The Archives

The Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind believes in archives as a questioning tool that opens discussions and reflects transparency in collecting information to enrich the public understanding of the world. Archives can provide impartial, neutral and objective evidence of activities of institutions and can tell us accurate stories about their histories, only if were not reshaped, reinterpreted, and reinvented maliciously or unintentionally.

Defending bastions of priceless knowledge, the archivists are responsible for prolonging the lives of Museum objects and projects which seize to exist in the permanent collection. They define, describe and re-describe, name, classify, and re-classify these objects highlighting or excluding certain pieces in the process as seen suitable. Understanding that it is impossible to save all the past, the present, or the future, their archivists are responsible for making selections of what goes into the archive. Based on their own knowledge and judgment, they choose representations to be displayed to the public amongst thousands and thousands of records.