art

The film is going to be seen in China. I got the authorisation before coming to Cannes, which is good news for me. The version that will be presented in China is the one you have just seen Jia Zhangke, the director of A Touch of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding), a tale of corruption, exploitation and greed in modern China, when asked if his film would be censored for domestic viewers.

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A culture beyond borders

Its ours and its watered by our blood

Just a stones throw away from Israels separation wall in Abu Dis, near Bethlehem, is a miniature replica made from five concrete blocks welcoming visitors to the Abu Jihad Museum for the Prisoners Movement Affairs. The idea behind it, says the curator and director Fahed Abu El-Haj, is to show that Palestinians are two kinds of prisoners: those languishing behind Israeli prison bars and others suffocated by the wall and ubiquitous checkpoints. The three-storey museum is the brainchild of Abu El-Haj, who at 17 was sentenced to 15 years in an Israeli jail. Following his early release, Abu El-Haj realised he wanted to salvage all the literature, poetry and writings that Palestinian prisoners accumulated. Writing in prison was a dangerous affair, says Abu El-Haj. The Israeli prison authorities perceived pens as Kalashnikovs. This great heritage born out of suffering needed to be salvaged and showcased. Abu El-Haj, who was illiterate when he was first incarcerated but learnt to read and write behind bars, is dedicated to high-

We want this to be a place that opens up discourse to various, sometimes conflicting, narratives of Palestine
Jack Persekian director and curator

As well as a physical building in Ramallah, the Palestinian Museum will reach around the world with satellite museums and a virtual presence. Dalia Hatuqa reports
Imagine a lush field of poppies swaying in a soft breeze amid dozens of orange trees. Now imagine a building housing an entire peoples ideas, experiences and historically significant objects. In less than two years, this project, first proposed about 15 years ago, will be realised on the hilly terrain of Birzeit, a town just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. The building will be home to the Palestinian Museum, which aims to connect about 10 million Palestinians scattered around the world. We want this to be a place that opens up discourse to various, sometimes conflicting, narratives of Palestine, on issues such as iden-

tity and representation, says Jack Persekian, the museums director and curator, who previously directed the Sharjah Art Foundation and the Sharjah Biennial. In addition to showcasing e lements of Palestinian cultural heritage, art and history on a scale unmatched in the West Bank, the museum will transcend borders, as Persekian describes it. The concept is simple: a central museum will be based in the Palestinian Territories with different affiliated satellites peppered across the globe: from Chile to California in the Americas, and from Paris to London in Europe. An interactive virtual museum will also be created to cater to Palestinians on a global scale. This museum is more focused on connecting Palestinians who cannot reach the site, Persekian e xplains. Whats special about this is its not focused on a physical presence in Birzeit, but on the network it will open in the world where different backgrounds and affilia-

tions create a more tolerant image of Palestinians. It will take about US$15 million (Dh55m) to complete the first phase of the 3,000-square-metre museum. The design, by the Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects the firm behind the Grand Museum of Egypt in Cairo is inspired by the cascading hills on which Birzeit lies. The museum space will include climate-controlled galleries, an amphi theatre and a cafe in addition to gardens and orchards representing local topography. A larger building to house the museums permanent collection, added gallery space, a library and an auditorium will be built in the 10 years that follow the opening. Palestinians have built many museums in the past few years, which Persekian says is a trend indicating a thirst for spaces showcasing local art, culture and history old and new. We have about 30 museums, says Persekian. Some are rather small, focusing on ethnographic and

Above and right, artists renderings of how the Palestinian Museum will look. It is expected to be finished in less than two years. Courtesy
the Palestinian Museum

rchaeological elements. We saw a that theres also a niche for more modern, contemporary modes of expression. One of the temporary exhibitions focusing on the old will show cherished items that Palestinians passed down from generation to generation before, during and after the 1948

war. Those include keys and deeds to homes and books that survived the Nakba (the catastrophe that befell the Palestinians). As part of the new, visitors will be able to experience more contemporary modes of art that may include smells in addition to sights, Persekian explains, driving home the point

that the museum will offer a range of different artistic disciplines and modes of representation. Attending the cornerstone-laying ceremony earlier this month, Khaled Hourani, the arts director of the International Academy of Art Palestine, says conditions are ripe to set up a museum of this calibre. Its time to do this, he adds, because theres less hope now than there was before. We see this museum as a way to look forward to the future. Its easy to understand why this project, spearheaded by the Palestinian non-profit Welfare Association, is generating enthusiasm. This new venture comes at a time when the ability to move is severely hindered by Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks, and a political stalemate has only been exacerbated by an economic crisis that has put a damper on life in the West Bank. Fatin Farhat, the director of the cultural department at the Ramallah Municipality, says its high time a project of this kind was undertaken in the West Bank. This museum is not about having pottery in a room, Farhat elaborates. Its about documenting Palestinian intangible cultural heritage subjected to countless negations by the occupation. Even though the museum is being built to cater to geographically scattered Palestinians, problems of accessibility affect even those living in proximity. Its not easy for people in the nearby villages or those in Gaza to come here, Farhat says. Also, people are not used to museums, simply because there are other priorities, namely survival. Farhat acknowledges that there have been major shortcomings in the art realm before the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) because of limited resources, and even throughout the PAs rule because it had not prioritised art and culture until recently. Palestinians have been slow in this area, we are aware of that, she says. But there is a new awareness about the importance of preserving, showcasing and making intangible heritage accessible for Palestinians all over the world.

A display at the Abu Jihad Museum representing prison, fertile land and the blood of Palestinians. Courtesy Dalia Hatuqa
lighting the suffering of prisoners, a theme widely reflected in his curatorial selections. The 450-square-metre site is partially dedicated to those Palestinians who perished inside Israeli prisons. Other areas showcase personal diaries as well as letters and documents written in minuscule hands and smuggled out with visitors in tiny capsules. The highlight of the museum is an installation with six cement pillars encased in green grass on a red-tiled platform. This represents the heinousness of life in prison, says Abu El-Haj. But the land is still green, because its ours and its watered by our blood.

www.aj-museum.alquds. edu/en

A little-known story of Russian pilgrims

In the heart of the ancient city of Jericho lies a museum that traces the little-known history of Russians in the Holy Land. The structure, complete with domes and columns inspired by Byzantine splendour, was built on a three-acre piece of land once owned by Russian Tsars, then handed back to Russia by the Palestinian Authority in 2008. The museum traces the presence of Russians in the region, which dates back to the Ottoman times, says Igor Zhuravlev, the director of the museum, which was inaugurated in 2011 by Russias then-president Dmitry Medvedev. Attesting to this historical phase is a photo exhibit of Russian pilgrims often flanked by swordwielding Ottoman soldiers visiting religious and holy sites in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Nablus and Hebron. Among the pictures retrieved from homes of pilgrims who once made the journey from Russia to Palestine is a blackand-white photograph of about 100 visitors with Jerusalems Dome of the Rock in the backdrop. In addition to artefacts and remnants of a Byzantine-era mosaic salvaged during a dig just behind the building, the museum features a lush garden

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complete with citrus trees, herbs and other plants mentioned in the Bible, says Hasan Abu Samra, the museums guide and a history expert. Its backyard is also home to a 2,000-year-old sycamore tree, believed to be the one Zacchaeus, the short tax collector, climbed up to get a better view of Jesus as he passed by. Besides the regular visits by tourists, the ancient tree is often visited by Russian scientists to cure it of diseases and prolong its life.

Russians with the Dome of the Rock in the background, seen at the Russian Museum in Jericho.
Courtesy Dalia Hatuqa

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