HRH Princess Sumaya, vice president of the Jordan Museum’s board of trustees, who is also chairperson of the International Council of Museums’ (ICOM) Jordan national committee, on Tuesday attended the launch of the Jordan Museums Association.

The association, headed by Princess Sumaya, will be headquartered in the Jordan Museum, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

During the ceremony, Princess Sumaya said that amid the exceptional circumstances related to the COVID pandemic, the Jordan Museum decided to establish a platform to help the Kingdom’s museums continue, grow and interact efficiently at the local, regional and international levels.

The princess also said that launching the platform would link the Kingdom’s museums with the best museums in the world, as well as allow development of museums’ operations in line with the best international practices.

Besides being a tourist attraction, museums help in preserving cultural heritage of humanity, she added, according to Petra.

The pandemic has impacted the museum sector, as well as other economic, cultural and social sectors, the princess said, pointing out that cultural and creative sectors including museums are among the hardest-hit industries, as large and small, public and private museums have all closed their doors for an indefinite period of time.

She also drew attention to the need of future plans to ensure the continuation of the role of museums, emphasising the necessity of optimising artificial intelligence to spread museums messages at the local and global levels, according to Petra.    

Director General of the Jordan Museum Ihab Amarin, during the event, went over the key pillars of the association’s future action plan including: Institutional aspect, communication aspect, activities, rehabilitation and development, besides financial support.

The association was launched on the occasion of International Museum Day 2021 with the theme "The Future of Museums: Recover and Reimagine”.