Museum on the Seam

In 1999, it opened as the Museum on the Seam – for Dialogue, Understanding and Coexistence. The attempt at dialogue and coexistence are not limited only to Jews and Arabs, as one might expect, but rather to Israeli society with its many and varied differences. There is an attempt here to connect between ‘us’ and ‘them’ regardless of what those might be.

It is the type of place one wants to encourage people to visit while not revealing the sheer power of the visit. And powerful it is.

Museum on the Seam is not a place you walk into, view the displays and simply leave. Rather, it is truly an interactive experience, facilitated by a guide, who literally walks you through an array of exhibits (note, to ensure that you will be able to see the exhibits visits should be pre-arranged). The tour typically lasts about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. Exhibits are available in English, Hebrew and Arabic (the guide chooses the appropriate language as you walk through). The tour includes a magnificent lookout from the museum’s rooftop, where a Cafe is planned.

Located on the seam between East and West Jerusalem or what used to be the seam between Israel and Jordan the museum is also on the seam of the ultra-orthodox and secular neighborhoods. Not only is the museum now more in step with the realities of the era, it offers a thought provoking experience, replete with high-tech ingenuity.

The building is best known to most as the Tourjeman Post. In a previous incarnation, it served as a museum dedicated to the divided/re-united city, Jerusalem. Like the city that houses it, this is a place where old meets new. The building’s outward exterior, a testament to its history, is certainly not representative of the displays inside. It is a place where twenty-first century exhibits meet a war-torn balcony (see photo).

Originally built in the 1930s by a Palestinian Christian architect (Andoni Baramki) for his family, the building was first captured by the Haganah forces in 1948 and used as a forward military position. Later, in 1967 it was once again on the front. Both in the past, as in the present, the building’s importance is based on geography. When the city was divided, the area in which the museum is located was known as the Mandelbaum Gate. The Mandelbaum Gate area was the sole location for Israel-Jordan Armistice Committee meetings, held between officers of the IDF and the Jordanian Legion officers, under the auspices of the United Nations. In fact, the United Nations building is just across the way from the museum.

Whether listening to the cacophony of vocal views, from all walks of Israeli society; digitally drawing graffiti on a wall where Israeli soldiers drew graffiti while at their post; or walking the Corridor of Peace, with quotes from Nobel Peace Prize laureates, this tour is sure to make you ponder how dialogue, coexistence and understanding can be achieved in today’s Israeli society. The tour ends with a 20-minute movie that can include a very interesting ending in a unique conference room.

The renovation of the museum was made possible by a contribution from the von Holtzbrinck family through the Jerusalem Foundation.

Exhibition HEARTQUAKE will open on Thursday, July 18, 2008 at 11:00. The exhibition deals with identity and otherness in the face of anxiety. HEARTQUAKE seeks to expose and to emphasize people’s emotional confrontation with their surroundings, and to examine, through the prism of anxiety, their responses and as injurers and as injured, with the aim of understanding and reshaping the social relations among population groups in the global era.

The exhibition includes 35 leading artists from Israel and abroad who through their work examine the subject of anxiety and trauma and how these factors effect private and collective connections in the public arena.

Selected list of participating artists include:

Anselm Kiefer (Germany), Douglas Gordon (Scotland), Yael Bartana (Israel), Alfredo Jaar (Chile), Charles Sandison (England), Stephan Kaluza (Germany), Adam Adach (Poland), Max Streicher (Canada), Pavel Wolberg (Israel), Chiharu Shiota (Japan), Daniela Comani (Italy), Noh Suntag (South Korea).

The exhibition was developed through a meaningful curatorial dialogue with texts written by leading thinkers and writers, among them: Sigmund Freud, Homi K. Bhabha, Aviezer Ravitzky and Toni Morrison. The exhibition curator is Raphie Etgar.

The museum is located at: Museum on the Seam, 4 Chel Handasa St., Jerusalem.

PHONE: +972-2-6281278
FAX: +972-2-6277061

Directions: Buses #30 & #6

Website: www.mots.org.il
Email address for booking tours: bookings@coexistence.art.museum

Visiting Hours by prior appointment only: Sunday-Thursday 9:00-5:00; Fridays 9:00-2:00; Closed on Saturdays.

Entry Feed: Adult, 25 NIS; Children, Students, Senior Citizens, 20 NIS.