BIRZEIT: At a museum in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Gazan works on display are proclaimed to be an “ongoing artistic demonstration” in solidarity with the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

“This is not an exhibition”, reads the sign at the entrance to the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, near Ramallah, showcasing art and heritage from the Gaza Strip.

Alongside contemporary pieces, the works include old, traditional paintings and costumes, as well as archeological artefacts, said board member Ehab Bessaiso, a former culture minister.

He said that the museum had launched the initiative to “preserve Palestinian heritage work in Gaza, which has faced destruction due to the war”.

Israeli aggression has devastated the small Hamas-ruled coastal territory, with its cultural heritage just one of the many casualties of war. Bessaiso said the museum had received “the works of hundreds of artists” from Gaza that had been held in West Bank universities and cultural centres and by individuals.

The display presents “the Gazan artistic scene in a new way” which helps “to face the challenges and difficulties which artists and culture are confronting in Gaza amid the destruction and siege”, he said.

In a January report, the Palestinian culture ministry said 24 cultural centres in Gaza had been destroyed “in whole or in part” since the start of the war.

They include the Arab Orthodox Cultural and Social Centre, the Rashad Shawa Cultural Centre — which includes a theatre, library and printing presses — and the Al-Sun­unu for Culture and Arts Association in Gaza City.

Historical buildings such as mosques, churches, the old Phoenician port and the Al-Qarara Cultural Museum have also been destroyed.

‘Whole lives stolen’

“It’s a beautiful thing to see the work of artists from Gaza here in the West Bank, especially because Gaza no longer has a place to show them after all the destruction there,” said Alma Abdulghani, a visitor in her 30s.Bessaiso said the museum display is “a journey through Gazan Palestinian art, especially following the killing of dozens of artists, writers, poets and journalists”.

“This journey affirms the oneness of the Palestinian people, which the (Israeli) occupation is trying to destroy.” The names of 115 artists are on display at the main entrance, with black marks around the names of those killed in the war, among them visual artist Heba Zagout and painter Mohammed Sami Qariqa.

“Those who have had their homes, dreams, memories, loved ones and their whole lives stolen by the genocidal war,” read the words inscribed above their names.

The museum administration described the display, which opened in mid-February, as “an alternative space to the one that once existed in Gaza before the war’s fires destroyed it”.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2024