TAXILA: Unesco in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has completed a digitisation project at Taxila Museum.

The closing ceremony at the archaeological museum was attended by development partners, members of civil society, academics, schoolchildren, teachers and officials from the federal and provincial governments.

According to officials, the Unesco-designed project was completed over a year in three phases - capacity building of museum staff on digitalisation of around 23,000 antiquities, developing a web application with QR codes that allows visitors to engage with artifacts safely and securely for education purpose, and training of teachers from various educational institutions on the Gandharan civilisation.

A bilingual application developed by the Technology for People’s Initiative, Lahore University of Management Sciences, was also launched on the occasion. The application, comprising audio and text along with pictures and panoramas of the Taxila world heritage site, can easily be accessed at Google Play Store and downloaded. It provides a new platform that can serve as a learning opportunity for children and adults.

Speaking on the occasion, Swiss Ambassador Thomas Kolly expressed his country’s commitment to the protection and preservation of culture and art and how effective contributions can be made towards promoting diversity, tolerance, and peace.

“This museum reflects a rich history and varied achievements of the people of Taxila during the last four thousand years.”

Unesco Pakistan Director Vibeke Jensen said the cultural heritage was not only protected but that museums and their collections were brought into the 21st century through creative means that redefine them as modern strongholds of ancient heritage.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2018