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	The Institute for Palestine Studies and the Palestinian Museum Launch the Interactive Encyclopaedia of the Palestine Question Ramallah / Beirut - 2 June 2022 On the occasion of the seventy-fourth commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba and the fifty-fifth commemoration of the 1967 war, the Institute for Palestine Studies and the Palestinian Museum, launched the Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question at the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit and at the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut simultaneously today. The fully bilingual (English–Arabic) platform, the first of its kind, is entirely devoted to the history of modern Palestine, from the end of the Ottoman era to the present. It was developed for use by academics, students, journalists, and the general public. Read more

	The Launch of the Interactive Encyclopedia Postponed Due to the Assassination of Palestinian Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh Ramallah/Birzeit, 11 May 2022 :The Institute for Palestine Studies and the Palestinian Museum announce the postponement of the launch event of the Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, which was scheduled to be held on 12 May, due to the assassination of the renowned journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Wednesday morning, 11 May 2022, by Israeli Occupation Forces while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin refugee camp. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Celebrates the Launch of the Palestinian Museum Digital Archive (PMDA) Website Birzeit, 20/03/2022: The Palestinian Museum celebrated the launch of the Palestinian Museum Digital Archive (PMDA)’s new updated website (www.palarchive.org). The site includes over 235,668 materials that illuminate various aspects of Palestinian social history beginning from the year 1800, and collected from individuals and institutions across historical Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. Users will be able to search, explore, save and download the archival information they need, making the platform an important resource for researchers and the general public. Read more.

	Coinciding with the addition of the art of Palestinian embroidery to the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity The Palestinian Museum announce a collaboration with the V&A to conserve material cultural heritage through a grant from ALIPH Foundation 22 December 2021- Birzeit/Geneva/London: The Palestinian Museum (PM) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) announce their first collaboration on a new project to develop the capacities of the PM collections department, including establishing the first textile conservation studio in Palestine, and to document and conserve Palestinian material heritage endangered by conflict, particularly traditional embroidered dresses (Thobes). Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Organises its Third Annual Conference “Palestine: Producing Knowledge, Producing Futures” December 2021-Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum organised its third annual conference “Palestine: Producing Knowledge, Producing Futures” on the Birzeit University campus, in partnership with Birzeit University’s Department of Social and Behavioral Science and the Mada al-Carmel Arab Center for Applied Social Research-Haifa. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Announces its Independence from Taawon and Registers in Palestine November 10th, 2021, Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum has announced that it is now officially registered with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior as a non-governmental Palestinian association and has become independent from its founding organization, Taawon. The Palestinian Museum was originally established as one of Taawon’s flagship projects through the generous support of its members. Read more

	New Exhibition Opening at the Palestinian Museum A People by the Sea: Narratives of the Palestinian Coast 29/9/2021 - Birzeit/ Ramallah: The Palestinian Museum announces the opening of its latest exhibition A People by the Sea: Narratives of the Palestinian Coast. The exhibition, guest curated by Inass Yassin with assistant curator Ahmad Al-Aqra', runs until 31 October 2022. The exhibition constitutes a shift in the presentation of Palestinian historical narratives. Starting from the mid-eighteenth century and ending in 1948, the exhibition allows for a re-examination of the Nakba through a presentation of two hundred years of historical landmarks regarding the history of the Palestinian coast. “Nakba”, or catastrophe, is the term used to describe the expulsion of over three quarters of a million Palestinians from their homeland and the destruction of more than 400 of their towns and villages when the State of Israel was established in 1947-48. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum and Riwaq Sign Cooperation Agreement for Partnership to Digitise Archival Collections and Generate Knowledge Pertaining to Cultural and Architectural Heritage Assets The Palestinian Museum, represented by its Director General, Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, PhD. and Riwaq - Centre for Architectural Conservation represented by its Director, Eng. Shatha Safi, signed a cooperation agreement at the headquarters of the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit. The Agreement comes within the framework of the Digital Archive Project which aims to establish modes of collaboration between the two parties for archiving and digitising Riwaq’s archival collections, and exchanging research and academic knowledge on Palestinian tangible and intangible cultural heritage. This partnership, which is launched by the Digital Archive Project, is a-first-of-its-kind initiative that is in line with the Project’s new scheme to establish a network of partnerships with local institutions.

	The Palestinian Museum and the Institute for Palestine Studies Sign an Agreement for Completing the “Palestinian Journeys” Project 12 August 2021: The Palestinian Museum, represented by its Director General, Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, PhD. and the Institute for Palestine Studies, represented by its Director General, Khaled Farraj, signed an agreement at the Museum’s headquarters in Birzeit, to complete and enrich the “Timeline”, which is one of the components on the “Palestinian Journeys” platform. The tasks entailed include providing the platform with additional inputs related to historical events, biographies of Palestinian personalities, documents and photographs. The cooperation will continue for three years. Worth noting “Palestinian Journeys” is a joint project between the Palestinian Museum and the Institute for Palestine Studies. The online portal into the multiple facets of the Palestinian experience, filled with fact-based historical accounts, biographies, events, and stories. Together, they seek to craft an ever-growing comprehensive narrative which highlights the active role of the Palestinian people in crafting their own history This phase of the project will be equally implemented by the Institute for Palestine Studies and the Palestinian Museum who has garnered generous support from: Hani Al-Qattan, Leenah Al-Qattan, Nadia Sehweil, Najwa Al-Qattan, Nureddin Sehweil, Ossama Khoreibi, Omar Al-Qattan, Shaker Fakhouri.

	The Palestinian Museum Celebrates the Repatriation of Historical Collections of Tangible Cultural Items from the Diaspora July 6, 2021 - Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum celebrates the acquisition and arrival of important collections of material cultural heritage items to join its growing permanent collection. The Museum successfully recovered 240 historical items from the United States of America, consisting of 80 historical dresses (thobes), their accessories, and other embroidered pieces. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Announces the Launch of its New Digital Educational Platform Project 24 June 2021 - Birzeit/ Jerusalem: The Palestinian Museum and the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem announced the launch of a new Digital Educational Platform Project. The project targets children, adolescents, families, and those engaged in education and learning about Palestine's history and culture. Work on the project will run from July 1, 2021, until December 31, 2022, so that the platform is ready for release to the general public by the end of the next year. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Launches Phase Two of Its Digital Archive Project When complete, the archive will include more than 360,000 freely-available items 21/04/2021 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum announced the launch of phase two of its Digital Archive project (PMDA), which will continue for three years as of March 2021. During phase two, the project will widen its reach, gathering Palestinian archives from families and institutions, and from diaspora Palestinians in Jordan and Lebanon. The aim is to digitise and publish 180,000 archival items that shed light on different aspects of Palestinian social history from the 1800s to the present day. Read more

	Director General of the Palestinian Museum on Palestinian women artists and creators 18/3/2021 - Birzeit: Director General of the Palestinian Museum, Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, PhD, spoke with RTVE journalist Yolanda Alvarez about Palestinian women artists and creators in a live broadcast of “Noor: luminary Women”, which was streamed on the official website of UNRWA España as part of its International Women’s Day programming. Watch the interview in Spanish here

