GEORGE AL’AMA Palestinian art researcher and collector “Behind the exhibition ‘Minkom wa elaykom ‘ there’s something very personal, which is the chain chain of my late great grandmother”. George Al'Ama is a researcher and collector of Palestinian art and one of the founders of the Dar Al-Sabagh Cultural Center in Bethlehem, which is hosting an exhibition of Palestinian handicrafts from Monday 19, in collaboration with the Terra Sancta Museum. GEORGE AL’AMA Palestinian art researcher and collector “‘Minkom wa elaykom’ is ‘from you to you’. Those pieces were made by you, the Bethlehemites and they’re returning to you”. A meaningful title, evocative of many stories intertwined between past and present. GEORGE AL’AMA Palestinian art researcher and collector "I heard from my grandmother that she donated this piece to the parish for the expenses of an aunt's funeral. It was the key to starting my research in 2007." Between rooms and offices, one is immersed in the centuries-old tradition of Palestinian handicrafts: clothing, sculptures, jewelry, headdresses, and mother-of-pearl works. Among the most valuable pieces is a 17th-century model of the Holy Sepulcher, one of the few examples in the world. Not only objects but also faces. Those of the craftsmen of the past who look out from the photographs hanging on the walls, the authors of many of the works on display here, and those of some of their descendants, who were present at the opening. Br STÉPHANE MILOVITCH, ofm Cultural Heritage Office Director - Custody of the Holy Land "Some works that might have seemed anonymous find a history. We know who the people who created these works are. We like not only to show works of art, but works of art that have a history in this context. We are a church, we are not just a museum." The exhibits are owned by the Terra Sancta Museum and will be displayed largely in the Museum's new Historical Section, currently under construction. Br STÉPHANE MILOVITCH, ofm Cultural Heritage Office Director - Custody of the Holy Land "In 2025 the second section of the Terra Sancta Museum will be born in St. Savior's. We will display works offered by Christians from abroad, but also a great heritage offered by the local Church of the Holy Land, especially mother-of-pearl works made here in Bethlehem." In an informal meeting on the progress of the works, Br. Stéphane Milovitch explained the design of the various exhibition halls. He also emphasized the value of dialogue with other communities living in the Holy Land, expressed in this project and in the exhibition initiatives that animate the various collaborations of the Terra Sancta Museum, such as the one on Palestinian handicrafts underway in Bethlehem: Br STÉPHANE MILOVITCH, ofm Cultural Heritage Office Director - Custody of the Holy Land "The Church is a bridge between the other communities - Jewish and Muslim - in this country, and this is not only today but always, and the Museum also wants to illustrate this." Read More