Founded in 1999, it is housed in the home of the family of its original architect, Andoni Baramki, a Palestinian Arab whose property was appropriated by Israel after 1948. According to its website it focuses on "controversial social issues for public discussion,” with exhibitions on social issues like the right to protest, the decline of Western hegemony, and state/private home relationships. It has been lauded by The New York Times as one of the world's 29 cultural 'one must-see-before-I-die destinations.' According to its public presentations, it brings social and moral change in face of a complex and conflict-ridden reality. The museum was initiated and established by Raphie Etgar who serves as its Artistic Director, and has been supported for some decades by the Holtzbrink Family Foundation. through the Jerusalem Foundation.
The museum is located in a neo-classical building.
History of the building
The turbulent history of the building serves as silent testimony to the political changes that Jerusalem and the whole country of Israel/Palestine underwent; from its function as a private residence of a Palestinian Arab family during the British Mandate years, through its usage as an Israeli army outpost, and currently as a socio-political museum committed to create a dialogue and build bridges of understanding in this very place.
The Baramki home was turned into an Israeli military outpost, called the "Tourjman Post" situated on the border or no man's land between Israel and Jordan overlooking the Mandelbaum Gate, which served as the only passage between the two parts of the divided city at the time. The finely wrought window arches were filled with concrete to form turrets. During the battles of the 1967 War, the house suffered hits from shells and bullets which left their marks on the building and are apparent to this day. At war's end, the Baramkis crossed over with their keys and title-deeds but were rebuffed. As was the case with the Turjmans, all efforts by Andoni and his son Gabi Baramki, longtime President of Birzeit University in the West Bank, to return to and repossess the family home through recourse in Israeli courts, failed. The reasons were various: it was claimed initially that the site was required for military security, then that it was in a hazardous state, in need of substantial repairs, and finally that it fell under Israeli laws in a united Jerusalem, and, despite their presence, the family were classified as absentee property owners. Gabi Baramki was allowed only one visit, in 1999. and Baramki regarded it as "stolen property".
Military museum
In the year 1981the military outpost was renovated and renamed as the "Tourjman Post Museum" commemorating the reunification of the city. The museum mounted exhibits of the guns, mortars and other weapons used in its defense.
Tolerance museum
In the year 1999 the building underwent change and a new permanent exhibition, calling for tolerance and mutual understating between people in the region, was displayed. On the day of its dedication, it was opened ostensibly as a site for 'peace, tolerance,... dialogue, understanding and coexistence'.
Since 2005, the building serves as a home to the Museum on the Seam - a socio-political contemporary art museum dedicated to dialogue and mutual understanding.
Exhibitions
2005- which dealt with the violence within Israeli society.
2006- that focused on the issues of discrimination exploitation and humiliation.
2007- about the personal and public consequences of a prolong state of emergency that becomes legitimized;
2008- that examined the central role of anxiety in human interactions with their surroundings, thus examining the dynamics of social and political interactions.
2009- that dealt with the complexity of encounters between humans with their natural environment.
2010- about the obligation that comes with the privilege of protest.
2011- about the clash of civilizations between Islam and the west and the possible consequences.
2012- faces the viewers with works of art that expose images delved from the archives of repression and denial of fears and anxieties from our past experiences, in an attempt to learn from them how to avoid repeating past mistakes.
2013- that calls upon us to look at flesh and blood as a fabric that connects all living beings to one family and to treat it with respect and compassion.
2013- that examines loneliness as a major contemporary phenomenon, gaining more and more impact on people’s lives.
2014- critically examines the complex inter-relationship between leaders and their subjects.
2015- about the responsibility and the ability of the individual to alter and influence his own future and his surroundings. The exhibition also deals with the question to what extent does the establishment and society intervenes in restricting the individual and shaping his world.
2016-
In 2000 Museum on the Seam produces, as an initiative by Raphie Etgar, the exhibition COEXISTANCE: an international project that incorporates many leading poster designers from around the globe. The project was displayed in over 35 cities in different continents and called for mutual understanding between fellow nations and religions. Its global Journey was endorsed and supported by world leaders and thinkers.
