USM PENANG, 4 April 2022 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM) recently on 25 March 2022 at IAMM, Kuala Lumpur.

 

The MoA signing ceremony was officiated by USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor Sustainability and Institutional Development, Professor Dr. Md. Roslan Hashim, together with the Senior Executive Assistant to IAMM's Director, Syed Mohamad Albukhary, Rashidah Salim and witnessed by the Director of USM Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR), Professor Dr. Stephen Chia Ming Soon; and the Head of Conservation & Research Centre (IAMM), Friedrich Farid Zink.

IAMM is an institution under the Yayasan Albukhary, committed towards preserving, maintaining and disseminating knowledge of Islamic arts and heritage to all levels of society via the implementation of programmes and activities at the museum such as exhibitions, collection management, research and publications, human capital development and educational development programmes.

Based on the discussions between IAMM and USM today, both parties have agreed to establish a collaboration and explore opportunities to develop, support and enrich relevant research activities, educational programmes and training in their respective fields of expertise, thus creating synergistic benefits to both parties.

The implementation of this collaboration targets the interconnection between conservation of cultural heritage and science through meaningful exchange of knowledge and evidence-based strategy, to better link research and training to needs.

In addition, IAMM and USM are aiming to strengthen and showcase the richness and diverse heritage of the Islamic World and to create positive and lasting change for present and future generations.

During the ceremony, Friedrich Farid Zink said, “We have created or found a good foundation for this conservation process based on the manpower, training and training for the conservators themselves.”

“Besides, USM offers advanced technologies and materials to make this process even smoother and better for future findings based on this agreement and the collaboration,” he added.

 

According to Md. Roslan, “USM is not here to do any carbon copy, but we would rather complement each other, as we are more focused on the research, producing future talents and also offering some scholarships.”

In relation to the obligations of IAMM, they will provide a total of two internship placements annually and shall provide to the best of its ability and within the limits of the available resources all services and support necessary to implement the activities or projects.

Meanwhile, USM would be more focused towards collaboration on joint research projects focusing on objects from the IAMM’s and the Centre for Global Archaeological Research’s collections, and provide a platform for lectures and speaker exchanges from both parties on topics relating to history and cultural heritage, focusing on conservation and restoration.

After the signing ceremony was completed, the USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor was also taken on a tour around the wonderful Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia area.

Text: Mohamed Hadri Iman Mohamed Hazli/Photo: Mohd Fairus Md Isa