In-Person Cairo Panel Discussion: “The Future of Museums”: International Museum Day

In celebration of International Museums Day, the American Research Center in Egypt invites you to a thought-provoking panel discussion entitled The Future of Museums in Egypt. In a world undergoing rapid social, technological, and environmental transformations, how can museums navigate these changes and play a role in shaping the future? This panel brings together key figures in Egypt’s museum landscape in a discussion that will explore how museums in Egypt can remain relevant, resilient, and responsive to the evolving needs of society.

During this panel, Dr. Moamen Othman (Head of the Museums Sector), Dr. Tarek Tawfik (Professor of Egyptology, Cairo University; President of the International Association of Egyptologists; and Vice President of ICOM Egypt), Dr. Mary Kupelian (Professor of Coptic Art and Archaeology, Helwan University; Secretary General of ICOM Egypt), and Dr. Ali Abdelhalim (Director General of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo; Professor of Egyptology, Ain Shams University) will be discussing the future of museums, with the panel moderated by ARCE’s Deputy Director for Research and Programs.

Speaker Biographies

Dr. Tarek Tawfik holds both a BA and MA in Egyptology from the Faculty of Archaeology at Cairo University, where he currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Egyptology. He earned his PhD in Egyptology from the University of Bonn in Germany. From August 2014 to January 2019, he served as Director General of the Grand Egyptian Museum Project.  In 2023, he was elected President of the International Association of Egyptologists. Dr. Tawfik is also the Deputy Head of Mission for the Cairo University Faculty of Archaeology’s excavations in Saqqara. He is Vice Chair of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and has been a member of the German Archaeological Institute since December 2015.

Professor Ali Abdelhalim is the Director General of the Egyptian Museum Cairo, former Head of the department of Egyptology at the Faculty of Archaeology (Ain-Shams University). Beside his academic research interests, he has been involved in fieldwork with the Supreme Council of Antiquities since 2000. He is a member of several archeological missions, including at Kom Ombo, Qus and Arab el-Hisn at Heliopolis.

Moreover, he established two scientific projects, one at the IFAO on the mammisi of Kom Ombo and at ARCE, on the Chapel of Sobek at Kom Ombo as well. He took part in the publication of a few books, such as Kom Ombo II (2021), and is the editor of the proceedings of the 1st international conference on mammisis of Egypt (BdE 2023). He is additionally the editor in chief of Iwnw-Journal and a peer-reviewer in some scientific journals such as BCPS and Shedet.

Dr. Mary Missak Kupelian is a Professor at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, Helwan University, Egypt, specialized in “Art and Archaeology in Egypt in the Byzantine Era.” In June 2010, she was awarded a PhD in Tourism-Guidance under the joint supervision of Helwan University and Leiden University. Her research interests include Coptic Archaeology, Armenian heritage in Egypt, and pedagogy in museums. She investigates Egyptian art and archaeology of the first millennium of the Christian era. In addition to teaching at the Tourism Guidance Department, she works part-time at the Coptic Museum in Cairo. She also participated in preparing the “Armenia” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and co-organized the exhibition project Exalted Spirits: The Veneration of the Dead in Egypt through the Ages at the Egyptian Museum. It was organized by the American Research Center in Egypt, the American University in Cairo, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. She is currently a member of the International Advisory Committee of The Sun: African Byzantine Art, Faith, and Culture exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In museology, she has taught Tourism-Guidance techniques and services at the Egyptian Museum. She is a member of Egypt’s Supreme Committee for Museum Displays at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and Secretary General of ICOM Egypt.

She has promoted Coptic culture and heritage through teaching, creating exhibitions—particularly about Christian Art, Archaeology, and Heritage—and developing tourism-guidance techniques in local and international museums. She contributed to the Emergency Red List of Egyptian Cultural Objects at Risk (Christian artefacts) by ICOM. She is a member of the International Association for Coptic Studies, Société d’archéologie Copte, Friends of the Coptic Museum, and a former board member of the Coptic Museum. She was awarded an honorary shield by the Kulturabteilung und Studienmission, Botschaft der Arabischen Republik Ägypten, Berlin.

Moamen Othman has served as Head of the Museums Sector since 2019 and Supervisor of the Loans Exhibitions Committee in the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA). As Head of the Sector, he oversees strategies and plans to enhance efficiency and drive museum development and sustainability. In 2020, he was a visiting lecturer in the Museology graduate program at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Helwan University. He has completed various studies and training programs in Egypt, Italy, and Japan. In 2009, he received a Higher Diploma in Laser Technology for Conservation and Restoration from the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro, Italy. He also earned a diploma in art from the Academy of Arts in Florence in 2005 and a Higher Diploma in Stone and Ceramic Conservation in 2002. He has received additional training in museum display, preservation, storage, and the presentation of papyrus, murals, manuscripts, and documents.

His research interests include comprehensive museology—collection management, museum display, digitization, risk management, sustainability, and the research role of collections—alongside restoration, preventive maintenance, and cultural property preservation. Othman has published numerous scientific papers in English and Italian and contributed to translating scientific books from Italian into Arabic. He has also reviewed and prepared materials for books on restoration theory and journals on antiquities and world heritage.

Othman has lectured in museology and restoration, including the “Museums in Egypt” summer school at the University of Würzburg in May 2023 and the “GreenMuseumCamp” in Germany in December 2023.

Panel Moderator – Dr. Yasmin El Shazly  (ARCE Deputy Director of Research and Programs)

Dr. El Shazly earned her BA from the American University in Cairo and her MA and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Her Ph.D. dissertation, entitled Royal Ancestor Worship in Deir el-Medina during the New Kingdom, was published by Abercromby Press in 2015.

El Shazly previously held the position of General Supervisor of the Department of International Organizations of Cultural Heritage and International Cooperation (2016-2018) and Assistant to the Minister for Museum Affairs (2015-2016) at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities (now the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities). Her research interests include ancient Egyptian art and religion of the New Kingdom, the workmen’s village of Deir el-Medina, as well as Third Intermediate Period funerary art.

She was also Head of the Registration, Collections Management and Documentation Department at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo (2009-2016) and a member of the Museum’s Board of Directors (2010-2013). El Shazly is currently a member of several boards, including ICOM Egypt (Vice Chair). She has taught courses at the American University in Cairo, Cairo University and AMIDEAST.