BEIRUT: When you consider all the ways humans communicate — from memes to smoke signals to shared glances — the task of categorizing them becomes overwhelming.
To explore how truth is constructed through communication, Alfredo Cramerotti, director of the Media Majlis at Northwestern Qatar, the Middle East’s first museum dedicated to media, reflects on the challenges and privileges of leading such an institution.
“Directing the Media Majlis Museum is an immersive commitment … not a job that neatly divides into categories,” Cramerotti told Arab News.
Unlike traditional museums that present information and leave visitors to draw their own conclusions, the Media Majlis delves into the mechanics of how truth itself is shaped — and sometimes manipulated.
“We are not adjudicating truth but rather unpacking the means through which truth is constructed, circulated, and challenged,” Cramerotti explained.
Truth, as he sees it, is endlessly complex and often travels through unexpected, even mundane, vehicles. One such vehicle? Memes.
“Memes operate as a currency of commentary, at once ephemeral and enduring, local and global,” he said, discussing the museum’s upcoming exhibition “Memememememe,” opening Sept. 1.
As Cramerotti points out, the meme’s clickability — its blend of humor and urgency — has made it one of today’s most powerful tools of communication. It’s exactly the kind of cultural artifact worthy of deeper study.
“That kind of recognition, both reflective and disruptive, is what museums should be capable of generating,” he said.
While humor certainly infuses much of today’s communication, there is also a decisive political backdrop that sets the scene for a media-dedicated museum in the Arab world — namely, the silencing of Arab journalists across the Middle East.
“Rather than speak on behalf of others, we work to create conditions where their words, images, and decisions speak for themselves,” Cramerotti noted.