	The Palestinian Museum and the Institute for Palestine Studies launch two volumes of selected essays: Jerusalem Lives: Biography and the Convoluted Modernity of Jerusalem; and hayawat maqdisiya fi seyar al-madina wa an-nas (Jerusalem Lives in Stories of the City and People) 17/3/2021 - Birzeit: These two concurrent but distinct volumes (Arabic and English) are selected essays previously published by the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) over the last two decades. The volumes are published in partnership with IPS as part of the Museum’s fourth section of the Jerusalem Lives exhibition (2017), whose focus is the production of knowledge about Jerusalem. Both volumes include forewords by their editor, Salim Tamari, and present biographical accounts of various Jerusalemite figures, whose stories bear witness to the urban transformations in Jerusalem and the city's social f/abric over the last century. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Prepares to Bring 80 Thobes Home from the Diaspora 11/02/2021 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum is preparing to bring home 80 legacy Palestinian thobes from the United States, following the success of its first crowdfunding campaign, “Let’s Bring Our Thobes Back Home”, launched in late-November 2020. Within one month, the campaign succeeded in raising 40,000 US dollars from contributors worldwide via the crowdfunding platform LaunchGood. The fund will be devoted to insuring and transporting the thobes to Palestine. Three decades ago, 80 traditional embroidered Palestinian thobes and their accessories left Palestine for the United States. They were acquired and preserved by Palestinian- and Arab-American women from the Committee for the Preservation of Palestinian Heritage (CPPH) in Washington DC, who worked tirelessly to present the thobes to the public in exhibitions held across the US. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum in 2020: Despite the pandemic, we met our goals and expanded our reach 5/1/2021 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum announced the achievement of its set goals for the year 2020, and the expansion of its reach to new audiences through its digital programmes, in addition to the development of new methods of delivering museum experiences to the public. This comes amid the constraints imposed by the global pandemic on the culture sector and all aspects of life. Like museums worldwide, the Palestinian Museum closed its doors to the public for several consecutive months, halting in-person events and activities. The Museum, however, immediately adapted its programme and digital platforms. It also opened its scheduled exhibition, Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun, and its first interactive family space, “Colour and Words Reveal the World”. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Holds Its Second Annual Conference Unsettling Jerusalem: Academic Reflections and Societal Engagements 20/12/2020 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum held its second annual conference, Unsettling Jerusalem: Academic Reflections and Societal Engagements. The conference was organised by the Museum’s Knowledge and Research Programmes Department as the year’s concluding event accompanying the Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun exhibition. The conference examined the centrality of Jerusalem in the Palestinian political, cultural, and social imaginaries, expanding on the research upon which the Palestinian Museum’s exhibitions, Jerusalem Lives (2017) and Printed in Jerusalem (2020), were built. It addressed the notion of there being two Jerusalems or more: one manifest in the individual and collective imaginaries, and the other, more distant, walled off and sealed with military checkpoints, unattainable to most Palestinians. The conference posed the following questions: How can we read Jerusalem in the collective Palestinian imaginary? How is the centrality of Jerusalem represented in the Palestinian cultural sphere? Is there unanimity with regards to one Jerusalem? How does resistance mesh with the acts of ordinary daily life in the city? Does Palestinian discourse reflect the reality of Jerusalem and its features? Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Unveils Its First Interactive Family Space 25/10/2020 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum announced the opening of its first interactive educational space in the Museum’s Glass Gallery. Named ‘Colour and Words Reveal the World: Interactive Family Space’, it complements the Museum’s current exhibition, Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun. It is open to families and visitors until March 2021, and operates in accordance with the Museum’s health and safety guidelines. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Reopens to the Public 29/9/2020 - Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum reopened to the public at the beginning of September, having closed for several months as a precautionary measure amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Museum announced it is ready to welcome visitors to its current exhibition Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun and its accompanying interactive educational space, in addition to its other facilities and gardens while affirming its full compliance with all public health and safety measures. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Launches Its Latest Exhibition, Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun, Virtually 27/7/2020 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum launched its latest exhibition, Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun, virtually on YouTube and its other social media platforms. The launch took place after the installation of the exhibition was completed in the exhibition hall of the Museum despite the pandemic and lockdown. The exhibition is organised in partnership with the Palestinian Heritage Museum at Dar Al-Tifel Al-Arabi in Jerusalem and runs until December 2020. Read more

	Meeting between Director General of the Palestinian Museum and Spanish State Secretary for International Cooperation Director General of the Palestinian Museum, Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, PhD, met through video conference with Spain’s State Secretary for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau, and representatives of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation in Jerusalem. Laïdi-Hanieh began the meeting by presenting an overview of the Museum and its role in bolstering Palestinian identity and in strengthening the bonds among Palestinians in Palestine and the diaspora. The meeting also discussed the partnerships the Museum seeks to develop with public and private institutions in Palestine and abroad, in addition to prospective partnerships with Spanish museums and cultural institutions, which Laïdi-Hanieh had initiated during her visit to Spain last year in November.

	The Palestinian Museum launches its Museum from Home – Palestine Perseveres Campaign 24/03/2020 - Birzeit: Amid the exceptional global circumstances and the precautionary measures taken to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, the Palestinian Museum closed its doors to visitors on March 7th out of concern for the safety of the public and its staff. Opting to offer the public a museum experience through its digital and social media platforms, the Museum launched its Museum from Home: Palestine perseveres campaign. Read more

	Collaboration between the Palestinian Museum and Sotheby’s Steve Sabella Offers New Artwork for Auction to Benefit the Museum’s Education Programme 13-03-2020 – Berlin/ Birzeit: Berlin-based Palestinian artist, Steve Sabella has put his artwork, No Man’s Land, up for auction at Sotheby’s, the oldest and largest auction house in the world. The auction will be held on 24 March 2020 at 14:30 GMT. Sabella will donate all sale revenues to benefit the Palestinian Museum’s Education Programme. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Opens Glimmer of a Grove Beyond: Visual Journeys Through the Landscape 25-02-2020 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum opened Glimmer of a Grove Beyond, a show curated by Adele Jarrar, which explores representations of Palestinian land and natural geography through a selection of Palestinian political posters drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection. The show is open to the public until 5 April 2020. Glimmer of a Grove Beyond addresses the notion of landscape and the alterations inflicted on Palestine’s geography that shaped the political project and ideologies of the day, and which reflected in turn in the artistic and visual languages employed in posters. It aims to outline links among the various artistic styles and methods of landscape representation, in addition to their fluctuating relation to the contemporary political project and historical circumstance. It complements the Palestinian Museum’s preceding exhibition, Intimate Terrains, and offers an opportunity to examine the landscape through an additional, unique artform: the poster. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Announces 17 Grants for Research on Palestinian Culture 17 February 2020 – Birzeit: In the first initiative of its kind, the Palestinian Museum has announced 17 grants for research on Palestinian culture. The initiative comes in fulfilment of one of the key components of the Museum’s 2019–2023 strategic plan and is run by its newly-established research and knowledge department. The department’s programme is aimed at fostering civic engagement and reflexion, producing and disseminating knowledge about Palestine, and addressing knowledge gaps about Palestinian history and culture. The department’s first annual programme is made possible by the generous support of Ghalia and Omar al-Qattan. Read more

	The Life and Art of Tavit Ohannessian, a Colouring and Discovery Book The Palestinian Museum has published an activity booklet for children, based on Sato Moughalian’s book, Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian. The colouring and discovery book features many ceramic artworks made by the Armenian ceramicist, David Ohannessian (1884-1953) during his years in Jerusalem. The book invites the children to draw connections between Ohannessian’s childhood in Mouradchai, Turkey and the works it would inspire in his career years later. It includes colouring activities as well as suggestions for children to ponder assorted questions. In September 2019, the Palestinian Museum hosted the launch of Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian, featuring its author Sato Moughalian. Launch events were held at the Museum in Birzeit, in Jerusalem (in collaboration with Educational Bookshop) and in Haifa (in collaboration with the Arab Culture Association). Feast of Ashes was longlisted for the prestigious PEN America Literary Award.

