for months at the museum, bringing their families to watch
each time. “So the visitors had a chance to see the actors with music and
dancing . . . it was a good experience” (November 2, 2004, correspon-
dence). Other educational activities for that exhibition that involved
women were the weaving workshops, which served a broad age range, as
older women explained the techniques, designs, and lore of carpet mak-
ing. “A whole generation has not been interested in museums. My answer
to that is to interest children and have them bring in their parents. In
the case of the carpet exhibition, older people were interested, but young
people weren’t. For this exhibition the older women taught young girls
all about weaving—the steps, the knots, and the history. This helped the
girls understand and gave pride of accomplishment to the older women”
(November 2, 2004 correspondence). She claims there was a generational
and cultural bonding, a reevaluation of the old traditions, and a new
respect for them. But was this a double-edged sword? Were the actors,
audience and young students really only reinforcing female stereotypes?

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
127
What is the balance between pride and continuity of heritage and sub-
servient stereotyping?
Another cultural heritage program targeting women and the conti-
nuity of their traditions took place in 2003, at the Museum of Archeology
in Larache, Morocco. The curator, Khadija Bourchouk, worked with older
women in the community to present a fashion show featuring traditional
dress and ceremonial or ritual objects used by women. She targeted an
audience of young girls and women who would not have visited the mu-
seum in the past, and the presentation was a gala event giving meaning
and history to the objects and representing creative use of the museum
as a public space. The community still speaks about the spectacular
event—it has become a collective memory marked as both entertainment
and education. But, again, what silent messages were being promoted?
How could this event have promoted women’s equality while reinforc-
ing cultural traditions? In both of these examples, the women curators
were convinced they were providing women with culturally relevant and
empowering experiences.
Can MENA museums promote a cohesive cultural identity while
reflecting the diversity of cultural heritage, traditions, and feminist
agendas? Henrique Abranches answers that this is possible if “one en-
visions this nationalism as a form of social conscience that commits a
group of people to understand and accept each other, and above all, to
communicate positively, intellectually and spiritually under the shelter
of a State political structure and on the basis of common economic and
social activities, even if their cultural specifics remain” (1983:225). Oth-
ers, however, abhor the concept that museums should foster cohesive-
ness, nationalism, and feminism or purposely shape cultural identity. In
essence, they argue museums should be above political ideologies—even
democratic and egalitarian ones.
LITERACY
At the center of the issue of women’s equality is literacy, or in its

broader context, the development of communication systems that provide
a framework for women to participate freely in society, challenge tradi-
tional historical male religious and cultural interpretation and determine
their own futures. In addition to exhibitions promoting feminist agendas,

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
128 
museum programs specifically can target women’s needs by offering

literacy classes, vocational workshops, or instruction in weaving and
embroidery for economic benefit. Jordan’s Department of Antiquities,
which oversees most of the museums, does not promote such programs,
and where they do exist, they are sponsored by independent NGOs, pri-
vate organizations, and universities. My research in Jordan only touched
upon the issue of literacy classes in museums, as there seemed to be little
interest in them. Perhaps that is because Jordan’s literacy rate for women
was 79.04% in 2004, according to the United Nations Development Pro-
gramme, and has the highest female and overall literacy of all the Arab
states (www.UNDP-Jordan.org). Arabic is the official language for edu-
cation, and English is the secondary language, with only a few minority
languages, such as Circassian.
Multiple language communication and literacy are not major issues
in Jordan, as they are in Morocco. The majority of Jordanian museums
label their objects in modern standard Arabic as well as in English. No
literacy programs are being conducted presently in Jordanian govern-
ment-run museums unless one considers annual school visitation tours
as part of that initiative. There is, however, a Departmental Museum
Awareness initiative, and several museums present art classes and ex-
hibit-related lectures at the community level.
In contrast, literacy and language are issues of great concern to
the government and to women’s advocacy organizations in Morocco.
In 2003, approximately 39.4% of Moroccan women were literate (2004
World Fact Book). Several museums have started implementing creative
programs addressing the issue, while others are in the planning stage.
Concerning how museums can develop literacy programs, the fact that
museum facilities can be used for classrooms is only part of the issue, as
Morocco faces an ongoing dilemma in the attainment of its adult literacy
goals. Although the official language is Arabic, and modern standard
Arabic is used and taught in the primary/secondary schools, the people
do not speak it. Furthermore, higher education, business, and law usu-
ally are taught and conducted in French, again dividing the population
and the issue. In addition, a significant number of the population speaks
Berber, and the Moroccan government has undertaken recent initiatives
to increase the use of Berber languages in the educational arena.4 In the
future, museums may need to consider the addition of the appropriate

