Birzeit: The Palestinian Museum launched the Arabic language catalogue of its current exhibition A People by the Sea: Narratives from the Palestinian Coast. This comes as a culmination of the research effort that accompanied the exhibition and includes photographs of archival materials, installations, and artworks from the exhibition. It also features two academic articles by the historical advisors of the exhibition: Adel Manna, PhD’s ‘A Paradise Lost: From Daher al-Omar’s Capital in Akka to the All-Palestine Government in Gaza’, and Mahmoud Yazbak, PhD’s ‘Yaffa: The Cultural Landscape in the Late Ottoman Era.’
The catalogue focused on selected narratives from the exhibition: the first highlights the rise of Akka (Acre) in the mid-18th century, while a second focuses on the rise of Yaffa (Jaffa) in the 19th century, with the gradual concentration of capital and trade in Palestine’s coastal cities. This was accompanied by growing European influence in the mid-19th century, before continuing to the 20th century, the Nakba, and the fall of the ‘country’ (al balad.)
The launch event featured a discussion among the exhibition curator Inass Yassin, Adel Manna, and Mahmoud Yazbak. The event was opened by museum Director General Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, PhD. She pointed out the significance of the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, as it presents new knowledge production with new approaches to the history of the Palestinian coast from the mid-18th century to the 1950s and allows a re-examination of the Nakba through historical landmarks.
Curator Yassin spoke about the experience of preparing for the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue and its many intertwined historical, social, and political rationale and details.
Manna shared how Daher al-Omar’s quest to rebuild the Palestinian coast had multiple components, including his search for a geographic foothold to constitute the capital of his state within the borders of the Ottoman Empire, and his search for an opening to the sea, away from Ottoman land military control.
Yazbak attested to the importance of opening the exhibition with the rule of Daher al-Omar, as it is an example of indigenous Palestinian political and economic agency before the numerous foreign invasions that succeeded it.
Copies of the catalogue are sold at the Palestinian Museum Gift Shop. The exhibition A People by the Sea: Narratives from the Palestinian Coast will run through June 30th 2023, while the English language version of the catalogue will be published in May 2023.
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. It is one of the most significant contemporary cultural projects in Palestine.
To learn more, please contact Public Relations and Media Consultant Duha Dkeidek at ddkeidek@palmuseum.org