	The Palestinian Museum Holds its First Annual Symposium 21/12/2019 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum held its first annual symposium, titled ‘Palestinian Landscapes: New Perspectives since 1999’ on 16 December at Muwatin Institute in Birzeit University. The event concludes the Museum’s programme that has accompanied its outgoing exhibition, Intimate Terrains: Representations of a Disappearing Landscape. The symposium built on a conference held in 1999 in Birzeit University, which featured prominent Palestinian and international researchers, including Edward Said and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, and which resulted in the publishing of a book about the Palestinian Landscape. 20 years on, the Museum sought to shed light on the transformations that have taken shape in the landscape amid the shifts in political, social, economic and environmental conditions over the last two decades, and to deepen the discussion of Intimate Terrains. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum’s Intimate Terrains Exhibition to End on 31 December Birzeit, 16/12/2019: The Palestinian Museum’s current exhibition, Intimate Terrains: Representations of a Disappearing Landscape will end on 31 December. One of the largest exhibitions of its kind held in Palestine in recent years, it features works by artists representing generations of classical and contemporary Palestinian schools of art. It explores a central historic and current theme in Palestinian art, the landscape, and showcases various rare and iconic works. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Receives the ‘Visual Arts: A Flourishing Field’ (VAFF) Project Grant The Palestinian Museum and A.M. Qattan Foundation have signed an agreement presenting the Museum with the Swedish-funded VAAF project grant of 130,000 over a period of 18 months. Read more

	Dance Workshop for children: Music and the Body’s Rhythm On 27 September 2019, the Museum held a dance workshop for children and young adults led by Samar Haddad King and Hisham Abu Jabal and titled Music and the Body’s Rhythm. The workshop aimed to develop participants’ understanding of rhythm by means of their own bodies, using music inspired by the Palestinian landscape. The children were encouraged to create their own personalised dance moves based on their relationship to the landscape, learning in the process to consider and experience landscape using their bodies.

	The Museum Organises a Symposium about Archives and Archiving The Museum held a symposium titled Archiving in the Palestinian Context on 23 September 2019 at its premises in Birzeit. It examined the relationships among archive, power, the people and colonial hegemony, in addition to probing the significance of archiving. It also explored the archive as a tool of power and resistance and examined its relationship to art. The symposium was led by Roger Heackok, PhD (via Skype), Yasmin Eid-Sabbagh (via Skype), artist Abdullah Ghassan, and archivists with the Palestinian Museum Digital Archive project, Samar Ozrail, and Dia Hroub.

	Family Workshop: Preserving our Archives at Home The Palestinian Museum held a family-oriented workshop titled Preserving our Archives at Home on 20 September 2019 led by Museum Registrar, Baha Jubeh. The workshop began with a tour of the Museum’s conservation lab, followed by an overview of the conservation process in three stages: handling of conservation materials, conservation, and preservation. The workshop also highlighted the important role that family archives play in understanding Palestinian political and social history.

	Family Day: Representation of Landscape in Song On 13 September 2019, The Museum hosted a concert by Singer Dalal abu-Amneh and the Ya Sitti ensemble, who performed a repertoire of songs reflecting representations of land and landscape in Palestinian music.

	Objects-In-Focus: The Roadmap to Elimination As part of the Intimate Terrains exhibition’s September 2019 programme, the Museum hosted artist Rana Bishara in an Objects-in-Focus event to discuss her installation, the Roadmap to Elimination (2006–ongoing). In it, Bishara used cactus to represent the remains and ruins of the landscape, invoking the plant’s unique symbolic value as a natural delineator of Palestinian areas that were destroyed and erased in 1948, and as a recognized symbol of steadfastness. In the installation, Bishara created a chamber in which dried cacti remains were sown with the black threads that hung them from above. The fragile looking husks cast their shadows on walls plastered with maps that convey the systematic fragmentation and disappearance of the Palestinian landscape. As Intimate Terrains curator, Tina Sherwell, describes: ‘The cactus forms themselves echo the maps and speak of a perforated fragile landscape.’

Nabil Anani, Al Khurooj Ila Al Noor, (Passage into the Light) 1989, Leather and henna on wood, 80 x 80 cm, Courtesy of the artist	Workshop: Experimental Art Using Recycled Materials On 7 September 2019, the Palestinian Museum held a workshop for young adults led by Palestinian artist Nabil Anani titled Experimental Art Using Recycled Materials. Using papier-mâché and wire, participants produced sculptures reflecting different representations of landscape. This was one in a series of workshops organised by the Palestinian Museum and given by artists who had participated in the Intimate Terrains exhibition.

	Family Workshop: Armenian Ceramics in Palestine On 6 September 2019, the Palestinian Museum held a workshop for families titled Armenian Ceramics in Palestine and led by artisans Garo and Sonia Sandrouni. Participants learned about the different styles and patterns of Armenian ceramics as well as the artisanal techniques of their production. Each participant made their own ceramic work, which was then fired in a kiln at the artisans’ shop and made available for the them to keep.

	The Palestinian Museum organises a conference series to launch the new book: Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian Birzeit, 3/9/2019: The Palestinian Museum organised a number of book launch events around Armenian American researcher and flutist Sato Moughalian’s new book Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian at the Museum premises, in Jerusalem’s American Colony Hotel (in partnership with the Educational Bookshop), and in Haifa (in partnership with the Arab Culture Association). Read more

	Art Workshop: Introduction to Scientific Botanical Drawing On 31 August 2019, the Palestinian Museum held an art workshop titled Introduction to Scientific Botanical Drawing. Led by artist Elizabeth Tesdell, Participants had the opportunity to observe a selection of plants and understand their forms and distinguishing features. Based on their visual and sensory observation, they produced detailed scientific drawings of plants in the Museum gardens.

© Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)	The Palestinian Museum Wins the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture KAZAN, Russia – 29/08/2019 – The 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture Master Jury has announced its selection of the Palestinian Museum as winner of the prestigious annual prize. The Museum shares this honour and prize of one million dollars with five other projects that were also on the Award shortlist, which included 20 entries from 16 different countries. The prize will be presented in a ceremony in Kazan, Russia in the fall of 2019. Read more

	Book Launch in Haifa On 27 August 2019, hosted by the Arab Culture Association in Haifa, the Palestinian Museum held a launch event and discussion of Armenian-American researcher Sato Moughalian’s book, Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian. In her book, Moughalian explores the life and art of her grandfather, David Ohannessian, and tells the story of his role in the growth of the art of Armenian ceramics in Jerusalem.

