THE Palestinians’ new national museum is a striking monument to the state they don’t yet have. Designed by a firm in Dublin, the museum itself is angular and modern, with glass curtain walls topped by smooth white limestone. From afar it looks almost like a low-slung bunker perched on a hill north of Ramallah; inside, though, it is light and airy. A terraced garden stretches out below, filled with dozens of local species: almond and fig trees, mint and za’atar.
Only one thing is missing—the exhibits. When the first visitors arrive in June, they will tour an empty building. The curators had spent years planning an inaugural exhibition, “Never Part”, about the personal effects that Palestinian refugees took when they fled their homes. But the museum’s director, Jack Persekian, resigned in December, citing “disagreements” with management, and the show was postponed.
The saga of the $24m museum feels like a microcosm of Palestine’s broader problems. The idea of building it was first conceived in 1997, but the plans were soon suspended amid the violence of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising. The...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/285SfM0
EmoticonEmoticon