Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum announced the appointment of Amer Shomali as General Director, who will begin his tenure on the 4th of October 2023. Amer Shomali is a Palestinian artist with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Birzeit University and a Master’s degree in Animation from Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom. He is currently based in Ramallah and teaches at the Faculty of Arts, Music, and Design at Birzeit University. His artistic works are featured in collections at The British Museum, The Arab World Institute, MUCEM, the Barjeel Art Foundation, and the Birzeit University Museum, while other works have been featured in Palestinian Museum exhibitions.
Shomali co-directed the animated documentary film The Wanted 18, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014 and was awarded the best documentary award in Abu Dhabi, Carthage, Traverse City, and the Al Jazeera Film Festival. The film was shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film and for Best Documentary at the 88th Academy Awards.
Omar Al-Qattan, Chairman of the Palestinian Museum’s Board of Directors, expressed the selection committee's conviction that Amer Shomali has a deep understanding of the challenges facing Palestinian culture in general. He is among the first and permanent friends of the Palestinian Museum and has collaborated with the Museum across several exhibitions and programmes. This experience and his youthful, inspiring, and ambitious vision for its future will enable him to deal with the nuanced challenges the Museum faces.
Expressing his appreciation and gratitude for this opportunity, Shomali looks forward to being a part of the Museum team and its history of building and achievement. He also expressed hope in building upon the experiences presented by the Museum in past periods and learning from them to expand the Museum's base and establish it as a renewed space for storytelling and dreaming.
The Palestinian Museum – Non-Governmental Association is dedicated to supporting an open and vibrant Palestinian culture locally and internationally. The Museum presents and contributes to new narratives on Palestinian history, culture, and society from a new perspective. It also offers spaces for creative ventures, educational programmes, and innovative research. The Palestinian Museum is Swiss-registered with a branch in Palestine.
Photos: from the art workshop Solidarity Revival with the artist Amer Shomali. Shomali implemented this workshop voluntarily with the Public Programme for a group of emerging artists and art students. The workshop aimed to produce contemporary Palestinian posters to renew Palestinian solidarity with the world’s oppressed peoples and took place on October 19th and 20th 2018.
