Maryam, the little curator

BW April 15, 2010

“Welcome to Bait Adam! You will see the history of Oman under one roof! My name is Maryam and let me be your guide for the day,” a pretty little Omani girl in a colourful traditional attire sings out at you in perfect English as she sprinkles rosewater on you. She gives you a card -- carrying contact details of the museum -- and then ushers you in to the Bait Adam museum in Qurum.
We have heard that Bait Adam housed some of the most unique collection on Oman’s history and featured rare coins, stamps, maps, historical documents and artifacts and most importantly, it was run by a well-known Omani collector. The well wisher who had asked us to visit the museum also told us to expect a surprise…All of that made compelling read and so we had excitedly trooped over there to have a firsthand feel.
At the door, we were greeted by this little girl with an impish smile. We later learn that she is the daughter of the owner of Bait Adam, the famous Omani collector, Abdullatif Al Balushi.
Before we knew it, we were transported into a magical ancient world, hitherto unknown, unexplored. A world where we hobnobbed with rare ghosts of the past, come alive by the sparkling narrative of a tiny young girl and the erudite commentary of a well-known and respected Omani collector.
Seven-year-old Maryam bint Abdullatif Al Balushi seemed like a fairy, and her little Omani walking stick looked like a wand in her tiny hand. She give us another little intro on Bait Adam, then excused herself and ran into the room and posed for the camera crew of Al Jazeera TV, which was doing an interview on her.
Today, the attraction is not just Bait Adam or the veteran Omani historian that is running the unique museum single handedly -- Maryam has become a star attraction herself being the youngest curator in Oman, plus Omani museum guide.
She breezes through the interview with the Jazeera scribe in Arabic and then returns to take us around, speaking to us in impeccable English, while her proud dad adds from the background that she is also equally fluent in Bulgarian.
She is fluent in three languages, and she is the youngest curator and guide of a museum, which is truly one of its kind! We realised what our well wisher was trying to tell us: The museum was quite an exceptional one, but the pleasant surprise was indeed the delightful little Maryam.
But, this little wonder is a recent addition to the museum’s attraction. Maryam tells us that she began this task only five to six months back. She had seen her father take tourists around his museum and detailing to them the intricacies of the ancient treasures inside there and like any child, began to emulate him. But, this was no mimicking, as Maryam was able to detail the particulars of the manuscripts and other items at the museum with the same ease as any seasoned curator.
She led us to a room dedicated to the historical relations between Oman and Zanzibar and gave us a good account of the items there. What was cute and endearing was to hear her detail -- Oman’s royal dynasty from the early pictures of the royal family posted on the museum’s walls -- in English, Arabic and Bulgarian. And, the transition from English to Arabic and Bulgarian and back was equally smooth. Her proud, doting father looked on from the sidelines, passing encouraging remarks and also filling in the little gaps when she inadvertently missed some points, or when the father felt that the detailing could be more descriptive.
Like daughter, like father
The father-daughter relation is also unique as both understood each other perfectly well and both seemed in sync. Other than some pointers, which the father discreetly told his daughter, the latter went on in full steam taking us around the museum and giving us a vivid picture of the artifacts there.
We probed into her background and how this cute little guide took to this extraordinary pastime.
Around six months back, Maryam tried switching off the lights inside the museum. But, she realised that she was not tall enough to reach the switch. “My dad had to come and do even that for me,” Maryam said explaining how that triggered off a need in her to help her dad who was singlehandedly giving the whole tour of Bait Adam. “So, by 2009 end, I began to help my dad, especially during the evenings and school holidays,” this bright and vibrant Grade II student told Black & White.
But, didn’t she find it difficult to learn all the intricacies of the museum items, most of them dating several hundreds of years back. “I actually find it fun. I know it is a responsible thing that I have to do, but my dad explained it in an easy manner to me, so it was not difficult or tedious to learn.”
Many people thought that she was too small for what she was doing, she notes a trifle petulantly, showing traces of her age.
“But, I feel very good and responsible. And all the guests who I have led around listened to me with great attention. I take them around for a stretch and then hand them over to my father, who gives them a detailed brief.”
Has she ever been overawed by the tourists, especially when the numbers swell? “Never,” she said, confidently staring back at us. “There was a time when she had ushered in guests who came in five buses, around 180 tourists, her father pitches in.
Bait Maryam
Maryam has one brother, who is elder to her. The museum is named after him. To stave off unnecessary sibling rivalry, her father quickly built another section, separate from that and named it Bait Maryam. Maryam also gave us a quick tour of that section.
In every other respect, Maryam is just another seven year old. She has a large tree house, and she has her toys, a pet doggy, Mielle. “Come and see my tree house,” she said, taking us to this large, double storied tree house. “I can watch DVDs inside and even sleep off there, if I need to,” Maryam said, also reeling off names of her other pets: a parrot, turtles, rabbits and iguanas.
Tourists who visit the museum are clearly bowled over by the vivacious little girl, who has somehow managed to find time for both study and play and yet indulge in this museum task. We ask her what she wants to do when she grows up, and for a moment she thinks…she is not sure. “Maybe a teacher, or a doctor…but, I will also be doing this (she indicated the museum).”

