ART & SOUL
Caravan of Peace
Isolde Kadry
In 1898 Leo Tolstoy expressed his profound vision of art in the philosophical work What Is Art? with these words:“The task of art is enormous…Art should cause violence to be set aside. And it is only art that can accomplish this.” With this vision in mind, an unprecedented gathering of 20 respected Arab and Western artists took place this past January in Cairo, the “capital of the Middle East.” The event was titled “On a Caravan: East and West Journeying Together through the Arts,” and its central goal was to highlight how effective the arts can be in building bridges between divergent cultures. Sponsored by St. John’s, an historic Episcopal church in southern Cairo that serves the international diplomatic, business, educational, and NGO communities, the event sought to cultivate intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, as well as new friendships, with an eye to increasing understanding and respect between Muslims and Christians. Built in 1931 by the eminent architect Sir Herbert Baker, whose churches are found from Cape Town to Cairo, St. John’s has long been committed to explor-
ing and nurturing the relationship between faith and the arts. Believing that human creativity is an expression of God’s nature, the church sees the arts as a wellspring of the spiritual journey. As Kahlil Gibran, the early 20th-century Lebanese mystical writer/artist of Christian background wrote, “Art is one step from the visibly known toward the unknown.” Over the years, St. John’s has also been a unique catalyst for Christian/Muslim relations, along with Al Azhar, the intellectual and spiritual heart of Sunni Islam, headquartered in Cairo.This is illustrated in the church’s stained-glass windows that flood the interior in beautiful liquid colors, two of which feature a circular Arabesque design and were commissioned from the same stained-glass artist who worked on Al-Azhar Mosque; the others portray the stories of Egypt, which are found in both the Bible and the Qur’an. For the “On a Caravan” exhibition, each artist produced two pieces of work that reflected the theme of a shared East/ West journey. Officially opened by the US Ambassador to Egypt, the Honorable Margaret Scobey, the exhibition enjoyed over 1,300 attendees during its six-day run and drew significant attention from the international media and art world. The interaction of the artists during the pre-exhibition symposium revealed the kind of exchange and bonding that can happen at a wider level. While the majority of the participating artists were unknown to each other before the initiative, thanks to their common language of art, they quickly set about exchanging ideas and inspiring one another.The artists were clearly excited by the creative contact with a contrasting culture. One of the participants, internationally renowned Egyptian artist Mohammed Abla, said, “I am living this bridge. As a Muslim, I married a Christian, and I profoundly believe in this idea of using art to build an alliance of understanding and friendship.” In the midst of an increasing chasm of discord and misunderstanding between PRISM 2009
33
East and West, our world calls for a whole new kind of movement, not based on doctrine or even religious unity, but one that builds on what we hold in common, a movement that is an all-out effort to understand, help, and collaborate with the other—with goodwill, appreciation, and love. Fundamentally, we need to allow ourselves to learn from each other. The great need at this time is not interfaith dialogue, but rather interfaith friendships, which have far deeper ramifications. Friendships both reveal and are founded on what Muslims and Christians hold in common: an emphasis on harmony, compassion, and forgiveness. “We hope that through this initiative,” said Roland Prime, a participating British artist who also helped to facilitate the symposium/exhibition,“we can learn and pass on these skills to others, so that all can live without division and can respect and love the ‘other.’” (Learn more at OnCaravan.org.). ■ Paul-Gordon Chandler (PaulGordonChandler. com) is an author, Episcopal priest, and interfaith advocate currently serving as the Rector of St. John’s Church in Cairo.
Maher Ali
Pa u l - G ordon C handler