Bridging cultures

Cairo church hosts exhibit to boost interfaith understanding

By Episcopal Life staff, January 09, 2009 [Episcopal Life] A U.S. Episcopal priest and members of his international congregation at the Anglican-Episcopal church in Cairo, Egypt, will host an unprecedented gathering of Egyptian and Western artists in January to discuss the use of art as a bridge for intercultural and inter-religious dialogue.

Sponsored by the historic Church of St. John the Baptist/Maadi (St. John's Church), which serves the city's international diplomatic, business, educational and non-governmental organization communities, the symposium will bring together 20 Christian and Muslim artists to describe their initiative to build greater understanding and respect between the two faiths.

"The visual arts can serve as one of the most effective mediums of building bridges of friendship, respect and sharing between the Middle East and the West," said the Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler. The symposium's theme is "On A Caravan: East and West Journeying Together through the Arts."

Catalyst for dialogue
St. John's, founded in 1931 as the last church designed by the architect Sir Herbert Baker, is a catalyst for Christian-Muslim relations due to the respect it has developed over the last 76 years with Islamic authorities and, more recently, because of a dialogue agreement between the Anglican Communion and Al Azhar, the intellectual and spiritual heart of Sunni Islam, said Chandler, an author and curator of the exhibition.

"In the increasing chasm of misunderstanding and discord between the Middle East and the West," said Chandler, "our day calls for a whole new kind of movement: one that builds on what the two [faiths] hold in common.

And art, a wellspring of the spiritual journey, serves to build this much-needed bridge. "Our challenge is to see art as Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist, saw it, when he said, 'The task of art in enormous ... Art should cause violence to be set aside. And it is only art that can accomplish this.'"

The symposium will explore the relationships between the East and West through the media of painting/printmaking and fine arts. Chandler said the symposium would include an art exhibition, launched on the grounds of an historic villa in Maadi, a southern suburb of Cairo.

Participants include diverse artists, ranging from one of Egypt's leading contemporary artists, Mohammed Abla, and Dr. Reda Adbel Rahman from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to lesser known artists.

The 20 artists each produced two pieces of work that reflect the symposium's collective theme of journeying together. The artists will focus on that which the Middle East and West, Muslims and Christians, hold in common, with an emphasis on "bridge building" between the two, Chandler said. "I am living this bridge," said Abla. "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."

Artists said they would draw ideas and inspiration from such images as peace, harmony, compassion, goodwill, forgiveness, love, understanding, reaching out and exploring relationships between East and West.

On the last weekend of January, all 40 works of art will be displayed within St. John's for a selling exhibition that more than 1,000 people are expected to attend.

"We hope that, through this initiative, we can learn and pass on these skills to others, so that all can live without division and respect and love the other," said Roland Prime, a participating British artist who is helping to facilitate the symposium/exhibition.

Among the artists from the West to attend will be two Americans, Maria Maher and Kimberley Odekirk.

Role of hospitality
Chandler, a mission partner from the Episcopal Church in Cairo for the past six years, wrote in an e-mail that the Episcopal Church throughout the Middle East and North Africa today played a critical role of "sacred hospitality."

"In some Arab countries," he wrote, "due to historical reasons, the local Episcopal/Anglican Church serving English-speaking internationals is the only official non-Roman Catholic or Orthodox church present. In this regard, the unique legal status of these Episcopal/Anglican churches in the Muslim-majority Middle East and North Africa cannot be overemphasized."

According to Chandler, other international Protestant church communities in many of these countries are unable to obtain official legal status and, as a result, cannot secure permission to construct church buildings. Consequently, the only place for them
to meet for worship legally is in a local Episcopal/Anglican Church building.

"This special situation puts many Episcopal/Anglican churches throughout the region into the role of serving as hosts of other congregations, thereby stewarding the building and property God has given them," he said. "Not only does this require them to be hosts par excellence, but it often means they must do so on a grand scale. Holy Trinity Church in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, is one such example, with over 30 different non-Anglican international congregations using their property on any given weekend -- from South Asians to Africans to Filipinos to Latin Americans."

At St. John's in Cairo, the English-speaking congregation welcomes Christians from all denominations. And in the church, which once served only a largely British community, many nationalities are represented -- from American diplomats to Egyptian intellectuals to African refugees. The church also has an Arabic-speaking congregation and is host to 10 other international churches and groups, including a Sudanese refugee church, the French Reformed Church, the Korean Presbyterian Church, the Scandinavian church and a West African fellowship, Chandler said.

For more information, visit www.oncaravan.org or www.maadichurchstjohn.org/caravan.htm.