The Palestine Museum US in Woodbrigde, Connecticut, will launch a European satellite project in Edinburgh this May.
The now space will be set in the Scottish city’s central Georgian-designed New Town, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.
Faisal Saleh, the museum’s director, told the Art Newspaper that he sees the expansion from its Connecticut base as urgent after Palestinian cultural events surrounding Scotland in the UK have been canceled over the last year amid Israel’s war in Gaza. The Arnolfini arts center in Bristol, for example, canceled a Palestinian film screening and poetry event in December, citing security concerns.
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The announcement comes as tensions over pro-Palestine activism grow in Edinburgh. In the fall, that University of Edinburgh accused its chapter of Justice for Palestine Society of threatening staff and members of its administration. There had recently been protests that included blockades and the occupation of university buildings.
The museum’s Edinburgh space, previously occupied by Arusha Gallery, spans 1,141 square feet. Saleh, had earlier explored renting the former Israeli embassy in Dublin but was unsuccessful in doing so. He secured the Dundas Street location with help from members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. (Local volunteers will manage the museum.)
The first exhibition there will open on May 17 and will feature artists like Samia Halaby and Nabil Anani, the former of whom won a special mention at last year’s Venice Biennale. Also participating in the show will be Sana Farah Bishara, a Nazareth-born sculptor based in Haifa, and Mohammed Alhaj and Maisara Baroud, who are both based in Gaza.
Though the Palestinian Museum US was opened in 2018, it’s received renewed attention in the past two years. In Art in America last year, Carlos Valladares wrote, “I am so moved by the art here … because, in its dailiness, it exists in welcome contrast to the images of shattered baby’s faces on the feed, shot journalists, the shock-image-mill of Western media.”