BAHRAIN'S heritage and museums will be celebrated during a series of special events this month as part of celebrations marking Manama being named Capital of Arab Culture 2012.

The Culture Ministry will promote their social importance and positive role in the development of local communities.

A talk by International Council of Museums (ICOM) president Dr Hans-Martin Hinz will be held at the Bahrain National Museum on May 18.

He will speak on the theme 'New Challenges, New Inspirations', marking International Museums Day.

The free talk will begin at 6pm.

An educational display will take place in the form of a mobile museum, which will tour the country to introduce children to Bahrain's cultural heritage.

The Enkiru Bus Museum is a mobile exposition based on the Tylos exhibition and designed for children aged seven to 11, which will tour Bahrain's schools and will be based at the Bahrain National Museum.

The tour will start on May 13.

The final event will be a 12-day workshop for young museum professionals organised by the ministry in co-operation with ICOM-Arab.

Workshop

Designed to address different aspects of museum operations and development, it will review best practices in a range of activities from inventory and documentation to marketing and education methods.

A different Arab capital is awarded the opportunity to engage in a cultural dialogue with local and regional audiences every year based on a project undertaken by the Arab League, under the auspices of the Unesco Cultural Capitals Programme.

Manama was elected as the Capital of Arab Culture following a meeting of Arab culture ministers in 2004.

The year-long programme for Manama has been broken up into 12 cultural themes according to the months of the year and is designed to foster an environment of multi-disciplinary learning with an appeal to all sections of society.

Attention will turn to poetry next month, while July is a month for literature and August will focus on Arab cinema.

For more information, visit the website www.manamaculture2012.bh.

alicia@gdn.com.bh