	Book Launch and Talk in Jerusalem In partnership with the Educational Bookshop, the Palestinian Museum held a launch and discussion of Armenian-American researcher Sato Moughalian’s book Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian on 26 August 2019 at the American Colony in Jerusalem. Moughalian explores the life and art of her grandfather, David Ohannessian, who owned and ran Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock Tiles workshop from 1919 until 1948. The book tells the story of the founding of the art of Armenian ceramics in the city, tracing Ohannessian’s steps through his artworks in churches, houses, in the American Colony complex itself, on the walls of the Old City, and elsewhere.

	Historical Tour: The History of Armenian Artisanal Ceramics in Jerusalem The Palestinian Museum organised a tour and exploration of the history of Jerusalem through the Armenian artisanal ceramics that adorn its landmarks, houses, and alleys. The two-hour tour took place on 26 August 2019 and was led by historian and tour guide George Hintlian. It began with the 18th century and the roots of this artform in the city and concluded with the end of Ottoman rule and the beginning of the British mandate.

	Book Launch at the Palestinian Museum On 25 August 2019, the Palestinian Museum hosted the launch of Armenian-American researcher Sato Moughalian’s book Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian. The book explores the life and art of the author’s grandfather, David Ohannessian, who owned and ran Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock Tiles workshop in Palestine from 1919 until 1948.

	Objects-In-Focus: The Temporary Ruin As part of the Intimate Terrains exhibition’s August 2019 programme, the Museum hosted artist Benji Boyadgian in an Objects-in-Focus event to discuss his work, the Temporary Ruin (2017–ongoing). Boyadgian’s work is a detailed study of a landscape that is in the process of disappearing due to Israeli settler-colonialist expansion. Using items that the artist gathered in Wadi al-Shami, also known as ‘Garbage Valley’, the traces, remains, and ruins of that landscape are brought to the fore.

	Exhibition Tour with Guest-Curator, Tina Sherwell, PhD On 11 September 2019, Intimate Terrains curator, Tina Sherwell, PhD, guided visitors on a tour of the exhibition, which explores how representations of landscape have evolved from the 1930s to the present via a selection of works, classical and contemporary, by 36 artists from Palestine and its diaspora. The works include paintings, photography, installations, video and film, natural media, and sculpture.

	Live Audio-visual Performance by Dirar Kalash On 6 August 2019, Dirar Kalash presented an audio-visual performance titled Chronicles of a Single Day. Time: Beirut, Place: a Day in August 1982. The act is an audio-visual interpretation of poet Mahmoud Darwish’s prose A Memory for Forgetfulness, in which the author vividly relates an account of a day amid the Israeli invasion and siege of Lebanon in 1982 that came to be known as ‘Hiroshima Day’. The visual component of the act consisted of a selection of materials curated from the Palestinian Museum Digital Archive by Adele Jarrar.

	Workshop: Archive Conservation and Preservation On 5 August 2019, the Palestinian Museum held a workshop led by Museum Registrar, Baha Jubeh, on archive conservation and preservation. The workshop aimed to acquaint interested institutions and individuals with the Museum’s Conservation for Digitisation project. It also provided an opportunity for the exchange of knowledge and experience among institutions that work in the field of archiving, in the interest of raising awareness as to the importance of the conservation of archive collections in Palestine. The workshop included practical training in the handling, conservation and preservation of archive materials, as well as their digitisation and archiving for public access.

	Writing Workshop: Visual Art Critique On 2 August 2019, the Palestinian Museum held a workshop on visual art and culture critique writing, examining artistic representations of the natural landscape in a global context and within the theme of the Intimate Terrains exhibition. Led by writer and researcher Adania Shibli, the workshop included discussions of artworks and of a selection of written art critiques, with the aim of adding meaningful written contributions on visual arts and culture to the field of art critique.

© Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden (photographer)	The Palestinian Museum on 2019 Shortlist for Aga Khan Award for Architecture Birzeit, Palestine, 25 April 2019 – The Palestinian Museum, in Birzeit, has been shortlisted for the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The announcement was made by Farrokh Derakhshani, Director of the Award, in a ceremony in Kazan, Russia, today. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is one of the oldest major awards in the field of architecture. It selects projects – from slum upgrading to high-rise “green” buildings – that not only exhibit architectural excellence but also improve the overall quality of life. The Award rewards architects, but also identifies municipalities, builders, clients, master artisans and engineers who have played important roles in the realization of a project. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum and the British Library announce first collaboration to conserve and preserve cultural heritage 16 April 2019 / Birzeit-London: The Welfare Association's/ the Palestinian Museum and the British Library announce their first collaboration, in a new project 'Conservation for Digitisation', to conserve endangered collections relating to Palestinian history and cultural heritage. The project will be implemented between April and December 2019 and focuses on the preservation and treatment of 3,000 damaged paper-based items from public and private collections, such as letters, maps, diaries and photographs, to prepare them for digitisation. Read more

	New Exhibition Opening at the Palestinian Museum, Intimate Terrains 31/3/2019 – Birzeit: Coinciding with the 43rd anniversary of Land Day, the Palestinian Museum opens its new art exhibition “Intimate Terrains: Representations of a Disappearing Landscape”, on April 2nd, 2019. The exhibition, by guest curator Dr. Tina Sherwell, will run until December 31st, 2019. Intimate Terrains explores the changing representations of landscape by Palestinian artists and our relationship to place and location. Landscape has been a prominent subject matter in Palestinian art as a deeply layered terrain of inscriptions, memories and histories, which holds a central place in Palestinian identity formation. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum concludes its second exhibition, Labour of Love: New Approaches to Palestinian Embroidery January 14, 2019 – Birzeit/ Ramallah: The Palestinian Museum closes its second on site exhibition, the groundbreaking Labour of Love: New Approaches to Palestinian Embroidery. The exhibition curated by guest curator Rachel Dedman ran from March 18 to December 31 2018 at its premises at Birzeit. The exhibition received around 20,000 visitors and conducted more than 50 activities within the educational and public programme accompanying the exhibition, including interactive visits of 89 schools. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum archives 18,000 documents during the first phase of the Digital Archive Project 31 October 2018 - Birzeit/ Ramallah: The Palestinian Museum, within the framework of the Palestinian Museum Digital Archive (PMDA) Project, archived 18,000 documents during the first and founding phase of this three-year project. By the end of the project, 145,000 documents will have been collected and archived. The PMDA constitutes one of the most important digital platforms of the Palestinian Museum. It includes photographs, documents, objects and artworks from endangered archive collections that document the history of Palestine from the 1800s to the present day. Read more

	Dr. Adila Laïdi-Hanieh – Director General of the Palestinian Museum 2/9/2018, Birzeit: Taawon-Welfare Association has announced that Dr. Adila Laïdi-Hanieh will be the new Director of the Palestinian Museum starting September 2018. Dr. Laïdi-Hanieh is a writer and academic focusing on Palestinian art and cultural practices, modern Arab intellectual history and cultural spaces and processes. Read more

