With Sultan Al Hussain Al Hammadi
Ages 17+
In Arabic

How can a city reveal its past? What can buildings, photographs, maps and personal recollections tell us about the people and events that shaped it? How do fragments of information come together to form a broader understanding of a place?

Explore the historic city of Sharjah through the lens of urban memory. Focusing on the city's history, architecture and social life, examine how different forms of evidence can be used to uncover and interpret the stories embedded within the urban landscape.

Learn about five interconnected research methodologies for understanding Sharjah: tangible evidence, including built heritage and archaeology; archival documents; historical drawings and photographs; oral histories; and comparative analysis. Together, these approaches offer multiple ways of investigating the city's past and present.

Through collaborative research activities, examine data from the different types of sources. Then assemble and connect fragments of the information to construct timelines, reveal relationships and build a more nuanced picture of Sharjah's urban history. What happens when oral testimony challenges archival records? How can a forgotten photograph reshape our understanding of a neighbourhood? And how do cities retain traces of the communities that have inhabited them over time?

Open to all backgrounds and requiring no prior knowledge of architecture, history or heritage studies, this course offers an introduction to the methods for documenting and reconstructing urban memory while encouraging new ways of reading and understanding a city.

This session is free, and all materials are provided by Sharjah Art Foundation.

About Sultan Al Hussain Al Hammadi

Sultan Al Hussain Al Hammadi is the Director of Projects, Restoration and Properties at the Sharjah Institute for Heritage. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Global Studies University, Sharjah. He holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the American University of Sharjah and a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from the University of Sharjah. Through his role at the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, he is actively engaged in documenting, preserving and restoring the memory of the city through tangible heritage conservation and cultural initiatives. Encompassing not only Sharjah but the wider Gulf and Indian Ocean regions, Al Hammadi’s academic interests extend to the historical interconnectedness of port cities, trade networks and cultural exchanges. By combining heritage practice, urban studies and historical research, his work seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of Sharjah’s place within broader regional and global histories.

The Foundation is committed to making its programmes inclusive and accessible. You can arrange for any support needed through the registration form.

For more information, email learning@sharjahart.org, or call (06) 544 4113.