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.
Designed for ages 4 to 17 and families, the space is comprised of six interactive stations: ‘Tinkering in the Printing Press’, which includes a variety of printing tools and activities designed by the Science Studio, part of A M Qattan Foundation’s Educational Research and Development Programme; ‘Alternative Images’, where children are encouraged to reimagine and produce visual material for the Palestinian school curriculum; ‘An Imagined Exhibition’, where visitors are encouraged to redesign and set up the exhibition; ‘Journeys’, where visitors are invited to design postcards promoting the Palestinian cities and villages they love; ‘Crosswords’ and ‘Communiqué’, which explore the political communiqués of the first Intifada with a creative, interactive approach.
Director General of the Palestinian Museum, Adila Laïdi-Hanieh, PhD, said: ‘This is a museum for all Palestinians, young and old. We are happy to unveil this space for children and families as a place for free expression in the Museum, where they can play, experiment, ponder and write without constraint. We open this space under exceptional circumstances due to the ongoing pandemic, well aware that children and their families may be missing the ability to enjoy public spaces that are fun and educational. We hope that this space provides a unique learning experience for families.’
The space is designed to engage audiences and encourage them to produce their own contributions and statements about the exhibition and its themes. An educational brochure will also be produced containing illustrated stories and activities for families to enjoy and complete at home.
The interactive space was designed and produced as part of the Palestinian Museum’s Education Programme, through which the Museum creates extracurricular learning experiences for Palestinian students. Its work is based in the Museum’s focus on the importance of interactive learning and the encouragement of creativity, critical thinking and expression.
The Palestinian Museum, in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Education, receives nearly one hundred government school visits every year, and produces educational and recreational resources tailored for the students and their teachers. School visits were suspended earlier this year due to the pandemic.
The Museum continues to hold online programmes and activities, which it announces monthly. It also receives visitors to the Interactive Family Space, Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun exhibition, and the Museum gardens daily except Fridays and Saturdays 9:00–17:00.