	Palestinian Museum Extends “Labour of Love” till January 2019 28/7/2018 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum has announced that it is extending its exhibition, Labour of Love: New approaches to Palestinian Embroidery to 31 January 2019. The decision was made following a notable increase in the number of visitors and participants in auxiliary programs and activities. Inaugurated in mid-March 2018, the Exhibition has already received over 12,000 visitors. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum announces the opening of its exhibition Labour of Love: New Approaches to Palestinian Embroidery March 19, 2018- Birzeit/ Ramallah: The Palestinian Museum announced the opening of its exhibition Labour of Love: New Approaches to Palestinian Embroidery, which will run until 25 August, 2018. The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Museum in Birzeit. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Announces the Commencement of its Digital Archive Project February 18, 2018- Birzeit/ Ramallah: The Palestinian Museum announces the commencement of its first Digital Archive project with a USD 1.9 million grant from Arcadia Fund. This is a new strategic initiative aiming to create an open-access digital archive of audio-visual records, as well as objects, documents and art works from endangered collections, documenting Palestinian history from 1800 to the present day. Read more

	Labour of Love: New Approaches to Palestinian Embroidery A new exhibition by the Palestinian Museum February 15, 2018- Birzeit/ Ramallah: The Palestinian Museum is thrilled to announce the launching date of its forthcoming exhibition, Labour of Love: New Approaches to Palestinian Embroidery, March 18-August 25, 2018, and a press conference will be held on March 17, 2018. In a moment of heightened global conversation around women’s rights and dominion over their bodies, Labour of Love explores Palestinian embroidery through the lenses of gender, labour, symbol, commodity and class. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum concludes its inaugural exhibition, “Jerusalem Lives” February 07, 2018 – Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum concluded its inaugural exhibition, Jerusalem Lives, which was held at the Museum’s premises between late August 2017 and the end of January 2018. The multi-faceted exhibition, curated by Reem Fadda and including the work of 57 artists, succeeded in communicating the vision of both the exhibition and the Museum, with over 16,000 people visiting the exhibition through different channels. The Museum directly communicated with its audience, organising school visits for more than 70 schools and universities, while arranging 66 activities as part of the Museum’s education and public programmes. Read More

	5000 Visitors and Participants in the Palestinian Museum’s November Exhibition and Events Birzeit: Since its launch last August, “Jerusalem Lives” exhibition has attracted over 12,000 visitors. During the past month, around 5000 school or university students, family members and interested visitors have attended or participated in the museum’s events. These events included two symposiums on the centenary of the Balfour Declaration and religious tourism in Jerusalem, an art workshop titled “The Knights of the Palestinian Museum” game, “Sow and Reap” activity in the museum’s garden, a life show by the TAPE THAT international art group, in addition to a number of guided tours for school or university students and the general public. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum Design Wins World Architecture Festival Award 2017 21/11/2017- Birzeit: The building design of the Palestinian Museum has won the World Architecture Festival Award for 2017 for the category of Culture - Completed Buildings. This award adds to a series of awards and recognitions received by the Palestinian Museum since its completion. Read more

	The Palestinian Museum receives Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification The First Museum in the Middle East and the First Building in Palestine to Earn LEED Certification 13/11/2017 - Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum has been awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It has become the first museum in the Middle East, the first building in Palestine, and one of only fourteen museums worldwide to receive this certification. The announcement was made at a press conference held at the museum in Birzeit today. Read more

	Family encounters with artists “Collage Lab: A Map from Scratch” This workshop was conducted via video conference between the Palestinian Museum and the A.M. Qattan Foundation’s Child Centre in Gaza 28/10/2017: This family workshop was inspired by the seminal work of Grassroots Jerusalem, one of the partner institutions in the Jerusalem Lives exhibition, on taking agency into our own hands, imagining and mapping our own city, Jerusalem. The 89 participating children, youngsters, and parents worked together with the guidance of the professional graphic artist specialised in illustrating children’s books, Lubna Taha, and the Gazan artist Salman al-Nawati, to rethink their perceptions of the city of Jerusalem, and the neoliberal colonial and imperial challenges the city faces. Then the participants, as persons striving to confront the challenges facing the city, designed a map for Jerusalem as they imagined it becoming 10 years from now. They did this through collaging different media, using various methods to paste together all the parts. The outcomes of the workshop will be uploaded onto the Museum’s website so that the public can see and engage with the results.

	An Exciting Talk and a Traditional Lunch "Food and Bakeries in the Old City of Jerusalem" 28/10/2017: The Palestinian Museum organised a talk and discussion led by Ms. Amal Nashashibi who linked the history of Palestine, through mythology, to popular dietary habits, showing the organic connection between them and the natural environment of the city. She traced this connection in the Old City of Jerusalem through the history and evolution of bakeries and their abundant presence in residential areas. Vivian Sansour then addressed the relationship between traditional diets and related agricultural-cultural practices, the history of farming and the importance of preserving our living heritage through the seeds that carry in their DNA our biological and cultural identities. She explained that preserving our biodiversity begins in our fields and kitchens and at our dinner tables. The audience of almost 400 people were introduced to traditional Jerusalem fare through sampling 10 of the best-known dishes prepared by ladies from Jerusalem.

	Family encounters with artists “Upcycling Wood to Build a Playhouse” 27/10/2017: This workshop was held at Al-Bustan Association in Silwan as part of the Jerusalem Lives public programme which aims at establishing ongoing collaboration with a number of Jerusalem’s civil institutions. Under the guidance and supervision of the specialist Muhammad Saleh seventy children from Silwan participated in a two-session workshop to build a permanent installation, a hybrid structure combining a Palestinian areesha (vine-covered latticed canopy) and a playhouse from upcycled wood to reinforce their sense of belonging to Silwan. This areesha-playhouse will become a gathering space for many Jerusalemites, specifically children, and provides a learning environment where kids can play, make art, read stories and have fun.

	Zatoune wa Manqousheh (Olives and a Za’tar Pie) 20/10/2017: On the occasion of the olive harvest the Palestinian Museum team hosted a day full of national foods and adventures related to the land. Nearly 600 visitors, including children, families, and interested individuals enjoyed a traditional breakfast of za’tar and olive oil pies and traditional bread with labneh (strained yoghurt) and za’tar, that reminded participants of the spontaneous bounty of the land and harvest time. Tea and coffee were served on the terrace overlooking the museum’s gardens, followed by communal olive-picking and curing.

	Panel Discussion Silwan: Challenges and Prospects 18/10/2017: The panel discussed different aspects related to the town of Silwan, during which the speakers addressed the legal dimension of settlement expansion, house demolitions and Israeli plans for Silwan. An audience of 18 heard Professor Ashraf A’war, the legal adviser for the Committee for the Defence of the Lands of Silwan, discuss the legal status and Israeli regulations being implemented, while committee member Fakhri Abu Diab presented some of the efforts being made in the defence of Silwan. Daoud Al-Ghoul, a researcher with a master’s degree in Jerusalem studies, offered an overview of the daily problems that the people of Silwan face and of the general situation of the town resulting from Israeli encroachments.

