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The Academy hopes the loan will encourage other institutions to send artworks to the West Bank. Tina Sherwell, the director of the Ramallah art school, said it will give Palestinians a chance to view world-class pieces without facing the daunting journey to Israel's museums that are filled with famous works by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and Rene Magritte. "The arrival of the painting is a historic event for us," Sherwell said. "It is important to be able to put on for public view a historic work of art, for the first time." The 5-year-old art academy plans to begin work this month for temperature and humidity controls needed to protect the Picasso. When the "Buste de Femme" was sent to Brazil, it was accidentally left in the sun and damaged, said de Blaaij. Elizabeth Merritt of the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of Museums said lending paintings to institutions in conflict zones requires the lender to perform a different kind of risk assessment, weighing whether displaying the painting is worth any harm it may face. For years, the West Bank was the scene of violence between Palestinian militants and the Israeli military. Today, the territory
-- governed from Ramallah by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority but under Israeli security control
-- is largely quiet, but attacks occur on occasion. The other Palestinian area, the Gaza Strip, is held by the anti-Israeli faction Hamas. For the Van Abbemuseum, the reward of giving Palestinians a rare glimpse at a masterpiece outweighs the many challenges. "We see it as spreading knowledge," de Blaaij said. "It would be lovely if we could do it and make it not only an idea."
[Associated
Press;
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