"Caravan Festival of the Arts"
Harmony: East and West (January 28 - February 3, 2010)
Following on from the success of the interfaith Art
Exhibition titled “On a Caravan: East to West
Journeying Together through the Arts” held in Maadi
January 2009 at St. John’s Church / Maadi, Cairo,
a broader arts initiative was held from
January 28-February 2, 2010 titled
“Caravan
Festival of the Arts –Harmony: East and West.”
The objective of the arts festival was to build bridges
of friendship, respect and sharing between East and
West, Muslim and Christian, through visual art,
literature, film, and music, showing how the arts can
serve as one of the most effective mediums of
facilitating intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.
Over 46 respected Middle Eastern and Western artists
participated, each submitting one piece of work
reflecting the theme of the festival and exhibition,
Harmony—East and West.
The Festival/Exhibition took place within the historic
St. John’s Church / Maadi in Cairo, Egypt. Around the
visual art exhibition there were four nights of artistic
programs held. The schedule of the CARAVAN Festival of
the Arts was as follows:
*OPENING NIGHT Program (28 January at 7 PM) entailed
an Opening Presentation by The Rt. Rev. & Rt.
Hon. Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, with
Opening Remarks by Sheikh Ali Gouma, Grand Mufti
of Egypt, followed by Opening Reception with
all 46 artists present.
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*LITERARY PRESENTATION (30 January at 7
PM)
A talk by Anglo-Afghan New York Times
best-selling author Tahir Shah (the
son of the famous Sufi writer Idries Shah)
on his books followed by a book-signing.
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* FILM NIGHT (1 February at 7 PM)
A talk on interfaith relations by the
legendary Egyptian actor Omar Sharif,
followed by a screening of his interfaith
film Hasan and Morqos (starring Omar
Sharif and Adel Emam).
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* MUSIC CONCERT (3 February at 7:30 PM)
A solo performance by world renowned
Iraqi oud (lute) player Naseer Shamma.
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Throughout the week-long CARAVAN Festival
of the Arts the visual art selling
exhibition was open to the public with many
thousands coming to view the art work
displayed. 10% of all sales went to the
Spirit of Giving charity that assists
local Egyptian charities serving the poor.
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Prior to the exhibition Roland Prime, the curator of the
visual art exhibition, and Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler,
patron and organizer of the festival, visited many of
the artists in their studios. Additionally all
participating artists came together in various forums to
interact and build friendships with each other.
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Artist's
dinner |
Roland
Prime, curator, being interviewed by press |
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