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
129
Berber text/labeling identification in areas where its use is relevant, even

though many feel this would be unnecessary, saying there isn’t a liter-
ate Berber person who doesn’t know Arabic or French. Which language
should be taught in adult literacy classes—the one that is spoken or the
one that is relevant?
Because Moroccan museums label their displays in modern standard
Arabic and French, it would seem they are discounting a large section of
the population, by assuming visitors are literate and have a specific kind
of literacy. Museums could explore the option of labeling in written
Darija, the spoken language, as well as Berber, modern standard Arabic,
and French to reach the widest audience.
AZROU MUSEUM
During my current research project in Morocco, I was involved with

the development of a new museum, the Museum of the Middle Atlas,
which included women on many levels. The government chose Hafsa
El Hassani, a graduate of the Government’s Institute de Nationale des
Sciences de l’Archeologie et du Patrimoine, to head this project. Aware
of the museum’s educational potential, in her article for ICOM Maroc
(2002:9), she credits the Ministry of Culture for responding to the needs
of the region’s people. Azrou is an historic east/west and north/south
crossroad for traffic between Fes and Marrakech and Meknes and Ta-
filalet, but the choice of it was more than geographical, as it serves the
indigenous people and the tourists. Although there is a vacuum in cul-
tural representation, it has a richness of artistic production in the area,
and the museum is being developed to encompass diverse themes, audi-
ences, and disciplines. It will have three major sections: the geological
and ecological; the archeological, which will represent prehistoric times
through the Islamic period and incorporate interactive displays for young
people; and the ethnographic, which will represent Middle Atlas culture
with traditional dress and activities, as well as the region’s economy and
way of life. Because weaving and textile production are traditional and
important to that area, the museum will include a center for MENA con-
servation professionals to convene and conduct research.
The project’s plan was to begin with a broad needs-assessment ap-
proach that included and involved women at its onset. Women from

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
130 
the region, many of whose weavings will be featured in the museum’s

displays, will participate in the development process and discuss their
visions of the museum, its purpose, and how it can benefit them as resi-
dents and artisans. Women will have a say in the design and content of
the exhibits, with specific attention given as to how women are depicted
in the displays and how displays will be interpreted. This innovative
approach will serve the needs and desires of many different audiences:
women, tourists, artisans, individuals, families in the region, merchants,
and educators.
The museum has the potential to become an educational resource
beyond the realm of collecting, preserving, and exhibiting objects of the
culture. Since there is an existing audience of women providing material
for the displays, this audience can take advantage of educational classes
specific to their needs, be it weaving or embroidery techniques for young
people or literacy classes. In addition, the literacy classes can incorporate
the museum’s collection so that students can learn about their history
through the objects while learning to read. This multidimensional mu-
seum concept also could benefit women artisans economically through
the display and sale of their work. Literacy classes using the museum’s
collections in the teaching process would seem an ideal and complete use
of the museum and could become a model for other such institutions in
MENA countries.
The American Legation Museum in Tangier is already providing a
literacy program for women living in the medina, as well as sewing and
embroidery classes for local women in an effort to revive traditional tech-
niques and designs. Director Thor Kuniholm feels this is an appropriate
use of the museum space but also an important educational contribu-
tion to the community. At first limited to the women who lived in the
museum’s neighborhood, in 2004, the program was expanded to satellite
areas throughout the medina. The museum also features two libraries,
one of which contains books and novels for young people in English and
one for scholars that concentrates on the literature, cartography, and
statistics of the region, as well as the historic Moroccan association with
the United States.
Traditionally, illiteracy, economic dependence, traditions, customs,
and inequitable laws have kept women subservient. According to Afkha-
mi (1995:71), these things are represented by the traditional cultural seg-

