Springtime returns to Arab lands

Like countless others, for years I have dreamt of the day when liberty, justice and equal opportunity would reign in my country. And, like many others, I paid dearly for this universal dream. For years, for the young and not-so-young alike, daring to defy dictatorship meant arrest, torture, imprisonment, humiliation and exclusion. The oft-repeated dream had become an impossible aspiration, buried in the very depths of our being.

The years passed and the spectacle of our countries under the yoke of tyranny seemed set to last. We ended up believing that our people were cursed to choose between dictatorship on one hand and religious fundamentalism on the other. Because wanting democracy, when we were so “unsuitable” for such a system, meant by definition that we were doomed to submission. And yet the voices never fell silent, free men and women continued to defy prohibition and oppression, refusing to be bowed. Everyone resisted however they could.

The divine surprise came from deepest Tunisia, eternal Tunisia, where a young man offered up his life at the altar of freedom and dignity. Mohamed Bouazzizi, followed by dozens of other martyrs, lit the fuse that would inflame the entire country. What happened next is well known: the tyrant fled in the face of popular demand, and Tunisia was free, alive with youth and ready to rebuild.

And then Egypt, whose people had suffered under the same breed of dictator —despite its timeless history, also rose and claimed its dignity. For weeks, the entire world moved to the beat of Tahrir Square. The songs of Sheikh Imam, evoking a beautiful, eternal Egypt, were sung by millions of young and old alike. Mubarak faltered momentarily, and then let go, just like Ben Ali. The despots had been toppled by their people, the revolution was won. What marvellous news for humanity.

A sense of freedom, happiness and youthfulness reigns over both countries, and the entire world. Everything is possible, the curse has been lifted. Prohibition is banned, and dreaming permitted, because springtime has returned to Arab lands.

A member of the “Museum With No Frontiers” family.

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 Principles that govern the conduct of relations between Muslims and the followers of both Christianity and Judaism as taught by the Holy Quran:

1)      Islam regards all people as one single nation descending from one single father and one single mother. In Surat Al-Hujurat, verse 13, The Holy Quran says:

 “O mankind! We created you from a single pair of male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other. The most honored of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you.”

2)      Muslims believe that all three monotheistic religions came from the same source, i.e. the same God. A true Muslim should equally believe in all prophets and holy books of both other religions. Those who do not are not Muslims even if they believe in Allah, His Angels, Prophet Mohammad, and the Day of Judgment. Therefore, Islam’s stance towards Christianity and Judaism transcends mere tolerance to accepting and believing in the respective prophets and scriptures of both religions. This belief is an integral part of the Islamic faith. In verse 84 of Surat Al-Imran, the Holy Quran says:

“We believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, and in the books given to Moses, Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between one and another among them and to Allah we do bow our will”

3)      The Original state of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims is peace. War is an exception that should not be resorted to except in extreme cases and only to repel aggression. Preaching should be made peacefully and with politeness. In Surat Al-Ankabut, verse 46, the Holy Quran says:

“… and dispute ye not with the people of the book except with means better than mere disputation, unless it be with  those of them who inflict wrong and injury, but say, we believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you, our God and your God is one, and it is to Him we bow.”

            And in Surat Al Nahl verse 125, the Holy Quran says:

“Invite all to the way of the Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious.”

4)      In the exceptional case of war, Muslims are ordered to immediately stop hostilities and resort to peace if the enemy stops fighting. In Surat Al Anfal, verse 61, the Holy Quran orders Muslims:

“But if the enemy inclines towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace and trust in God.”

5) Another rule of conduct regarding the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims is the obligation of Muslims to honor the pacts and accords concluded between them and others. Islam does not allow Muslims, under any circumstances, to breach their commitments. In Surat Al Nahl, verse 91, the Holy Quran says:

“Fulfill the covenant of Allah when ye have entered into it and break not your oath after ye have confirmed them. Indeed ye have made Allah your surety, for Allah knows all that ye do.”