	"Jerusalem Lives" Bazaar 7/10/2017: In support of small commercial and artisan enterprises run by Jerusalemite women, and in an attempt at protecting and preserving the rich worth of the city of Jerusalem at all levels, the Palestinian Museum held a special bazaar that highlighted the artistic and artisan capacities and resources of Jerusalemite women. Over 600 people visited the bazaar, which aimed at getting the women to network and at introducing the Palestinian local community to their handmade wares. Visitors also enjoyed a distinguished musical performance by Al-Ghilan and Friends, a professional group from Jerusalem. Special areas of the museum were dedicated to various engaging activities and events for children, who learnt techniques for, moulding playdough and plasticine into cartoon figures and embarked on a fictional journey with a hakawati (narrator) who recited several tales inspired by Jerusalem.

	Interactive Tour for University Students from the Areas Occupied in 1948 In collaboration with the Al-alta’reef Network, one of the Arab Culture Association’s projects 3/10/2017: The Palestinian Museum hosted a group of 38 university students from the areas occupied in 1948 who enjoyed an interactive tour of both parts of Jerusalem Lives, the main exhibition and the artworks displayed in the museum’s gardens, creatively engaging with the unique space the Palestinian Museum offers its visitors. The students strengthened their knowledge of Palestine’s history and culture and reflected on their roles as individuals in remaking all aspects of the city of Jerusalem.

	Art Workshop “Collage Lab: A Map from Scratch” 29/09/2017: This family workshop was inspired by the seminal work of Grassroots Jerusalem, one of the partner institutions in the “Jerusalem Lives” exhibition, on taking ownership, imagining and mapping our own city, Jerusalem. The 65 participating children, young people and parents worked together with the help of a professional collage artist to rethink their perceptions of the city of Jerusalem, and the neoliberal colonial and imperial challenges the city faces. Next, the participants fictionalised their roles as individuals confronting these challenges through designing a map of Jerusalem as they imagined it will be 10 years from now, by collaging different media. The outcomes of the workshop will be uploaded on the Palestinian Museum’s website as a virtual exhibition for the general public to view and engage with.

	Open Day at The Palestinian Museum 22/09/2017: The Open Day offered a great opportunity to nearly 600 children, parents and interested individuals to visit the Palestinian Museum and its inaugural exhibition “Jerusalem Lives”, and to learn about the various activities specially organised for the public. Among other attractions the Open Day included 10 crafts stations, inspired by the commissioned artworks on exhibit, and set up in a dedicated space in the museum. Other activities included an artistic performance by the Narad group, comprised of six young students from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem.

	Mounting the Exhibition Tour 19/09/2017: Technical director Yazan Khalili conducted a behind-the-scenes tour for 50 participants to explain the various phases of mounting the "Jerusalem Lives" exhibition and artworks.

	Artist talk with Yazan Khalili 16/09/2017: Artist Yazan Khalili, who is participating in "Jerusalem Lives” with his artwork “Falling stone, flying stone” talked about this work to an audience of 13 people. The talk was part of the public programme of the Jerusalem Lives exhibition, aimed at helping the public to explore the art exhibits and interact with them through a series of talks by individual artists participating in the exhibition.

	Panel Discussion "The Economic Collapse in East Jerusalem and Current Strategies for Recovery" 15/09/2017: An audience of 30 people attended an informative panel discussion organised by the Palestinian Museum on the economic collapse of East Jerusalem, featuring speakers Nur Arafeh, Anan Ghaith, Fadi Hidmi and Raja Khalidi. Nur Arafeh, who was a Policy Fellow with Al-Shabaka: the Palestinian Policy Network, gave a historical overview of the deliberately engineered economic deterioration of East Jerusalem, focusing on current and future Israeli policies to further Judaize the city. Fadi Hidmi, the Director of the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce, discussed the trade sector in East Jerusalem and the initiatives undertaken to revive it, while Anan Ghaith, Executive Director of the Jerusalem Tourism Cluster, dealt with the impact of Israeli policies on the Palestinian tourism sector in Jerusalem, focusing on ongoing efforts to promote it. The discussion was moderated by development economist Raja Khalidi.

	Curator’s Tours 12,18/09/2017: Curator Reem Fadda led a group of 70 participants on a special guided tour of the "Jerusalem Lives" exhibition. The tour commenced in the central exhibition hall and proceeded to explore the emergence and effects of globalisation in Jerusalem through a series of audio-visual productions. The tour then passed through the glass hall leading to the museum gardens, and in the reflected glow of the sunset the participants viewed 18 art installations created by Palestinian and international artists. The tour bred an atmosphere of reflection and questioning on our relationship with Jerusalem and on the living reality of the city and its global presence.

	Art Workshop “It was Paradise” project In collaboration with artist Rachel Gadsden 9/09/2017: The Palestinian Museum hosted and facilitated a creative empowerment workshop conducted by artist Rachel Gadsden and attended by 18 Jerusalemite women who have experienced very significant human or material losses, including the death or injury of a family member, demolition of their home, and loss of livelihood or material resources. The workshop gave these women the opportunity to find an artistic voice with which to share their personal narratives as a part of the healing process, and to make themselves heard by both the local and international communities.

	Political Tour of Jerusalem In collaboration with Grassroots Jerusalem 3/09/2017: The Palestinian Museum conducted a political tour of Jerusalem for 13 participants that revealed the political and grassroots reality of the city by exposing how Israeli policies continue to suffocate Palestine's capital with the purpose of displacing its Palestinian population . The tour began with a 45-minute narrative explaining the historical context of the political situation of the city of Jerusalem. The participants next embarked on a two-and-a-half hour bus tour of the city, making six stops across the Jerusalem District and exploring issues such as the economy, education, health, home demolitions, the legal status of residents and settlement expansion.

	The Palestinian Museum announces the launch of its inaugural exhibition “Jerusalem Lives” 27/08/2017-Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum announced yesterday the launch of its inaugural exhibition “Jerusalem Lives” (Tahya Al-Quds) at a press conference, attended by representatives of local, Arab and international media outlets. The chair and members of the Palestinian Museum Board spoke to the press about the vision of the museum and its programme. Reem Fadda, exhibition curator, introduced the exhibition and the artworks. read more

	The Palestinian Museum Participates in International “New Museums” Exhibition in Geneva In collaboration with the Irish architecture company Heneghan Peng, The Palestinian Museum is participating in the international exhibition “New Museums: Intentions, Expectations, Challenges,” which addresses the architectural styles of contemporary museums. The exhibition was initiated by the Musée d’art et d’histoire, and was developed by Art Centre Basel, Switzerland. It opens on May 10th and runs until August 20th at the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva. read more

	“A Museum For Palestine” The Palestinian Museum Establishes Partnership with the Institute of the Arab World in Paris The Palestinian Museum is partnering with the Institute of the Arab World (Institut du Monde Arabe) in Paris to organize an exhibition featuring a collection of the “Museum for Palestine" Project. The exhibition will be held from Saturday 25 February till 26 March 2017. It will later be displayed in the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit in 2018 or 2019. The exhibition brought 50 art works donated by French artists in solidarity with the Palestinian pepole and includes paintings, historical photographs, and sculptures that reflect the diversity in contemporary art practices in the past decades. read more

