Israel’s most prized works of art and artifacts in museums, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and paintings by artists from Mark Rothko to Gustav Klimt, have been moved to rocket-proof bunkers for protection.
Israel has not used this preservation tactic since the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraq fired missiles at the Jewish state.
“Even if there is a very small chance [of damage]we don’t play, we don’t take risks,” said Doron Lurie, senior curator and chief curator at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
“We have protected them like our own children,” he said of the priceless works.
Hagit Maoz, curator of the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, said at least eight display cases are empty after pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls were removed for safekeeping.
“Putting out an exhibition is something that is not normally done because we trust the building, we trust the security of the showcases. But this is a different situation, so we have to act accordingly,” Maoz said, as Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists continues to rage.
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art has stored the famous “Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer”, by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, in a bunker.REUTERS The museum also stored “Number 24 (untitled)” by Mark Rothko.REUTERS
The Dead Sea Scrolls, first discovered in 1947 in the West Bank, are among the most precious historical and religious objects preserved in Israel.
The Tel Aviv Museum also houses works by the famous modern artist Rothko, such as his “Number 24,” as well as the renowned “Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer,” a 1916 masterpiece painted by Klimt just two years before his death.
The museum houses works by Georg Kolbe, Leonora Carrington and also historical painters.
The Tel Aviv Museum covered Georg Kolbe’s “Squatting Woman” to protect it from damage.REUTERS
“These works of art have experienced war, some of them survived World War II,” said museum director Tania Coen-Uzzielli. “We will be custodians for a short time and we must protect them, protect them for posterity and history.”
Nurith Goshen, curator of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age archaeology, said her museum also enacted war protocol and created a list of what should go in its bunker, but noted that not everything can be saved if the worst were to happen. .
“You really have to choose the finest artifacts or the most fragile ones,” he said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn