Palestinian Museum Opens in Bir Zeit Without Inaugural Exhibition

After twenty years of planning, the Palestinian Museum opened on May 17, 2017 in Bir Zeit, a university town 20 kilometers from Jerusalem. The independent institution aims to support and promote Palestinian visual culture, but opened without a permanent collection or inaugural exhibition. The museum was conceived in 1997 by the London-based Welfare Association, initially to commemorate the Nakba—the Palestinian exodus during the 1948 civil war—but later expanded to document Palestinian society, culture, and art. Costing $24 million, the building was designed by Heneghan Peng Architects, who also designed the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. The opening was delayed due to the resignation of former director Jack Persekian after disagreements with the board over the planned inaugural show, Never Part, which would have depicted Palestinian refugee life through images, objects, and documents. His successor, Mahmoud Hawari, was appointed only a week before the opening, leaving no time to organize an exhibition. The first exhibition is not expected until late 2017. The permanent collection will be built through donations and loans from private collectors. Despite these challenges, museum president Omar al-Qattan insisted on opening on schedule to deliver a message of hope and positivity to the Palestinian people.