	The Palestinian Museum signs a memorandum of understanding with Birzeit University The Palestinian Museum and Birzeit University signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance the cooperation between them. It was signed at Birzeit University by Dr. Mahmoud Hawari, director of the Palestinian museum and Professor Abdul Latif Abu Hijleh President of Birzeit University, in the presence of representatives from the two parties. read more

	The Palestinian Museum Announces its Programme for 2017 and 2018 The Palestinian Museum has announced its rich and diverse programme for 2017 and 2018. The programme includes five major exhibitions, as well as the launch of its online platform, and the start of its digital archive, and numerous educational programmes, research projects and conferences. read more

	The Palestinian Museum Signs an agreement with “Ommar El-Ard” for Waste Recycling The Palestinian Museum, committed to Green Buildings Norms, signed a partnership agreement with the Palestinian “Ommar Al-Ard organisation” to recycle the Museum’s waste. The Museum is the first green building to be awarded the silver. read more

	The Palestinian Museum organised a symposium on the History and Evolution of Palestinian Embroidery The Palestinian Museum hosted its third Symposium in the “Qalandiya International” at its premises in Birzeit. The session addressed the Museum’s first satellite exhibition “’At the Seams: A Political History of Palestinian Embroidery’”, which was organised in Beirut in May 2016. Speakers also presented the research alongside the exhibition on embroidery in the art and community works. Speakers included Rachel Dedman (curator of At the Seams exhibition), Farida Al-Aref Al’Amad, President of Inash Al-Usra Association, and artist Sliman Mansour, writer and artist, Tania Tamari Nasir, moderated the session. read more

	The Theme of the Sea in Palestinian Art & Culture: the Palestinian Museum Second Symposium in “Qalandiya International” As part of “Qalandiya International”, the Palestinian museum organised in its premises in Birzeit a symposium “The Theme of the Sea in Palestinian Art & Culture”. Speakers in the session included Dr. Ibrahim Abu Hashhash, professor of modern arts at Birzeit University, Dr. Salim Tamar, Historian and researcher as well as Dr. Alaa Hourani (representing artist Khaled Hourani). The session was moderated by cultural policy researcher, Fatin Farhat. read more

	The Palestinian Museum organised its First Symposium within the "Qi encounters” Speakers in this symposium were the Director General of the Palestinian Museum Dr. Mahmoud Hawari, the President of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and the director of the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (MuCEM) Dr. Myriame Morel, and curator of exhibitions Reem Fadda. The session was moderated by the artist Vera Tamari, and discussions explored the various models of museums experiences; i.e. the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations’ experience (MuCEM), the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum, as well as the vision and aspirations of the Palestinian Museum. read more

	The Palestinian Museum participates in the third "Qalandiya International" The Palestinian Museum participates for the second time in " Qalandiya International" – the inspiring contemporary arts event- in a series of symposiums and workshops, whereby some discuss this year's theme "The Sea is Mine”. read more

	Satellite Exhibition At the Seams: A Political History of Palestinian Embroidery 25 May - 30 July 2016, Dar El-Nimer, Beirut - Lebanon. read more

	A series of art installations celebrating the birth of the Palestinian Museum This evening, the Palestinian Museum celebrates the inauguration of its brand new building, with a selection of artworks and performances designed to express the cultural vision of the museum, and its commitment to the embrace and preservation of Palestinian memory. These performances and displays will introduce the Museum to the world, showcasing its message and its intellectual contribution - as well as its beautiful building, which stands high on the hills above Birzeit, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. read more

	Bank of Palestine donates one million US dollars to support the Palestinian Museum Ramallah – May 14, 2016. Bank of Palestine and Taawon - Welfare Association signed a donation agreement to contribute in supporting the activities of the Palestinian museum, one of the most important projects for the Welfare Association. This project aims to promote the Palestinian culture both locally and internationally, produce new stories about the Palestinian history, culture and society, and provide an environment to incubate creative projects, educational projects and innovative research. The agreement was signed at Bank of Palestinian’s General Management Head Office in Ramallah; the agreement was signed by Mr. Hashim Shawa, Bank of Palestine’s Chairman and General Manager, and Dr. Tafeeda Jarbawi, General Manager of Welfare Association, in the presence of Mr. Omar Al-Qattan, The Palestinian Museum’s Chairman, and a group of officials and managers from both entities. read more

	Dr. Mahmoud Hawari Appointed as Director General of the Palestinian Museum Taawon-Welfare Association has announced that Dr Mahmoud Hawari will be the new Director General of the Palestinian Museum. The Museum is due to be inaugurated on 18th May 2016. Dr. Hawari is currently the Lead Curator at the British Museum and continues to serve as a Research Associate at the Khalili Research Centre at the University of Oxford. He is a specialist in Islamic art, architecture and archaeology of the pre-modern Middle East, and an expert in cultural heritage management, museology and Palestinian cultural heritage. read more

	Al-Qasem’s and Habibi’s photos now part of the Family Album project Photographs of the late poet Samih Al-Qasem and the late novelist Emile Habibi are now part of the Museum’s Family Album project. The Museum team has digitised 54 photographs from Al-Qasem’s family album that document the poet’s life. Emile Habibi’s photograph collection also reveals moving stories that have inspired his literary works. One of the photographs, for example, shows the novelist’s mother, who inspired his first novel The Story of the Mandelbaum Gate, a gate separating East and West Jerusalem. Habibi wrote the novel after accompanying his mother to the Gate in 1954 on a visit to his uncle. These photographs are part of a digital archive of around 6,000 photographs collected and documented by the Family Album project. Left: A photo from Emile Habibi’s family album. © The Palestinian Museum Right: A photo of poet Mahmoud Darwish (left) standing next to poet Abdul Karim Al-Karami and lawyer Hanna Naqara. Moscow, 1969. From the family album of Watan Mohammad Samih Al-Qasem. © The Palestinian Museum

	Visit to the Inaash archive in Beirut in preparation for the "At the Seams" exhibition The Museum was given access to a unique photo archive at the Inaash Association offices in Beirut. The archive documents the production of embroidery during the 1960s and 1970s. The collection of photographs will be part of the Museum’s first satellite exhibition At the Seams: a Political History of Palestinian Embroidery, opening in Beirut in 2016. Curator Rachel Dedman continues to explore the history of the Inaash Association in preparation for the exhibition.

	Palestine Historic Timeline reveals stories about resistance in the 1930s Shams Al Hasna was a Palestinian fighter famous in the 1930s. She used to sell yoghurt in Haifa and help the revolutionaries hide their weapons. This is one of many stories revealed by the Palestine Historic Timeline project, an interactive system that documents historic events and makes them available online.

	Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation in Beirut to partner with the Museum The Palestinian Museum concluded an agreement with the Arab Puppet Theatre Foundation in Beirut for the production of a series of puppet shows inspired by the Museum’s opening exhibition Never-Part. The shows will be presented in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and in different locations in Palestine and Jordan.

	The Family Album is part of MEPPI directory The Middle East Photography Preservation Imitative has recently included the Palestinian Museum’s Family Album project in its photography preservation directory that focuses on the Middle East. The Museum staff received intensive training from MEPPI’s international experts on photography conservation.