The Quran prohibits breaking the commitment even if it were for the sake of Islamic solidarity. Verse 72 of Surat Al Anfal says:

“But if they seek your aid in religion, it is your duty to help them except against a people with whom ye have a treaty, and Allah sees all that ye do”.

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For the Moravian Gallery in Brno (Czech Republic) the several years of cooperation in the Discover Baroque Art project have been a challenge, but often also a pleasure, accompanied with expectations of the result, which is now just opening before your eyes without any geographic or other frontiers obstructing anyone’s way to knowledge. I will never forget the first working meeting that took place here in Brno, and was hosted by the Moravian Gallery. The initial group of colleagues and initiators, headed by Eva Schubert, always full of enthusiasm and energy, was enlarged, in the course of time, by other people and institutions. No matter how the extent and reach of our intent expanded, its original objective has remained unchanged: To interconnect information and contexts relating to Baroque art, to strengthen the awareness of coherence and to restitute or, in some cases, to develop the sense and feeling of integrity that has always been immanent to European culture and art, despite all the historical re-drawing of the maps, drawn sometimes by reasons of emancipation or, on the contrary, by brutally implemented power. I really do appreciate that new technologies allow to indicate potential wholes in today’s so fragmented world, in which the knowledge of tradition and of the past helps to understand the others, but first of all oneself.

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In 1995 15 countries of the European Union along with 12 non-EU countries signed up to the Barcelona Declaration, the aim of which was to develop security, stability, trade and cultural co-operation in the Mediterranean region. This was the stepping stone that led to Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean the idea of which, basically, was that the shared heritage of the Mediterranean countries could and should be used as common ground for cooperation; an opportunity to enhance these countries commonalities as much as to treasure their diversities. This task was not an easy one due to the complexities of the relationship between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean countries, better known as the Near or Middle East. From the moment of its conception to the present day, the Middle East as a geopolitical concept has been defined by Western powers mainly in terms of the problems it might cause for them. On the other hand, given this complex history of the “West’s” involvement in the Middle East, it is not surprising that many people in the region view everything that comes from the West with deep suspicion.

To make any progress, therefore, it was necessary to build a platform where upon different points of view could be freely expressed. The aim was not to refute the others’ perception and not to neutralise all the many different perceptions – definitely not to counter one statement with another that might be saying the exact opposite – but to highlight the diversity of opinions and utilise the scope this variety of interpretations might offer. In this way a space was created for countries to present their history from a local prospective; an opportunity to confront the many “stories” under discussion and create an atmosphere that fostered the freedom necessary to make their own judgments. Information technology made the task much easier.

As a result, the world largest online museum was created by MWNF in cooperation with 14 countries of the Mediterranean Basin. Forty museums have contributed to the creation of this unique presentation of Islamic art, interrelating artefacts from its collection with those of all the other 40 participating museums, and with Islamic monuments and sites from around the Mediterranean.

From this, the world’s most comprehensive approach to Islamic art and culture in the Mediterranean was created.

From a personal perspective, it became clear to me while working on the project that the strength of Islamic art and the vibrancy of Islamic culture lay in the multiple ways external influences have been adapted and integrated. These external influences were never a threat to any culture, including Islamic culture, and only become a threat when the indigenous culture was loosing its relevance.

While MWNF realises that we cannot create an ideal agreement by ourselves, we consider that what we have done and what we are doing is actually something of utmost importance: we are creating pluralism; building a meaningful public-academic platform upon which it is okay to disagree.

Among the achievements about which we are very proud – besides establishing the world’s largest online Museum of Islamic Art and in so doing bringing together more than 120 researchers and museum experts from 14 countries around the Mediterranean and in Europe to work together for three years to create it – is the fact that by the time EU-financing came to an end we had initiated several follow-up-projects, namely in the fields of education and responsible tourism, using our own resources. Thus MWNF has demonstrated the sustainability of the work already carried out and breathed new life into a unique forum for dialogue, cooperation and knowledge sharing.

