Two African Museums Among U.S. State Department’s 2013 Museums Connect Cultural Exchange Awardees

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC

July 10, 2013

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the American Alliance of Museums, announces today the selection of 11 new projects as part of the Museums Connect program. Museums Connect links U.S. communities with communities around the world through innovative, museum-based exchanges that foster mutual understanding while focusing on important topics like climate change, women’s empowerment, disability awareness, and civic engagement, among others.

Projects pair cultural institutions in the United States with partners from 11 international locales and involve community members, particularly youth, to reach beyond institutional walls.

Awardees include:

* Ancient Shores, Changing Tides – Developing Local Archaeological Heritage Expertise
Palawan State University Museum, Palawan, Philippines
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Seattle, WA

* Citizenship Unbound: Flag Stories
Islamic Art Museum of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA

* Common Ground: Connecting Communities through Gardens
Egyptian Agricultural Museum, Giza, Egypt
Monterey County Agricultural and Rural Life Museum, King City, CA

* Design Diaries International
Palestinian Heritage Museum, East Jerusalem, Palestinian Territories
Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul, MN

* emPOWER Parents: Fostering Cross Cultural Networks between Families with Autism
Museo ICO, Madrid, Spain
Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY

* Forest Guardians
Sicán National Museum, Ferreñafe, Peru
Zoological Society of San Diego, San Diego, CA
Working with Three Mountain Alliance, Līhu’e, HI

* From the Ground Up: Nutritional Values, and Cultural Connections
Gidan Makama Museum Kano, Kano, Nigeria
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh, PA

* A Journey through the African Diaspora
Museu Afro-Brasil, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center, North Brentwood, MD

* Re:building Home: Climate Change in New York and Samoa
Museum of Samoa, Apia, Samoa
American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

* Scaling the Walls/Escalando Paredes: Creating Urban Green Spaces
Interactive Science Museum, Quito, Ecuador
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

* Turning the Table: Understanding Cross-Cultural Movements
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Ateneo de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, TX

For more information on the awarded projects, visit http://exchanges.state.gov/cultural/museumsconnect.html or www.aam-us.org/museumsconnect.