	Artists illustrate children’s stories published by the Museum [From ‘My Grandpa’s Bed’, a story by Ahlam Bisharat, illustrated by Tareq Kamal] The Museum has been receiving initial submissions from Arab artists taking part in a Museum project entailing the publication of a series of children’s stories inspired by Never-part. These artists include: Tareq Kamal from Egypt, Khaled Sadaqa from Jordan, Lena Merhej and Maya Shami from Lebanon, and Narjas Abdellatif and Raouf Karai from Tunisia. The illustrations will accompany stories by Ahlam Basharat, Khaled Juma’a, Sonia Nimr, Maya Abu El-Hayat and Ibtisam Abumayala. The Museum is planning to distribute the stories via local public libraries.

	“Environmental sustainability” workshop In collaboration with the Goethe Institut in Ramallah, the Museum organised a workshop called ‘Environmental Sustainability: environmentally friendly practices and methods’. Designed to demonstrate different ways of reusing waste creatively, the workshop brought together a group of cultural, educational and environmental institutions with previous experience in environmental sustainability; sessions addressed the processes from a technical standpoint as well as providing practical examples of how best to recycle plastic and metal cans, paper and glass.The workshop was led by Nana Petzet, a German artist who specialises in waste recycling.

	Completion of the Museum building In September 2014, the external structure of the Palestinian Museum building was finally completed. Contractors proceeded directly on to the stone cladding, which is also very soon to be completed. Work on the electro-mechanicals is underway as well as building the terraces, planting the Museum gardens, and preparing the rainwater collection tanks. With its commitment to global green building standards, the Museum hopes to provide a model for environmental sustainability in Palestine and an exemplary healthy environment for Museum staff and visitors alike.

	The Palestinian Museum wins two prizes in Britain and Australia The Palestinian Museum is very proud to have won two design awards in 2014. In November, the Museum was awarded the prize for ‘Best Logo’ at the International Design and Communication Awards (IDCA) 2014, in which museums from 17 countries took part. The competition took place in Sydney, Australia. ‘The Museum of Everything’, from Britain, and ‘Musée de la Civilisation de Quebec’, from Canada, took second and third place in the same category. Click here to download the full presentation of the 2014 IDCA Awards and winners. In October, the Museum also won an award for ‘Best Corporate Identity’ (Typography / Logotypes / Brandmarks) in a competition organised by the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD) based in Britain. Entries were invited from around the world, from designers who have used typography as an integral part of their design solution.

	The Family Album project: the intimate side of history in Palestine The Museum launched the Family Album Project in November 2014, under the title ‘Your Pictures, Your Memories...Our History’. The project seeks to unearth the photographic treasures hidden away in so many Palestinian homes. read more

	A Timeline telling the story of Palestine from the mid-19th century The Palestinian Museum has partnered with the Institute of Palestinian Studies and Visualising Palestine (Lebanon), to create a web-based, interactive record of modern Palestinian history that is more coherent and accessible than any we yet have. This web-based, multimedia timeline of Palestinian history is designed as well for museum visitors. Available in both English and Arabic, the Timeline will present key events that have shaped Palestine from the mid-19th century to the present day, providing links to a wealth of related historical material (documents, maps, photos, videos, audio files, etc.) alongside each event.

	The Museum participates in Palestine’s 2nd Art Biennial In October 2014, the Palestinian Museum became part of the steering committee for the second Qalandiya International Art Biennale. Titled ‘Archives, Lived and Shared’, Qalandiya International was launched this year on 22 October and ran until 15 November.

	Four training workshops in 2014 As part of its training programme in 2014, the Palestinian Museum held a series of training workshops. The workshops were open both to the Museum own staff and to other members of the museum sector in Palestine. Organised with the support of Goethe Institut, the workshops also allowed participants to develop and exchange their own experiences and expertise. They covered a range of topics, from ‘Storing and working with photographic archives’ to ‘Collection management’, ‘Museums and education’, and ‘Exhibition production’.

	Palestinian embroidery exhibition in Beirut Rachel Dedman, a young British curator based in Beirut, has recently been commissioned by the Museum to produce and oversee an exhibition that explores the political history of Palestinian embroidery.

	Children of Ni’lin create cactus mural with Iraqi artist Atheir Musawi The Museum took part in the recent local festival ‘Science Days’ in Palestine last December, organising a workshop for children with the Iraqi artist Athir Musawi at the Khawaja Palace in Ni’lin (west of Ramallah). read more

	Meeting with Palestinians living in the Diaspora Last summer the Museum participated in the Birzeit Heritage Week with a small show featuring the architects’ model of the new Museum building, a selection of images from the ‘Holy See’ project, two short films, and other images relating to Museum projects. The event provided an opportunity to network with the many Palestinians then visiting Birzeit for an annual convention organised for former Birzeit residents now living in the diaspora.

	The Palestinian Museum celebrates International Museum Day with a workshop on storing and working with image archives On May 18, Palestine, alongside about 35,000 other museums in 143 different countries worldwide, took part in the annual celebration of International Museum Day, whose theme this year was ‘Museum Collections Make Connections’. Palestine’s participation took the form of a workshop organised by the Palestinian Museum and the Goethe Institute, targeting the museum sector in Palestine. The workshop was titled ‘Storing and working with image archives’, and took place at Birzeit University.


	Short Film on Digital Archiving and Photographer George Nehmeh This short film documents the digitizing of the UNRWA archive in Gaza. read more

	‘The Long Journey’: Jerusalem, the First Station UNRWA announced the digitizing of its audio-visual collection through ‘The Long Journey’ photo exhibition, held recently at Al-Ma’mal Foundation in the Old City of Jerusalem. read more

	Al-Qattan: UNRWA’s digital archive will help tell refugees’ story UNRWA’s collection has more than 430,000 negatives, 10,000 prints, 85,000 slides, 75 films and 730 videotapes and is inscribed on the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ register. The rich digitized archive contains rare snapshots of the displacement, dispossession and expulsion of the Palestinian people, thousands of whom are refugees in their own homeland and in neighboring Arab countries including Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. read more

	PM Mourns Othman Ra’fat Hamdan As we continue to record interviews with Palestinians from all walks of life for the museum’s opening exhibition, “Never-part”, we are constantly reminded of the volume of stories that deserve to be heard and brought to light. These stories reflect who these people are, and their memories are an indispensible part of the story of our nation as a whole. read more

	The Palestinian Museum: Palestine’s First LEED-Certified Green Building When the Palestinian Museum opens its doors in 2016, visitors will be able to experience Palestine’s first energy-efficient green building. Striving for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver rating, the Palestinian Museum will work with the Palestine Green Building Council to assure that it implements and adheres to green building design guidelines set by LEED. read more

	Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Palestinian Museum at Birzeit On the 11th of April 2013, the Welfare Association celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony of the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit. Over three hundred people attended the event, many of whom are leading members of the arts and culture community in Palestine, and the ceremony received wide coverage in local, Arab and international media. The Museum's hub in Birzeit is an ambitious construction project that will be carried out in two phases; the first will comprise 3000 square meters and will contain a gallery space, an amphitheater, a cafeteria, classrooms, gardens, offices and public facilities; and the second phase envisions an expansion of the Museum building to 9000 square meters. The Museum is expected to open its doors in 2016, marking the completion of the first construction phase.