Like daughter…
“Maryam has some special sections in the museum and she handles that. The others, especially the main briefing, I handle,” Abdullatif Al Balushi tells us. Asked how he felt about his daughter following in his footsteps, Abdullatif said: “Maryam is like the face of Oman, traditionally dressed up, ever smiling and exuding warm Omani hospitality.
She is a real help to me. My daughter has that cute, childlike charm, which the tourists find quite endearing, and she engages them with her sweet and crispy chatter. She has learnt all the facts by heart and also by understanding. From my side I feel elated that she has shown interest in learning the history of Oman. Although she is just a little girl, she is quite fascinated by the slices of history housed in this museum, but, more importantly, she feels she is responsible to assist me in my briefing. I only hope both Adam and Maryam takes this museum further after me.”

But, this is the only time, throughout our interview with the father and daughter that the former evinced such a hope. Otherwise, he did not make any such comments. On the whole, Abdullatif is a man who can take pride in being the only man in Oman having such an unusual and rare private collection. And he has managed to this huge task alone. The only driving force in him is this indescribable passion for all things Omani – the past, that is. He has an eye on the quaint and unusual aspects of Oman and the country’s relations with other countries and their leaders. A quick tour of the museum will unearth many rare beauties, which collectors around the world would die to posses. Many are of great value to Oman and offer a unique insight into the scenes and times of an era that has past.

As a collector, Abdullatif began like anyone else, collecting the odd things like coins, maps etc. But, this childhood hobby soon became an all encompassing passion, which has resulted in obtaining some priceless historical antiques. “Since the last two decades, I have been collecting a variety of antiques. I have a great desire to preserve my nation’s history; I feel it is my responsibility and it has slowly become my purpose in life.”

And that meant everything. When your work becomes the main purpose in your life, everything else is secondary. For Abdullatif, it is this single-minded devotion to his work, to his collecting, that has transformed a simple collection into what is today a treasure trove of Oman’s extraordinary past. “Some of the items here are so rare that virtually no other collector or museum here or in the world has it,” the maverick curator tells us, detailing at what lengths he goes to get a rare piece when he stumbles on a clue. For the uninitiated, the world of collectors is a strange one. Many are known to have an unerring sense that helps them track down some odd piece in some forsaken land and they latch on to it only for the rest of the world to realise of its potential later. Abdullatif is no different. With just a small hint, he has been able to track down some valuable pieces from different corners of the world. “All of it, sitting in this same museum,” he chuckles. Of course, he has his ways and means.


No support
He is no longer negative about the lack of support for his museum and the sheer apathy many in the private and government sectors have shown for this remarkable institution. He feels that some day, someone will reach out and give him and the museum that support it desperately needs.
“Today, all I can say is that Bait Adam houses some of the most unique slices of Oman’s history. Some items here are priceless as well as irreplaceable. I can proudly say that there are some artifacts that are one of a kind.
“Take the example of this gift of H H Syeed bin Sultan to the seventh president of United States, Andrew Jackson. The gift is an ivory chess board given to the US president in 1833. The uniqueness is that the original gift is housed here along with the original letter of H H Syeed Sultan. That is the first piece of antiquity that will welcome you at Bait Adam. It took me 20 years of sheer research to finally unearth this precious piece.
“Bait Adam has many such pieces. I created this museum some eight years back in 1999. I was a government employee and I retired in 1991. Since then I am in to creating, updating and researching for this museum. There are times when I feel let down, when I realise it is just a one man show with no support from the public or private sectors.
“Think about it: What am I doing here? I am preserving history of this great nation… what could possibly be wrong about that?”
Abdullatif’s passion is an expensive one too. “Creating a museum, procuring antique items is an expensive affair. It is not just the years that I have put in; I have invested quite a lot of money along with my heart and soul… I only hope it continues to the future, so that the younger generation can one day see it all.
I am a private collector, but I am proud to say that Bait Adam has a rare and unique collection of artifacts from Oman’s history. The displays are all laid out aesthetically in five galleries. I am the collector, curator, researcher, investor, escort and the interior designer too. My library has the rarest of the manuscripts too.”

Lack of awareness
Like every other museum, records have to be maintained. Researches have to continue. But, Oman is still in its primary stages of archiving, notes Abdullatif. “The value of historical collection is not accepted in its true worth. Oman’s history is not about khanjars, dish dashas, potteries or masars. It is much more than that. Many of the historical artifacts have be bought over or taken away from our land. We need to bring it all back.
But again, awareness is required in our society about the importance of preserving history. There is an Arabic proverb I would like to quote… ‘for the one who does not know the worth of a falcon, it is just chicken meat!’
So it is time to gear up and create awareness amongst all to join hands to preserve a valuable slice of history – for history is part and parcel of every nation!”

Dream collection
“I have been collecting for over 40 years and spend 20 active years on research and procuring artifacts. Running a museum as an one man army is a very challenging and taxing role. There are many things out there which I would like to procure. It needs lot of money. Like the proverb in Arabic, ‘the eyes can see far, but the hands can’t reach…’ Still, I am happy; I have fulfilled my mission, I can relax now,” he says with that inscrutable and faraway look in his eyes.

By Adarsh Madhavan, Priya Arunkumar, photos: Najib Al Balushi