| Painting Pain, Dreaming Peace - And A Little Child Shall Lead Them |
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The highly acclaimed, international art exhibit, "Children of Jerusalem: Painting Pain, Dreaming Peace", opens next Sunday, March 9th at ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center. This incredible exhibit is free to all. Please read about the exhibit below. The exhibition begins with a free lecture on Sunday evening, March 9th at 7:30pm in the McColl Family Theater at ImaginOn. It will be an evening that will touch you profoundly and give you hope for ways we can work together for peace. Details follow. These lectures and dialogues give us the opportunity to hear things that are hard to hear, to understand the realities of those we would like to ignore, and to build relationships with those against whom we harbor prejudice and negative stereotypes. In other words, it is a wonderful opportunity to fulfill the command of God from all of our different faiths to "love one another." I hope to see you at this powerful event and exhibit! Opening Lecture, Sunday March 9th: "Supporting Peace, Reconciliation and Tolerance" The "Children of Jerusalem: Painting Pain, Dreaming Peace" exhibit will open with a lecture entitled,"The Parents Circle Families Forum: Bereaved Families Supporting Peace, Reconciliation and Tolerance," on March 9, 2008 at 7:30pm in the ImaginOn McColl Family Theatre. - An Israeli mother, Robi Damelin, is from Tel Aviv and will share about her son who was killed in the conflict. - A Palestinian son, Mazen Faraj, is from the Dehaisha refugee camp and will share about his father who was killed in the conflict. In the midst of their grief, these two people have found a way to end the cycle of vengeance in which they live. They have found a way, across the chasm of pain and death, to find hope for the future as they work for peace rather than work for revenge for the death of their loved ones. They challenge us to do the same on the issues that face us in our city. We ask people who attend to listen and learn of the difficult historical realities in which Robi and Mazen live, and how these two people have found a way, across the abyss of despair, to be a model of hope for us all. They teach us that when we risk building relationships with one another, especially when we disagree, it can be a very vulnerable and painful process. It can also be transformative. The program will be facilitated by Dianne English, Executive Director of the Community Building Initiative. WHERE:
Art Exhibit Opens Sunday, March 9th: "Children of Jerusalem: Painting Pain, Dreaming Peace" Many of our faiths include stories where it is a child who leads the way in building deeper relationships with God and with one another. It is frequently the children who understand, model, and include others in what is often called, "the Kingdom of God." The children of this art exhibit from Jerusalem lead the way for us in Charlotte to do the same. The "Children of Jerusalem: Painting Pain, Dreaming Peace" art exhibit, a project of : The Institute for the Study of Religions and Communities in Israel, includes 61 original paintings, 27 by Palestinian Arab children, 27 by Israeli Jewish children and 7 joint paintings, produced by fifty elementary school children from Jerusalem who participated in a three year art program. These paintings trace the psychological journey of the children from fear and mistrust to acceptance and friendship with a hope for peace. Rabbi Judy Schindler, Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth El, shared one of the goals of the exhibit and the community programs, "My hope is that the Israeli and Palestinian school children who created the artwork for this exhibit can serve as a model for all of us. If they can come together in Jerusalem, then my prayer is that we can come together here in Charlotte, as members of different communities, to listen and learn from one another."
"Children of Jerusalem: Painting Pain, Dreaming Peace" will be on exhibition at ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center from March 9 through May 15, 2008. The exhibit is free to all and will be open during normal ImaginOn hours. Lois Kilkka, Library Services Manager for ImaginOn: The Joan & Joe Martin Center, shared her enthusiasm about the upcoming exhibit, "Our mission at ImaginOn is to 'bring stories to life' for young people. This exhibition shares the powerful stories of real children whose art work reflects their fears and hopes. We are delighted that ImaginOn is the venue for this exhibition and a place for the community dialogue it will inspire." |
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