CARAVAN is a Multi-Region CC focused on peacebuilding through the arts between the creeds of the Middle East and West.
The Power of Art in Peacebuilding
CARAVAN’s President, Paul-Gordon Chandler, spoke at URI’s annual Circles of Light gala in April, for which the theme was “Peacebuilding through the Arts”. Highlighting his experience in Egypt during the Egyptian Revolution, where public art was used to encourage a united front of both Muslims and Christians, Rev. Chandler illustrated the transformational power of the arts in bringing about peace and harmony.
Read more: Speeches and Presentations from Circles of Light
The Key of Life
The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East too often results in misapprehensions and misconceptions, calling for an emphasis on understanding that people everywhere have the same needs, including the desire to live in peace.
calling for an emphasis on understanding that people everywhere have the same needs, including the desire to live in peace.
Egypt, the “Mother of the World”, has a rich history with enduring lessons, such as the tolerance of diversity championed by Ancient Egypt and epitomized by the famous Ankh symbol. Known as “the Key of Life”, the hieroglyph is the oldest known symbol of harmony in the world. Inspired by this, CARAVAN launched The Key exhibition in Cairo, Egypt on March 15th, featuring 40 Egyptian, Middle Eastern, and Western premier and emerging artists, each using a three-dimensional sculpture of the Ankh to convey their message of hope for a harmonious, peaceful, and tolerant world.
The exhibition opened on the banks of the Nile with over 500 people in attendance by numerous art world, business, religious, diplomatic and governmental guests. Special guests included Egypt's former Minister of Culture, Dr. Farouk Hosny, Mrs. Azza Fahmy (the most celebrated jewelry designer in the Middle East), renowned Egyptian diplomat His Excellency Mustafa El Fiqi and General Mohamed Amin, Head of Egyptian Army's Financial Affairs. During the course of the exhibition, which ran through April 12, attendees learned about the importance of embracing diversity regardless of religious or cultural differences.
The Key opens next in London at St. James’s Piccadilly on June 16.
Read more: Egypt Today article on "The Key" exhibition
A Bridge in the Windy City
CARAVAN’s The Bridge exhibition was held at the historic Rockefeller Chapel in the University of Chicago from April 12 to May 19, 2016. The traveling exhibition showcased the work of 47 Arab, Persian, and Jewish artists from 15 countries, around the theme of what “bridges” us to each other, as well as what they hold in common across their creeds and cultures. The Bridge opens next in Spokane, Washington on June 3.
Read more: Chicago Maroon article on "The Bridge" exhibition
