February 24 was held a private online screening of The Museum, a documentary film in which director Randal paints a complex portrait of the Israel Museum. The event was held in partnership with the General Consulate of the State of Israel in St Petersburg.

Housing one of the world’s greatest collections of art and antiquities, the Israel Museum poses for its own complex portrait in this elegant observational documentary, revealing its central role in the complicated narrative of the nation. Sitting high on the brow of a Jerusalem hill directly opposite the Knesset, the sprawling institution—now more than half a century old—contains nearly half a million objects, from the Dead Sea Scrolls to crusader armor to masterpieces by Rembrandt and Marc Chagall. A less ambitious film would provide a hit parade of the museum’s contents. Instead, The Museum is constructed as a set of loose encounters with its human inhabitants.

We eavesdropped on curators, museum guards, keepers of archaeological monuments, visiting schoolchildren and even a local rabbi, who together form a kaleidoscopic picture of how art, history and national destiny intersect in galleries.

Director Ran Tal (Children of the Sun), while showcasing the deep artistic and educational values that underlie the museum’s work, also gently exposes its ideological fault lines: we watch an army docent use the museum’s archaeology to indoctrinate her trainees, while Arab and Jewish curators wrestle with the moral implications of displaying Palestinian artifacts. Through it all, the Israel Museum emerges as a shining example of a nation’s highest aspirations for itself.

Before the screening there was an online conference in which participants discussed Ran Tal’s film, exhibition practices, various narratives, and plans for the future of the Israel Museum.

Online session participants:
• Olga Slov, Consul General, the Consulate General of the State of Israel, St. Petersburg
• Sivan Eran-Levian, Head of Traveling Exhibitions, Israel Museum
• Ran Tal, Film Director
• Anna Kirikova, Director of International Initiatives, Manege

You can watch this conference on our YouTube-channel.