History and location
The Dar al-Tifel al-Arabi Museum for Popular Palestinian Heritage, as it was first named, was established by the late Ms. Hind Husseini in 1962, to help conserve and promote Palestinian heritage, which was at risk of being lost at that time. The first official inauguration of the museum was in 1978 on the ground floor of the present-day, nineteenth-century museum building located within the main compound of Dar al-Tifel al-Arabi. A comprehensive revitalization/modernization operation was completed in 2011, allowing the museum to be officially re-opened in May 2012.The three-story museum today includes permanent galleries and exhibition halls, in addition to multi-purpose halls, stores, a restoration room, an artwork workshop, a library, and administration offices.
Exhibition halls
As visitors make their way into the museum’s external yard, sharing a common side street entrance with the prestigious American Colony Hotel in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, one is struck by the beautiful stone façade of the museum and its first-floor spacious balcony. The main entrance on the ground floor leads into the reception hall with three exhibition halls on either side. A multi-media room, the Deir Yassin Village Hall, including monuments from destroyed/depopulated Palestinian villages, and Hind Husseini Hall are located on the south side of the main hall. Agricultural Tools and Houseware Items, Pottery and Straw Halls are located on the north side.
A modern steel and glass staircase with a panoramic elevator lead to the first floor of the museum with its extremely rich and unique displays of Palestinian costumes, jewelry, furniture, traditional crafts, and a large hall that hosts special exhibitions, typically altered bi-annually. Open areas on the ground floor include special exhibits of Palestinian traditional carpets and spinning and weaving tools and products.
The skylight-roofed third and final floor of the museum includes a modest library, a textile restoration lab, and an arts workshop where schoolchildren enjoy the unique experience of learning and producing artistic items that are related to displayed traditional objects seen during their museum tour.
Operation and services
A small core staff, mostly part-timers, manage the day-to-day activities of the museum, including providing professional guided tours, accompanying young children in the arts workshop, conducting courses in specialized textiles and other traditional skills, curating various thematic exhibitions, and other specialized services and tasks.
Despite its limited resources in every department, particularly marketing, the Dar al-Tifel al-Arabi Museum for Palestinian Heritage has welcomed over 10,000 visitors during its first three years in operation. Numerous public events have been hosted there and a number of international partnerships have been established, including two exhibitions in Italy (Pisa and Florence) and the United States of America (Minnesota). An ongoing partnership with the Danish Women’s Museum is also planned to include an international exhibition.
Expansion plans include the operation of a coffee shop and gift shop in the external courtyard.
Guided tours and opening hours
Guided one-hour tours are held for groups not exceeding (25) people.
Opening hours
All weekdays, except Fridays and Sundays: 8:00 – 16:00.
Contact information
Tel.: 02-627-2531, Fax: 02-627-2431
E-mail: dar.iltfel.museum@gmail.com
Website: www.dta-museum.org
Address: two entrances: Abu Obaidah Al-Jarrah St., and Louise
Vincent St. – East Jerusalem
Entrance fees
Adults: NIS 20, Children: NIS 10, Groups: NIS 15