Palestine Museum Opens
On May 18th , at Bir Zeit near Ramallah, a new architect-designed museum
opened, the Palestine Museum, planned over the last fifteen years or so by the
Welfare Association, the group of Palestinian philanthropists who have funded a
number of major cultural and social projects in Palestine over the last three
decades.
The building – still empty at the moment –was opened by Mahmoud Abbas,
President of Palestine, watched by several thousand visitors, some of whom had
flown in from abroad. The recently appointed director, Mahmoud Hawari, is a
leading archaeologist currently with a post at the British Museum, and he is
expected to oversee a number of exhibitions covering historical and cultural
topics, including – perhaps – stories and displays relating to the Mandate period.
The building is set in a terraced landscape containing a range of plants and
shrubs native to Palestine. There is no security fence, allowing Palestinians from
Ramallah and elsewhere to visit the garden whenever they like.
On the evening of the opening day, a music and dance performance using the
new building as a stage and backdrop represented symbolically the successive
dispossession of the Palestinian people as a result of British, Zionist and Israeli
actions over the last 100 years.
Photos show:
Opening speech by Mahmoud Abbas
New director of the Museum, Dr Mahmoud Hawari
Visitors in the landscaped gardens
Crowds gather inside the new building
The evening performance outside the new building
For a review of the museum see:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/may/17/palestine-
museum-review- ramallah-west- bank-israel
