Shunit Marmelstein

Deputy Director and Curator  
Hecht Museum 

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Born and raised in Haifa-Israel, I graduated from an American high school in Salzburg, Austria, and hold a Master’s degree in communications from Clark University in Boston.

I started my work at Hecht Museum as a first-year archaeology and arts student, 32 years ago. Since then, the museum has become my second home. During the last few years I serve as the museum’s curator and acting director, always eager to explore new channels for collaboration and synergy with the museum’s unique academic surrounding.

I have always been attracted to the fascinating combination between archaeology and art, as they both represent the aesthetic heritage of humanity. The archaeological excavations I have participated in were a source of inspiration for exhibitions I initiated at the Hecht Museum – a retrospective exhibition of ancient pottery discovered in archaeological sites, alongside ceramic works by contemporary artists; a photo-archaeology exhibition reviling earliest 19th century photographs from archaeological sites in Palestine, next to photos taken in the same sites nowadays, by a living Israeli artist using the same old photography techniques.

FUNDRAISING NEEDS

Hecht Museum offers a unique combination between cultural and educational activities, as well as research and teaching derived from its immediate academic surroundings.

The museum is currently on the verge of a conceptual transformation thanks to new strategic projects:

  • Redesigning and updating the displays of the main archeological wing, founded by Dr. Reuven Hecht in 1984.
  • Construction of a new wing dedicated to the Heritage of German-Speaking Jewry.
  • Building a sculpture garden on our scenic lawn housing 29 canonical sculptures, until recently displayed at the Tefen Open Museum.

The reopening of the museum complex will adapt it to the 21st century and attract new and younger visitors. It will allow the museum to expand its collaborations with museums and other research institutions, loaning art and artifacts, and create diverse new temporary exhibitions.

Together with the school of the arts and the cable car, it will create a cultural and artistic complex poised to become a touristic venue for a wider audience.

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