The Palestinian Museum is continuing to follow the development of recent violent events in and around the Gaza Strip amidst the outpouring of photos and videos documenting what is happening there, including the killing and maiming of civilians, the ongoing destruction of infrastructure in Gaza, including schools, playgrounds, markets, and public spaces, much of which has been pulverised into piles of rubble, and the extinguishment of dreams and hopes, which are now obliterated by violent military destruction. There are now new memories of war being created, which will for long be imprinted in people’s minds. In the face of all this, the Palestinian Museum has closed its doors to the public and postponed its events until further notice.
At the Palestinian Museum, we realise that it is not in the capacity of any cultural institution to keep pace with or track the abundance of events and images coming out of any war, let alone understand and analyse them instantly; such is the speed and intensity of the ongoing horrors. Thus, our work at this particular time will inevitably be limited. However, we will continue to bear witness to events by archiving the photographs, stories, and reports emerging from the war to at least attempt to play our role as a guardian and platform of Palestinian narratives. In this way, we are confronting the systemic efforts of erasure directed towards the Palestinian people. We hope that by doing so, we make possible the imagining of a free and liberated future for our country and our people.
Mercy on all our martyrs,
and Free Palestine.
*Taysir Batniji, No condition is Permanent, 2014. Engraved Soap, 9 x 6 x 4 cm. Courtesy of the artist.