The Palestinian Museum invites you to contribute to its upcoming exhibition on Palestinianal (in and about Palestine) musical practices, set to be launched in 2023, made possible by the lending of a variety of audio media and playback devices from your personal collections and family archives. PM is looking for contributors to lend cassette tapes, CDs, and gramophones by Palestinian or international musicians and singers who composed and sung for Palestine, to be displayed among other objects and artworks in the exhibition. Therefore, we at PM shall be pleased to receive your contributions, and we hope that you will take into account the following considerations: - The PM will sign a lending agreement with object owners who wish to lend to the exhibition, guaranteeing their ownership rights to the objects, and that these objects will be returned intact following the end of the exhibition, knowing that this contract will not entail any financial compensation for the lender. - The PM is fully responsible for all logistics and procedures necessary to transport objects from their owners to its headquarters in Birzeit as well as the return of objects intact to their owners following the end of the exhibition. - The PM will indicate the object owner’s ownership rights within the exhibition as well as in all accompanying publications, such as the catalogue, exhibition guide, guidebooks, social media posts, and media material. - If you wish to contribute cassette tapes, it is helpful that they include a well-maintained cover with information such as title, band name, author(s), composer(s), singer(s), date of production, and place of production. - If you wish to contribute audio storage media, for this exhibition the museum’s needs revolve around phonograph records, also known as gramophone or vinyl records. It is helpful that these records come with clear information, such as title, band name, author(s), composer(s), singer(s), date of production, place of production, and any information about the record manufacturer. - If you wish to contribute record-playing devices, for this exhibition the museum’s needs revolve around gramophone/phonograph records produced by the Baidaphon or His Master’s Voice companies, both of which became well-renowned in the early 20th century. Once the PM has received these objects, it will sign loan agreements with their owners that will allow the PM to digitise select materials recorded on loaned cassette tapes to be converted into audio productions to be used within the exhibition hall. These loan agreements will also allow the PM to display audio storage media, playback devices, and records in the exhibition alongside other objects and artworks. Please note that, as to be stipulated in the loan agreement, the lender must be prepared to grant the PM the objects during the preparation period for the exhibition as well as following the end of the exhibition, for a period of time no less than 2 years from the date of the loan. It must also be noted that the PM may have to schedule a longer lending period with the owner if more time is needed, taking into account the possibility of moving the exhibition to other countries in the upcoming years.
Those interested in contributing are kindly requested to send a letter of interest to musicexhibition@palmuseum.org, which should include the following:
1. Information about the object that the owner wishes to lend to the museum, or information that can confirm and ensure its authenticity, such as object type (e.g., cassette tape), year of production or release (e.g., 1970), producer/artist, estimated object condition (good, average, poor), usage rate (in use, never used, occasionally used, number of years since last use…), and additional historical information about the object.
2. A photo of the object to be lent. Smartphone photos are acceptable, so long as it is taken into account that they are clear and of high quality and the object is visible from all sides.
3. Personal details of the lender/owner (name, age, place of residence, contact information).
The PM shall be pleased to receive your contributions no later than Monday, January 30th, 2023. We hope that this will constitute a valuable opportunity for you to participate in the museum’s research and exhibition production. In time, our team will communicate with the lenders of the selected objects to inform them of the delivery mechanism and procedures.
Happy New Year and Happy Exhibition time!
The Palestinian Museum Music Exhibition Team.