The importance of maps and pamphlets: Nimat

First of all I would like to thank all of the staff at the British Museum who gave me this opportunity for learning and training in all things relating to museums. I truly believe the British Museum is a museum of the world – every visitor from every different culture can find things in the British Museum from different countries.

In Sudan, we have a lot of museums in the capital city of Khartoum, and others in the many states of Sudan, but unfortunately inadequate finances limit development of these museums. I do however have some ideas which I will try to implement in my work.

I have learnt from the British Museum the importance (in any museum) of providing visitors with high-quality pamphlets and maps, so that it easy for the visitor to navigate through the museum. I will try to apply this practice in our museum in Khartoum. My aim is to show a pamphlet from the British Museum to the Ministry of Culture as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Sudan, who may help us in our department in the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums to produce similar pamphlets.

During my stay in the UK I also learnt about museum documentation at the National Museum of Wales – in our department in Sudan we have already began to implement this same process three years ago, when previous participants on the International Training Programme at the British Museum returned to Sudan.

I hope that one day the stores and the library in our department will be like those at the BM, and that we too will become an institute and publish many books relating to museums.

All these ideas require a step-by-step process, limited by finances, but I hope one day we will have our own high techniques and developments, implemented for the benefit of museums in Sudan.

Nimat