Rooted in an academic institution, the Birzeit University Museum (previously known as the Ethnographic and Art Museum at Birzeit University), has since its early inception in 2005, been a unique space for knowledge production. In the heart of a lively university campus, BZU Museum embraces a new sense of interactive in museum spaces. BZU Museum was, from its very beginning, a groundbreaking experiment in Palestine. Given the colonial legacies of the museum, in concept and implementation, it has been an ongoing act of challenging norms. We work towards forging a local and contemporary understanding of a museum as a space that holds open possibilities between the past, present and future.
BZU Museum is an integral part of the university community and is a central space of dynamic interactivity and knowledge production. In the nascent history of museums in academic institutions locally, the BZU Museum set out to become a model for what museums can be in the political and cultural landscape of Palestine. BZU Museum was in many ways the first of its kind locally and has since been an effort in remaining groundbreaking in how museums are translated and curated in the Palestinian context. BZU Museum is a place of learning and knowledge production and is the space where we protect our history as we imagine our collective future.
Vision and Mission
BZU Museum is an interactive and public museum that redefines museums conceptually, spatially and practically. We strive to be an intellectual home within a university campus for innovative thinking in relation to our collections as well pedagogical and artistic practices.
Both the material and virtual spaces of the BZU Museum are active and generative platforms for innovative knowledge production and exchange that nurture tools of creative thinking.
The three major themes under which we work in the BZU Museum are: pedagogical, research and events. Under the larger umbrella of Hawaki al Mathaf we provide programing that include discussions, workshops, displays and exhibitions.