TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Jerusalem the focus of first Palestinian Museum show

Joe Dyke (Agence France-Presse)
Birzeit, Palestinian Territories
Sun, August 27, 2017

Share This Article

Change Size

Jerusalem the focus of first Palestinian Museum show A woman arrives for a media tour ahead of the 'Jerusalem Lives' exhibition at the Palestinian Museum on August 26, 2017, in the West Bank town of Birzeit, near Ramallah. (AFP/Abbas Momani)

T

he Palestinian Museum launched its inaugural exhibition Saturday with a highly political art show focusing on Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem.

"Jerusalem Lives" opens to the public on Sunday in the university town of Birzeit near Ramallah, the Palestinian political capital in the occupied West Bank.

The museum opened last May to great fanfare -- but without any exhibits, sparking both bemusement and some criticism. 

Officials insisted at the time that they were merely inaugurating the building itself.

A press preview on Saturday of "Jerusalem Lives" displayed works ranging from the abstract to the overtly political.

In one room, a four-wall photographic panorama surrounds visitors with images of the ring of Israeli settlements around Jerusalem.

In the garden, a green staircase climbs skywards from inside a mesh cage, seemingly referencing the confinement of the Palestinians by Israel's occupation.

But the symbolism of the staircase, coming to a dead end in mid-air, is open to interpretation.

Curator Reem Fadda said the collection was meant to spark discussion of "cultural resistance" to the policies of Israel, which occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

The West Bank and Gaza Strip were occupied in the same year but not annexed, and their occupants need special -- and hard-to-get -- Israeli permits to visit Jerusalem.

Fadda said she had not been able to make the short journey over the past year as she does not have such authorisation.

Read also: Holy water: Jerusalem aquarium set to open

Palestinian diaspora 

A woman looks at posters during a media tour ahead of the 'Jerusalem Lives' exhibition.
A woman looks at posters during a media tour ahead of the 'Jerusalem Lives' exhibition. (AFP/Abbas Momani)

"The aim of this exhibition was really to provide a way for us to think in a creative way how can we resist this hegemony of Israeli occupation that is facing the city of Jerusalem through a cultural stance," she told AFP in English.

Another goal of the show, she said, was to "present Jerusalem to the people of Palestine that can't go to Jerusalem".

The exhibition runs until December and admission is free.

The organisers plan to bring groups of young Palestinians to the show, although those who are in Gaza or who are refugees in neighbouring countries will mostly be unable to visit.

Fadda said she hoped parts of the collection could travel to countries where there is a significant Palestinian diaspora.

Jerusalem recently saw weeks of Palestinian protests over new Israeli security measures at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the most prominent symbol of Islam and Palestinian nationalism.

Israel installed new metal detectors after two police were killed by Israeli Arab attackers near the site, leading to daily protests until the devices were removed.

Mahmud Hawari, the museum's director, told AFP that recent events had given the exhibition added relevance.

"The recent popular movement in Jerusalem has given us much more impetus and a context to the exhibition highlighting the hardships of Jerusalemites," he said.

The idea for the museum dates back to 1997, four years after the Oslo peace accords established the Palestinian Authority and were meant to lead to an independent Palestinian state.

Exhibition organisers said they aimed to create a place of memory for Palestinians, who often accuse Israel of rewriting history to justify its policies -- including the expansion of settlements.

The building cost about $28 million (23.5 million euros), financed 95 percent by Palestinians.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.