Made in the Museum

Presented on the occasion of the Israel Museum’s landmark anniversary, this exhibition brings together more than 700 catalogues published since the Museum’s founding in 1965. Arranged chronologically in the gallery, they reflect the evolution of the Museum’s exhibitions and the changing ways in which it has displayed its collections – and recorded them on paper – over six decades.

While initially the Museum’s catalogues consisted simply of indexes listing the items on display, in time they developed into independent publications that extended the exhibition’s life, offering sophisticated presentations of its themes by the curators and incorporating in-depth contributions by local and international scholars. As the Museum grew, the curatorial staff was able to draw connections between its encyclopedic collections, defining and refining the institution’s distinctive and multifaceted identity.    

Strolling among this colorful installation, the face of the Museum’s activities in the past sixty years, you may also recognize catalogues of exhibitions you visited and enjoyed once upon a time and see how your own story meets that of the Museum. Perhaps it will also make you think about the Museum’s overarching story, which touches upon our identity as individuals, as collectives, and as part of the universal human story. Drawing inspiration from this display, can you try to imagine the stories future exhibitions will tell generations to come?