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The recently launched Museum With No Frontiers (MWNF) Travel portal offers a travel experience like no other for groups of seven or more people, delivers unique insight into various areas of cultural interest, and exemplifies responsible travel. Each of the tours offered in the 2009–10 programme focuses on a specific theme of Islamic Art in the Mediterranean within North Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe, and features a selection of art and architecture seldom seen on the tourist trail and not commonly presented in most travel guides or tour programmes.

The relevant thematic guide is available in print or as an e-book for travellers to peruse beforehand. They are based on the MWNF Exhibition Trail format where instead of moving the works of art, it is the visitor who moves around to discover monuments, archaeological sites and artefacts at museums within their natural environment. Researched and written by local scholars, Islamic history is told from the local perspective, an ethos upheld by the MWNF Travel platform.

All MWNF tour guides are qualified to at least degree level in the subject of the tour and are expert in the local history of the area. Unusually, MWNF publishes the names of its local partner travel agents, taking a small commission from all tours sold. This income is reinvested to manage and sustain the world’s largest online Museum (www.discoverislamicart.org), which in itself is an extraordinary free resource for academics, students and the intelligent reader alike.

MWNF demonstrates a dedication to inclusive, responsible travel in other ways too. It has devised and overseen various conservation initiatives in the countries concerned, and augmented and supplied signage to provide information about various monuments and sites. In doing this, it has given back visibility and significance to many of them and successfully secured funding and attracted publicity to support further conservation projects.

Importantly, therefore, MWNF has been successful in invigorating a forgotten or at least a depleted cultural pride in some areas. MWNF promotes local heritage: monuments and archaeological sites, museums and their collections, juxtaposing the very well known among them with the less prominent. By presenting cultural heritage in this way, MWNF allows unique insight into the subject of Islamic Art.

MWNF will inspire you whichever doorway you choose to enter it from: whether it’s through reading one of the thematic guides, via the Virtual Museum or in person on a MWNF Travel tour.

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This is a very particular moment in the history of MWNF.

The MWNF website receives visits from all over the world – on average 1000 people per day come to our Virtual Museum, use our database or look at our tours – but until now we have had no opportunity for direct communication with our visitors except through the Feedback facility. From now on, this will change.

We have created two Blogs and opened an institutional MWNF page on Facebook.

In the MWNF Blog you will find guest articles about the MWNF programme. Furthermore, I will use the Blog to share with our visitors the history of MWNF from its beginning in 1993 – when I first made contact with the Ministries of Culture and Ministries of Tourism all around the Mediterranean and simultaneously implemented the MWNF pilot project in the Austrian region of Tyrol – up until today. There are a lot of very nice stories, anecdotes and experiences that take you “back stage” of MWNF giving insight into the organisation, although for obvious reasons some names and locations have been changed to ensure privacy. I believe that those moments, the genesis of the project, should not remain only with those of us who had the privilege to live it, but that we should all be the treasurers of the experience that I define as “a dream that became reality”.

With this statement I do not mean to imply that the most difficult times are behind us, on the contrary, the real difficulties are in front of us: we are aware that the reality of achieving sustainability for MWNF – a multilateral but totally independent organisation – is a huge challenge. But we are confident for the future thanks in many ways to the encouragement we receive daily from our visitors worldwide. Before embarking on the history of MWNF, however, I will first of all explain why we decided to make the history, culture and art of the Islamic Mediterranean the flagship topic of the MWNF programme.

Our second Blog is dedicated to the MWNF Travellers, those who have participated in one or more of the tours organised in association with our local partner travel agents. The MWNF Travellers’ Blog will also host articles written by guest authors about specific topics.

Finally, I would like briefly to explain the language policy of our Blogs: in order to ensure consistency and allow us to administer the two Blogs with available resources, we have decided that Guests’ and Eva’s Articles will be published in English only. Travellers’ Articles and Replies may, however, be posted in any of our navigation languages (Arabic, English, French or Spanish) as well as in German, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish.

We hope you will continue to visit us regularly and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

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