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
131
regation of women, conflicting obtuse and contradictory legal codes, and

the usurpation/monopoly of religious texts by men. Museums, however,
provide safe, culturally appropriate meeting places and neutral spaces in
which personal space is respected. It is possible to consider the museum
as an educational resource, a place of enlightenment where religious
texts and historic legal records from museum collections (or on loan) are
available to the public. Many museums exhibit texts and contain libraries
with documents, early Qur’ans, and jurisprudence and therefore could
become a resource for women. Examples of such opportunities in Am-
man, Jordan are the Islamic Museum at the King Abdullah Mosque and
the Museum of Abdullah I in the old parliament building. An example in
Morocco is the Museum of the Religion and Spiritual Heritage of North
Morocco, in Tetouan, which is presently under development. This
museum is funded by the Ministry of Al-Waqf, is located in an eigh-
teenth-century madressah—the only surviving one in the north of the
country—and is undergoing restoration. According to Curator Nadia
Erzini, it will have a public library of legal and religious texts and ac-
tively promote the library as a community resource (November 29, 2004,
interview).
As to Afkhami’s point on the monopoly of religious information,
the availability of original religious and legal texts in museum exhibitions
and libraries provides an opportunity to bring information before a wide
contemporary audience and feminist scholars.
In what ways are the monarchies of Jordan and Morocco using
museums to manipulate history for social control? Are these govern-
ments actively or subtly interested in changing the image of women or
supporting feminist agendas? The main arena for such manipulation can
be exhibitions. For example, is the art in the Museum of Contemporary
Art in Tangier or in the Jordan National Gallery directly related to the
enhancement of monarchies or the perpetuation of patriarchal ideals?
Do exhibits promote religious tenets, blind patriotism, and nationalism
or diversity and free artistic expression? For reference, women adminis-
ter both of these museums, one of which is under the governance of the
Moroccan Ministry of Culture and the other under a private Jordanian
institution governed by the Royal Society of Fine Arts. Both institutions
include women’s art in their exhibitions and a diversity of disciplines,
themes, media and subject matter, including the female nude. Based on

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
132 
catalog information and my visits over several years, neither museum has
permanently featured portraits of their respective kings, and while the
themes of independence and nationalism appeared in several works in
the permanent collections, they were not in the majority and were joined
by tableaus such as bucolic landscapes, self-portraits, abstracts, calligra-
phy, and figurative art.5 Thus it appears, at least on this issue, that both
museums exhibit according to aesthetic rather than political concerns.
WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS
It is interesting that all the women interviewed in museums felt they

were engaging equally in the workplace and achieving their goals. Yet
although all were aware of the women’s organizations in their countries,
none of the fourteen women interviewed in Morocco belonged to these
organizations, and two-thirds of the twenty-four Jordanian women I
interviewed were sympathetic to them but only two were active. Most
did not feel that the indigenous women’s organizations had assisted them
personally but did feel that these organizations had been beneficial to
others. In Morocco, Henia Chikhaoui, curator at the Dar Batha Museum
of Arts and Traditions in Fes, gave a typical response by writing “I know
they exist, but I have no specific relationship with them” (October 1,
2004, questionnaire). Nadia Erzini felt strongly that the changes occur-
ring in Morocco concerning women’s rights and status “were not because
of the efforts of the many feminist organizations or the collective voice
of women demanding change, but they were due to economics and were
the result of the need for political balance in the government” (November
29, 2004, interview). She conceded, however, that the women’s activist
organizations have made a difference economically for women, although
she has never been a member of any women’s organizations, citing lack of
time as one of the reasons (November 29, 2004, questionnaire). Jordanian
museum administrator and founder Aida Naghawieh responded to the
question of her involvement by stating “I don’t belong to any women’s
organizations—I belong to myself” (1999 interview).
Why do so few women in the museum profession belong to or
identify with these organizations? The most common answers were lack
of time and that the organizations were not relevant to their own situa-
tions. This implies that the existing women’s support organizations in both

