The activities of the MOEBHIOS Project focus on the study of the minor architectural heritage between Bethlehem and Al-Khalil, in search of cultural values expressed by historic architecture belonging to Palestinian identity and memory.
Among the case studies addressed by the project, the village of Beit Ummar is an object of study and documentation. The village, located between Bethlehem and Hebron/Al-Khalil, documents a rural architecture developed since the 5th century. The historic village, including monuments and valuable sites in the surrounding area, was occupied after 1967. Subsequently classified between Area B and Area C of the West Bank, it suffered the expropriation of large portions of land for the construction of settlements (Karmei Zur, Migdal Oz, Kfar Etzion, Efrat).
On May 19th, 2023, a visit to introduce the context and plan future activities was conducted in cooperation with the Municipality of Beit Ummar, thanks to Eng. Khilda Abu Ayyash and eng. Nabel Alqam from the municipality's engineering department. Dr. Raffaella De Marco and Prof. Yara Saifi, supervisor of on-site activities, participated in the visit.
The visit included a tour of the Maqam al-Nabi Matta, the historic “harat” neighbourhoods in the centre of the village, with local spontaneous museums for the collection of the community's cultural heritage, and the urban and residential expansions of the surrounding landscape, including the remaining diffuse heritage such as cisterns and springs.
During the visit to the local households, interviews were conducted to collect stories and memories of the changes that have taken place in the local architecture, involving the inhabitants in story-telling and drawing activities for the figurative translation of the memories.
Comments