MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Omani Heritage Gallery is to perpetuate and promote Oman’s living heritage and culture through the creation of income-generating opportunities for traditional artisans in all regions of the country. Specifically, it is our mission to provide Omani artisans with the expertise and training necessary for the further development of their crafts, with the distribution and marketing systems necessary for the sale of their products, and with incentives to pass their artisanal skills on to the next generation.

PHILOSOPHY

• We believe that crafts are the visual representation of a nation’s heritage and culture, and that the safeguarding of this heritage is the shared social and ethical responsibility of both the public and the private sectors. All Omani citizens benefit from a heritage that is rich, diverse and intact, and thus we are all stakeholders in this heritage. To this end, Omani Heritage Gallery encourages cooperation and partnership between public and private sector organisations and individuals.
• We recognise that the further development of traditional craft industries needs to take place within the framework of an increasingly modern society, and that artisans must be flexible in adapting to changing markets. As our motto, we have adopted the phrase ‘Preserving the Past, Creating a Future’, which reflects the need for development activities to balance the traditions of the past with the opportunities for the future.
• We believe in sustainable development, and take a business-oriented marketing approach to the development of Oman’s traditional craft industries, whereby craft production is considered to be a commercial activity, and craftsmen productive members of society. We do not believe in charity or subsidy as a means of perpetuating craft tradition.
• We cherish the integral role played by Omani artisans in shaping the country’s cultural identity, and the creative resilience of the crafts community which has ensured that Oman’s heritage has not been forsaken.