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
133
Jordan and Morocco are not serving the needs of these women, and one
wonders whether they are serving the needs of women in other professions.
Would they feel different if these organizations cosponsored programs in
their facilities? Neither country has a national museum organization, even
though founding one might be of a professional benefit as well as provide
mentoring and increase influence and power within the government bu-
reaucracy. It could be that these women, considered established, are not
the audience for the existing women’s organizations and therefore are not
solicited. Furthermore, it could be that these mostly middle-class women
in the museum profession do not come from the social/economic group
representing the majority of needy or working women.
In Morocco, this may also be because “the modern Moroccan
women’s movements were born out of Nationalism and Islam, and these
two representative groups emphasized traditional (and subordinate) roles
in the family” (Baker 1998:11). The Moroccan movements were initially
affiliated with political parties and thus reflected those specific philoso-
phies, and it was only later that women’s empowerment organizations
were established outside the arena of politics or religion. According to
the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs, in 1997, there were some
thirty-five officially recognized nongovernmental women’s organizations
in Morocco (Ministry Publications 1997:213). Two of these organizations
were established before 1970, and by 1990 the majority were established.
Most have their headquarters in Rabat, while some are located in Casa-
blanca and other cities.
In Jordan, the four main women’s organizations are affiliated with
the monarchy and have the general purpose of educating and promot-
ing women in the political arena. Their secondary concern is with the
economic arena. The Jordanian National Forum for Women (JNFW),
a grassroots organization with about 120,000 members in the country,
works on the community level and is governed by a support group and
the Higher Council, chaired by Princess Basma bint Talal, sister of the
late King Hussein. The organization acts as a support group and lobbyist
for women in their elections to local municipal councils. The Jordanian
National Commission for Women (JNCW) is an elite organization focus-
ing on government policy and hosted by the Queen Alia Fund for Social
Development. Another organization is the Jordanian Women’s Union
(JWU), which works to increase awareness of women’s rights under na-

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
134 
tional laws; in 1999 it claimed 3,000 members and is headed by Amneh

Al Zoubi (see “Feminist Movement Rewriting ‘His Story,’” 9 August
1999, http://star.arabia.com). Several other organizations exist, such as
the Princess Basma Women’s Resource Center, which acts as a resource
to policy makers and women’s groups, collects data, and conducts train-
ing courses. The al-Kutba Institute for Human Development assists in
community development, and the Center of Woman’s Studies provides
information on women’s issues. Most of these organizations have their
headquarters in Amman.
Today, the museums of Jordan and Morocco have a new agenda.
In addition to conserving and presenting their cultures, they also have
become educators and proponents of equality as they target both male
and female school children as an audience and present women’s artistic
achievements, as well as men’s, and offer equal job opportunities and gen-
der representation in the workforce. They need, however, to develop their
role as interlocutors—to invite dissenting views, historical investigation,
and critical thinking—especially about the role of women in society.
Museums belong to a vast development movement that individuals
and organizations can use to form a cohesive unity around social con-
cepts that are supportive for all. Museums can be used to involve, inform,
and mobilize women, as can be witnessed in Azrou. They can do this
because they are able to communicate with many social strata, including
rural women, and because many of the objects they exhibit were made
by and for women.
CONCLUSION
The goal of furthering women’s equality with new, inven-

tive, and comprehensive use of museums is feasible, and efforts
toward this have been initiated in several museums in Jordan and
Morocco. Most important, women working in museums are aware of
the possibilities. Consider the economics: the facilities and sites, many
monumental, are already in place; the collections have been acquired
and are on exhibit or in storage; and professional staff are employed and
being trained in Moroccan and Jordanian institutions. Consider the
sociological aspects: museums are considered safe places where women
can be seen and can participate, and these places are associated with
history, truth and reality. Consider the relevance: museums can and do

