“There is a special feeling of satisfaction when we make any item with our own hands,” my dear friend Sofia Henriques told me when we were chatting about life, culture and entrepreneurship a few years ago. I felt how deep and meaningful her statement was when friends and me recently visited one of the most magnificent modern monuments not only in the Sultanate of Oman but also in the world — Oman Across Ages Museum, or OAAM, where Sofia works and invests her unique international design genius with one of the most energetic and friendly cultural teams.
There are few cultural places around the world that would be able to inspire you immediately, for me OAAM took me on a journey to explore the journey of “making” and in particular how inhabitants of Oman contributed to humanity by making items using nature, across ages for thousands of years, starting around 8,000 years ago with the settlers in Ras Al Hamra, to present day innovative startup ecosystem players.
What is inspiring is that our predecessors, the inhabitants of this land turned every blessing that earth granted them into something beautiful. In Ras al Hamra settlements (not far from Crowne Plaza Hotel in Al Qurm) early Oman residents used the sea coast, the dry riverbeds or wadis and the mangroves to harness resources and build a culture. Finds show that they used their skills not only to hunt, fish and gather but also to innovate and make useful tools and equipment and beautiful jewelry using their own hands.
Ancient ceramics from Mesopotamian civilisations in present day Iraq, to jars from Iran, among other findings constitute evidence of international trade and regional relations continuity at the hands of early Ras al Hamra settlers who dared to venture into voyages across the vast and treacherous waters to trade with other people around the world.
Comex technology show
Fasting forward to the present day, you would see that the buzzing vibe at Comex technology show was not surprising. Comex’s visitors exceeded 70,000, visiting hundreds of public and private exhibitors, including almost 100 tech startups, all of whom together made around 50 deals, with a total amount of investments reached around RO 40 million ($104 million) in less than a week, according the exhibition’s main backer the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology’s Under-Secretary for ICT Dr Ali al Shithani.
Exhibitors included diverse tech startups powered by the SME Authority, Central Bank of Oman, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the brilliant Omantel Innovation Labs. Startup specialities included fintechs, Artificial Intelligence (AI), e-commerce, clean tech, advanced manufacturing, co-working spaces, drones, VR and creatives to name only a few.
The makers of Ras Al Hamra tools and jewellery would be immensely proud of the continuous innovation with today’s startup ecosystem players at Comex and beyond. When you visit OAAM, I believe you will be as inspired as I am with this deeply rooted historic connections, between the making skills of our ancestors and predecessors and the valuable innovating skills of today’s startup ecosystem. Looking forward to how this will evolve into an inspiring ecosystem, not only locally but also globally.
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