Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun

Curators: Baha Jubeh and guest curator Abdel-Rahman Shabane
Curatorial assistant: Sandy Rishmawi
 

Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun explores the relation between Jerusalemites and publications printed in their city—be their content political, educational, commercial, cultural, or touristic—via probing the ancient profession of the Mustamly. A Mustamly (plural: mustamloun) was tasked in classical periods with dictating manuscripts to copyists and acted as an intermediary between authors and the reading public, while assuming the role of censor. The mustamly disappeared like other classical professions as modernisation replaced human voices with machinery’s hum and grind.

The exhibition seeks to analyse the emergence and disappearance duality inherent to publications of nascent social movements, which contended with governing institutions and the censorship they imposed on Jerusalem’s urban fabric at different historical junctures.

Has modern reality yielded new mustamloun? What is their nature, and what forms do they take? In light of this reality, what do the new mustamloun dictate in their role as intermediaries between Jerusalemites and their publications?

Printed in Jerusalem first opened at Jerusalem’s Palestinian Heritage Museum at Dar Al-Tifel AL-Arabi in late 2018 and presented a selection from Jerusalem’s Modern Press (Lawrence Press) collection of printing clichés and tools, donated to PHM in 1998.

The Palestinian Museum’s iteration of Printed in Jerusalem expands on the original concept by exploring the city’s political, touristic and cultural role and attests to Jerusalem’s leadership in printing, and in the development and publication of educational resources. It also sheds light on aspects of Jerusalem’s cultural and social practices and examines its economic and commercial activity by exploring the Modern Press and the industrial Islamic Orphanage collections as well as other archives, thereby apprehending the city’s contemporary reality.

Printed in Jerusalem: Mustamloun presents six new thematic curatorial interventions, 200 printing clichés and many noteworthy prints. In parallel, the Museum’s Glass Gallery complements the exhibition’s themes by hosting stations of interactive educational games and activities for children and their families.

Considering present circumstances, please refer to our website for updates regarding the Museum reopening. Don’t forget to follow us on our social media platforms for a remote museum experience.

We also invite you to participate in our online events (workshops, seminars, object-in-focus talks and lectures), inspired by the exhibition and organised through the Museum’s Public, Knowledge and Education Programmes.

In partnership with: Palestinian Heritage Museum at Dar Al-Tifel AL-Arabi in Jerusalem.
Donors: A. M. Qattan Foundation through the “Visual Arts: A Flourishing Field” (VAFF) Project, funded by Sweden; Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

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