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
CAROL MALT 
135
offer meaningful social, educational, and research services. Museums

can fully use their potential as educators and promoters of women’s
empowerment by acknowledging, exhibiting, and promoting the equal-
ity of women in society, computerizing and cataloging their collections,
providing interpretation and meaningful dialogue, organizing seminars
and related educational activities, scheduling attractive and inclusive
events, addressing the community and not just the tourist, and invent-
ing new ways of utilizing their resources such as using their spaces and
collections to teach classes in literacy.
Finally, in response to the key question as to whether museums in
Jordan and Morocco are taking advantage of opportunities to develop
as agents of women’s empowerment, the answer is a guarded yes. The
trend is positive, and the momentum, driven both by internal and global
awareness, is continuing. Real success is dependent upon coordination
with bureaucratic, religious, and women’s organizations—and the women
in the profession themselves.
NOTES
1. Both Jordan and Morocco belong to ICOM through their respective
Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and Ministry of Culture and extend member-
ship privileges to museum personnel.
2. The American Association of Museums does not keep statistics on the num-
ber of women in its membership of approximately 8100 institutions. For statistics
on Jordan, see Malt 2005.
3. The museum was founded by the Englishwoman Gertrude Bell.
4. The three major Berber dialects are, by geographical area, Tarifit (north),
Tamazight (middle), and Tashelhit (south).
5. As of this writing, four paintings of nude women are on view in the per-
manent collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tangier, as well as four
works painted by women.
REFERENCES
Abranches, Henrique
1983 Proceedings of the 13th General Conference ICOM 225.
Afkhami, Mahnaz, ed.
1995 Faith and Freedom: Women’s Human Rights in the Muslim World.
Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
Baker, Alison
1998 Voices of Resistance: Oral Histories of Moroccan Women. Albany:
State University of New York Press.

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC
136 
Belarbi, Aicha
1989 Mouvement de Femmes au Maroc. Annuaire de l’Afrique du Nord
26:455-65.
Bisharat, Suheil
1994 The Role of Collections, Exchanges in Museum Cultural Policy. ICOM
Museums, Civilization and Development.
Brand, Laurie
1998 Women, the State and Political Liberalization: Middle Eastern and North
African Experiences. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hardoy, Jorge
1986 The Popular Sum of Knowledge and the Museum. ICOM 17.
El Aoufi, N., ed.
1992 La Société Civile au Maroc. Casablanca: Smer.
El Hassani, Hafsa
2002 Projet du Musée du Moyen Atlas. Journee International de Musées.
ICOM Maroc 8:9.
Kaplan, Flora E. S.
1994 Museums and the Making of “Ourselves”: The Role of Objects in
National Identity. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Layachi, Azzedine
1995 Civil Society and Democratization in Morocco. Cairo: Dar Al Ameen.
Layne, Linda
1981 Women in Jordan’s Workforce. MERIP Reports 95:19-23.
Malt, Carol
2005 Women’s Voices in Middle East Museums: Case Studies in Jordan.
Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
Ministry Publications
1997 Etude Portant sur l’Elaboration de la Strategie d’Action de la Promotion
de la Femme au Maroc. Rabat.
Mujahid, GBS
1982 Female Labor Force Participation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Beirut: International Labour Organization, Regional Office for Arab States
(Population and Labour Policies Regional Programme for the Middle East
Working Paper No. 12).
OAT
2004 Les femmes et le travail. L’Opinion 29:3.
Pearce, Susan
1992 Museums, Objects and Collections. Leicester: Leicester University
Press.
Al Qudah, Eman (El Qudah, Iyman)
1994 Folklore Museum. ICOM 1994:165-6.
Sadiqi, Fatima
2003 Women, Gender and Language in Morocco. Boston: Brill.

14.139.156.184 on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 06:53:36 UTC

WOMEN, MUSEUMS, AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE Author(s) : Carol Malt

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

WOMEN, MUSEUMS, AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE Author(s) : Carol Malt

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

WOMEN, MUSEUMS, AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE

Author(s): Carol Malt

This content downloaded from