Mohamed Ahmed Abd El Salam

Biography

Mohamed has two axes of work in the museum field. The first is his academic career where he is currently working as Assistant Professor of Museum Studies at Administration of Museums and Archaeological Sites, Archaeology Faculty, Ain Shams University. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Museum Studies at Silk Road University, Samarkand, Uzbekistan for the academic year 2023-2024. The second axe of work is his professional career which sees him working across several museum projects and exhibitions in Egypt, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Central Asia. In 2023, Mohamed’s work was published in a new scientific journal article in museum studies, titled, Collections Management and Use of Object ID at the Carpet Department of the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo “A Museological and Practical Study”.

Previously, Mohamed worked as a curator, then Deputy Director, at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, with a particular focus on the textiles collection. Mohamed’s work was focused on the re-display and re-opening of the Islamic Art Museum, after an explosion in January 2013 caused damage to both the museum façade and objects on display. This included preparing temporary exhibitions including The Future of the violated past: they will never win, to demonstrate that Cultural Heritage is stronger than those who seek to destroy it and The Museum of Islamic Art before and after damage at Agha khan Museum in Canada. This exhibition demonstrated how the museum faced the crisis and reopened their doors in 2017.

In his previous role, Mohamed incorporated the use of high technology elements in the storyline and displays at the Museum of Islamic Art, supervising social media, the official website, and blogs. Mohamed also managed the acting and story-telling team and the collections database at the museum. He was head of the curatorial team which printed a guidebook of the Museum of Islamic Art, published by the Ministry of Antiquities in 2016. Mohamed was also responsible for the Temporary Exhibitions and International Exhibitions of Foreign Affairs of The Museum of Islamic Art, where he worked on projects to ensure good corporation between the Museum of Islamic Art and other institutions such as the Bibliotheque National in Paris, the Museum of Islamic Art in Australia and working with faculties at the al Fayoum University.

Mohamed has a master’s degree from Helwan University- Faculty of Archaeology, Islamic Department in East Asian arts, entitled Indian Mughal carpet through the artifacts and Indian Paintings in Mughal era between (16th -19th AD). He received a PhD from Helwan University- Faculty of Archaeology, Islamic Department in East Asian arts in 2018, entitled Islamic Chinese Arts and Chinese influences in Japanese and Koran Art between (16th-19th AD).

From 2020 to 2025, Mohamed has had several book publications, including:

• 2025, The History of Arabs Along the Silk Roads…The First Civilisational Study of Arab Presence in the Oldest Global Trade Routes (Dar Suad Al-Sabah for Publishing and Distribution, Kuwait).
• 2024, The Glories of Waqf in Islamic Civilisation (International Publishing and Distribution Corporation, Cairo)
• 2023, Museum Display… Vision and Creativity (International Publishing and Distribution Corporation, Cairo) – Winner of the State Encouragement Award
• 2022, The Civilisational Influences of Muslims on the Culture and Arts of Japan… A Historical Archaeological Study (Jumaa Al-Majid Publishing, United Arab Emirates)
• 2022, King Abdul Aziz’s Efforts in Unifying the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…A Documentary Study (Recipient of the Dr. Abdullah Al-Mushaigeh Literary Award – Historical Research Category, United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
• 2020, Muslims in Korea – A Bright Page from an Unknown History (Recipient of his Highness Sheikh Dr. Rashid bin Hamad Creativity Award, Historical Research Category)

Mohamed has also contributed to several book chapters, including:

• 2021, Textiles and Identity Along the Silk Roads Between the Islamic East and the Far East (UNESCO).
• 2021, Unified Guide for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt).
• 2020, Gaston Vièt as Director of the Museum of Islamic Art (French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo (IFAO)).
• 2019, Islamic Prayer Rugs…A Study in Design Philosophy and Function (Catalog of the Shatr Mosque Exhibition at Ithra Museums, Saudi Arabia, Routledge Publishing, UK).
• 2019, The Phenomenon of Artistic Reproduction Between the Islamic East and the Far East (Memorial Book for Dr. Hosni Nuaiseer, Faculty of Archaeology – Fayoum University).

At the British Museum
During his time on the International Training Programme in 2013, Mohamed was based in the Department of Egypt and Sudan and his partner placement was spent at Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives.

In 2013 participants were asked to prepare an exhibition proposal based an object from the British Museum’s collection.  Mohamed’s exhibition project proposal was entitled Idea and people Unite: A story of Christ on the Cross in Islamic art.

Mohamed’s place on the programme was generously supported by the Barakat Trust.

Legacy Projects
In 2016 Mohamed was awarded a research fellowship by the State Museums of Dresden (SKD) where he worked for six weeks on a project entitled Expanding Horizons: Tracing heavenly machines form the Arab-Islamic World.

Mohamed attended an Egyptian ITP Fellow reunion held at the British Embassy in Cairo, in April 2018.

In 2023, Mohamed was awarded an ITP Conference Grant to attend the 19th seminar on the Care and Conservation of Manuscripts at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Continued Dialogue
Since 2013 Mohamed has attended the opening of the Ming ceramic exhibition at the British Museum and has helped to document and register Islamic Coins at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.

ITP Newsletter Publications
ITP Newsletter Issue 2 (2015), Museum profiles: Islamic Art Museum, Cairo