Virtual museum brings world’s masterpieces to Gaza

Gaza's new Digital Museum 360, a virtual museum established by the University of Palestine, has brought the masterpieces of the world to the residents of the Gaza Strip.

Thanks to the museum's augmented/virtual reality features, Gazans who find it hard to travel due to the Israeli blockade can take a close look at such iconic works as the Chinese Guanyin sculpture in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the bust of Queen Nefertiti at the Neues Museum in Berlin and the Statue of Liberty in New York.

Open to the public since April, the Digital Museum 360 came to life when the University of Palestine began a project to create digital three-dimensional models of various artifacts, housed in a large hall on the university grounds.

Iman al-Ajrami, the head of the information technology department at the University of Palestine, came up with idea. She told Al-Monitor, “Technological progress and the increasing number of internet users have enabled a large number of citizens in the Gaza Strip to see the whole world. Gazans’ inability to visit international museums and take pictures inside them inspired us to establish a virtual museum in Gaza. We are trying to reconstruct many of the masterpieces in other museums through a three-dimensional digital system, to allow visitors to see these landmarks without needing to travel.”