Baba’s Art School – 101: #22 - "SEEING THE FLOWERS BETWEEN US"

“You can’t begin too soon to encourage an appreciation of art! And each artwork has a story.”

SEEING THE FLOWERS BETWEEN US - by Paul G. Chandler

Baba sharing with his two older grandchildren a painting by Egyptian artist Mohamed Abla

As I sit down to write, the news is announcing that a politically-motivated assassination has just taken place in the US and there are two countries in the Middle East lobbing missiles as each other. In this increasingly polarized and conflictual world, never before has there been a greater need to focus on what we all hold in common as individuals made in the image of the Divine Artist. Another way to describe it would be to focus on “the beautiful flowers between us.”

It was inspiring to be able to show two of my grandchildren one of my favorite paintings. The work was created by the celebrated Egyptian artist Mohamed Abla, considered one of the Middle East’s leading contemporary artists. In Abla’s distinct style, the painting, titled Iman and Priest, portrays two sitting clerics, from Islam on the left and Christianity on the right. Between them is a backdrop of beautiful flowers.

Mohamed Abla, Iman and Priest, 2008, Oil on canvas, 100 x 118 cm

I obtained the painting back in 2009 from his art studio located on an island in the middle of the Nile River. At the time, Abla was helping us launch a peacebuilding arts initiative in Cairo that ended up becoming CARAVAN, as he was passionate about using the arts to build bridges between those of diverse backgrounds. As an Arab Muslim married to a European Christian, he is a proponent of fostering enriching relationships between the two faiths. When I asked him about the meaning of the flowers he painted between the imam and priest, he simply responded, “It is my vision of the two faiths having a beautiful positive relationship between them.”

Mohamed Abla in 2009

Bridging between the creeds and cultures of the East and West has long been a calling of my own. I personally take comfort in believing that the Divine Artist is ultimately about harmony in our world. The tendency today is to put people into a “other” category - whether related to worldview, ethnicity, culture or spiritual tradition. This often leads to dehumanizing others, whether in mindset, words or actions.

Like Abla, I profoundly believe that the arts can be one of the most effective mediums to enhance understanding, bring about respect, enable sharing, and deepen friendship between diverse peoples. Art can provide new pathways of understanding that transcend borders and how we see the “other.” 

With all that is happening at this time, the building of bridges has become all the more important. This requires us to be intentional in how we live, seeking to proactively wage peace on “the other,” whomever “the other” may be. More than ever, we need to be involved in an all-out effort to embrace “the other” through goodwill, appreciation, love and empathy.

The times requires that we seek to eliminate everything possible that creates further alienation. This entails building on all commonalities that exist. Too often we are so blinded by the constant illumination of our differences that we can’t see all that we have in common. In the midst of today’s increasing chasm of discord and misunderstanding, our day calls for a new kind of movement - not of belief, or religious unity or cultural uniformity, but rather one that simply builds on what we hold in common. As we contemplate “the other,” our starting point needs to be to discover the similarities that exist, which naturally leads to seeing the other’s redeeming values.

My wish for my grandchildren as they grow up is that they always prioritize minimizing the differences, and focus on building bridges of friendship, love and peace with those different than themselves. As Kahlil Gibran, the early 20th century Lebanese-American poet and mystic, said: “Your neighbor is your other self, dwelling behind a wall. In understanding, all walls shall fall down.” Only then, will beautiful flowers grow between us.

P.S.  While both the imam and priest are bearded, my grandson was perplexed as to why the priest has a full mustache and the imam only a “soul patch.”

Artwork:

Mohamed Abla, Iman and Priest, 2008, Oil on canvas, 100 x 118 cm