Modern Day Germany

It is important to note that not all of our documented history has been registered via written documentation, rather, art was the first known method in which history was captured. Art; a subject often looked down upon by society, yet is critically essential for the function of society in their daily lives and routines. Art is the form in which people, often referred to as artists, express their sentiments and creativity into a piece of artwork that often evokes responses from the intended audience. There are many styles and eras of art dating back from global prehistory, an example being the famous stone arrangement known as Stonehenge, to the now modern contemporary, such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Although it may seem that not all art compositions have a significant connection to one another, they each bring an enthralling variety of people together to mend and educate them in what art has to provide, such as what modern-day Germany is doing with Arab refugees.

The Middle East has, in recent years, been under the threats of war and terrorism which makes it extremely difficult for the innocent people living in the area to live a tranquil ‘normal’ life.

Countries such as Syria and Iraq have been devastated by civil war and the brute, terrorist group, ISIS, that has therefore, led to many of those people to seek asylum in countries far from those affected areas. One of the many destinations that refugees head towards is Germany. While the German people were very opposed to the acceptance of these refugees at first, due to the minimal interaction with them prior, the government has attempted ways in which they could integrate more efficiently into the foreign German society, one being the free Arabic-language tours in Berlin’s art & historical museums known as

Multaka.
A recent news article published by The New York Times describes the countless reactions to this new program created by the German government from both refugees, Arabs and German civilians themselves along with the details over the program. Many refugees that have participated in the tours are often awestruck by the Arab heritage they discover in the Berlin museums. Although not classified as a refugee, Ms. Masoud, one of the Arabic tour guides, stated that the Germans stole their heritage which in a way can be considered true via the amount of artifacts first belonging to the Arab peninsula. However, if the Germans have not done that to the Arab artifacts they now hold and protect in the museums, numerous would be lost to the torment of war and terrorism in the Arab countries. Multaka is a program financed from both the German government along with some private foundations. It provides two Arabic-language tours a week at four of Berlin’s museums. The program also supplies the Arabs participating with food, housing, and language/training programs. This program has given the ‘broken’ people from the Arab peninsula a purpose in the land foreign to them. It has allowed relations between them and the German people to flourish, and furthermore, has repaired the futures of countless refugees arriving from the previous poor conditions they found themselves in their home countries of Syria and Iraq.