This year’s UCL Qatar Master’s (MA) students in the Museum and Gallery Practice Programme, in collaboration with Sidra Medicine and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, have combined their efforts to create a virtual exhibition that explores motherhood and the journey of pregnancy.
The exhibition is hosted by UCL Qatar through its own website, umoumah.com. UCL Qatar is a Qatar Foundation partner university.
The Umoumah exhibition, which in Arabic means motherhood, features five thematic units woven together through different mediums such as video, poetry, interactive games, and educational activities.
The aim of the virtual exhibition is to explore the topic of support for expectant mothers in Qatar, to empower them, their families and the medical community.
The MA in Museum and Gallery Practice Programme is designed to help shape future generations of museum professionals and cultural leaders in Qatar and the region. The project is one of the core modules the MA students undertake each year and gives students the opportunity to visually showcase their talents and skills.
UCL Qatar Director Dr Sam Evans said he is very proud of the outcome of the exhibition.
He said that their talented students have worked extremely hard with the academic team and partners to bring the exhibition to life. To be able to switch this project from physical to a virtual exhibition is a major achievement and demonstrates great teamwork, creativity, dedication, commitment, ingenuity and thorough understanding of UCL Qatar’s academic mission. Combining this with agility and resilience has turned a crisis into an opportunity.
The virtual exhibition provides students with unique expertise which they will be able to draw from in their future careers. We are excited for the public to see and witness the huge talent that the nation’s arts and culture sector will inherit.
Dr Catharina Hendrick, lecturer in Museum Studies at UCL Qatar, and one of the directors of the exhibition, stated that completing the project is a demanding process for all students. She said that the students have excelled and have worked extremely well to put on an exhibition to a high professional standard that delivers the message about the journey of becoming a mother and the support available to them and their families.
Exhibition Team Members
Project Officer: Sabika Kizilbash
Interpretation and Education Team:
- Al-Shaima Ayoub
- Amal Nazir
- Charlene Kasdorf
- Layal Mashhadi
- Najma Ahmed
- Nabilah Asarow
- Patricia Chipangura
- Rebecca Holt
Design Team:
- Aleesha Suleman
- Anastasia Rousopoulou
- Anusheh Zaman
- Maambo Bwanjelela
- Mariam Al-Dhubhani
- Samuel Amegah
- Sebastian Betancur-Montoya
- Nourbano Al Hejazi
Marketing and Evaluation Team:
- Ameni Abida
- Amina Niksic
- Nada Bedair
- Radouane Arraoui
- Shaha Alkhulaifi
- Walli Ullah
For more information about the virtual exhibition, visit umoumah.com or follow their Instagram account @umoumah.