ITP Research Grant awarded to Qurat ul Ain (Pakistan, ITP 2017)

Written by Claire Messenger, Manager, International Training Programme

We are delighted to announce that an ITP Research Grant 2023 has been awarded to Qurat ul Ain (Pakistan, ITP Fellow 2017).

Qurat is Assistant Director at the National Assembly of Pakistan.  Her responsibilities vary and currently she is working as a Public Relations Officer.  Her duties can relate to any field – including heritage – as staff are assigned duties to take care of Standing Committees at that National Assembly for almost every department/ministry.

Qurat will be using her support grant to carry out research in Pakistan and her proposal, titled Taxila Museum’s Education Policy, will look at current, and a potential future, education policy for Taxila Museum.

Taxila Museum is the home of antiquities from the World Heritage site of Taxila Valley that was once a centre of Buddhism and is one of the most important heritage institutions in Pakistan. Taxila Valley is of universal importance a World Heritage Site and a holy site for Buddhists across the globe.

Given the universal importance of the Taxila Valley, antiquities recovered from the sites and frequency of the visits from school/college students, university scholars and dignitaries from across the world, Qurat’s research will look at the needs and challenges of the current system and possibilities for the creation and development of a well-defined museum education policy.

Using this research grant, Qurat will write a research paper by combing through the existing archives, gallery labels, pamphlets guide books etc. published by the museum and will conduct semi-structured interviews of the officials and authorities.

We are delighted to be able to support Qurat with her research project proposal and look forward to her sharing the results of her work with the wider ITP network in 2024.