ON A CARAVAN
East
and West Journeying Together Through the Arts
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Under the banner On A
Caravan: East and West Journeying Together through the Arts, 18
highly respected and recognized Egyptian and Western artists formed
an artistic initiative with the goal of building bridges of
understanding and respect between East and West, Muslims and
Christians.
Sponsored by the historic
St. John’s Church / Maadi, (Episcopal), that serves the expatriate
diplomatic, business, educational and NGO
communities in Cairo, On A Caravan is an
unprecedented gathering of renowned Arab and
Western artists who have come together to use
art as a bridge for intercultural and
inter-religious dialogue. The goal of the
exhibition (and preceding symposium) is to highlight how the visual
arts serve as one of the most effective mediums of building bridges
of friendship, respect and sharing between the Middle East and the
West. |
Artist Mohamed Abla with other
artists
at the launching of "On A Caravan" |
St. John's Church, founded
in 1931 as the last church designed by the eminent British architect
Sir Herbert Baker who built churches from Cape Town to Cairo, has a
long history with the arts and has served as a unique catalyst for
Christian/Muslim relations since its founding in 1931.
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Artist Dr. Reda Abdel Rahman with
Paul-Gordon Chandler |
In
this increasing chasm of misunderstanding and
discord between the Middle East and West, and
Islam and Christianity our day calls for a whole
new kind of movement: one that builds on what
the two hold in common and that wages peace on
the other. Art, a wellspring of the spiritual
journey, has the capacity to take us to that
deeper dimension in our own respective faith
pilgrimages, toward nearing the heart of our
Creator, who is the “ultimate artist.” As
the Lebanese artist, author and mystic Kahlil
Gibran wrote, “Art is one step from the visibly
known to the unknown.” Therefore art
serves to build this much-needed bridge of
respect and friendship between cultures and
faiths. |
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Our challenge is to see art as Leo Tolstoy, the Russian
novelist, saw it, when he said in his marvelous book, What is Art?,
“The task of art in enormous… Art should cause violence to be set
aside. And it is only art that can accomplish this.”
The aim of
On A Caravan is
to explore the relationships between the East and West through the
medium of the visual arts, with an emphasis on painting.
Participants include a diverse range of artists ranging from
internationally renowned Mohamed Abla, one of Egypt's leading
contemporary artists, to artist Dr. Reda Abdel Rahman from the
Egyptian Ministry of Culture, to local artists, both Egyptian and
expatriate. |
British artist Roland Prime at
Interactive Day for "Caravan" artists |
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All Artist Participants in "On A
Caravan" |
These 18 artists from both
Egypt and the West each produced two pieces of work for the
exhibition. The first piece is based on ideas that reflect the
collective theme: East and West Journeying Together. Focusing on
that which the Middle East and West, Muslim and Christian, hold in
common, with an emphasis on "building bridges" between the two, the
artists have draw inspiration from ideas such as: peace, harmony,
compassion, goodwill, forgiveness, love, understanding, reaching
across and exploring the relationship(s) between East and West. |
Secondly, the physical building of the
historic St. Johns' Church served to inspire their artistic
expressions.
At the end of January 2009
all 40 works of art were exhibited within St. John's Church at a
much-publicized selling exhibition. The initiative has generated
significant interest from the international media.
Our vision and hope is that
this is the beginning of new artistic initiatives to expand
intercultural and inter-religious dialogue between the Middle East
and West.
Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler
Curator
Mohammed Abla and Roland Prime
Facilitators
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