|
Erin
Burnett, Sen.
John Sununu,
Lally Weymouth
&
James Zogby
participated in
East-West:
The Art of Dialogue
Seeking
dialogue between the Arab and Western Worlds
Egyptian
Businessman Shafik Gabr
Launches
Foundation To Seek Peace
Two important panel discussions on East West relations
were
presented by the new
Shafik Gabr Foundation on
Monday,
December 3, 2012 in NYC
Both panels were free and open to the public and were moderated by Erin
Burnett.
Panel One
Early Globalists:
What Do the Orientalist Travelers Have to Teach Us Today?
-
Nayan Chanda,
Editor YaleGlobal Online, Yale Center for the Study for the
Study of Globalization
-
Sanford
Climan,
President, Entertainment Media Ventures
-
Hussein
Fahmy,
Actor and Regional Ambassador of Goodwill to the Special
Olympics and former President of the Cairo International
Film Festival
-
Lord
Poltimore,
Deputy Chairman, Sotheby's
-
Panel Two
Beyond Government Diplomacy:
How Can We Address East West Challenges
-
Sir Graeme
Lamb,
Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University and
former Commander of the UK Field Army at Land Command
-
Brian
Sullivan,
"Street Signs" Co-Anchor, CNBC
-
Senator John
Sununu,
New Hampshire 2003 – 2009
-
Ms. Lally
Weymouth,
Senior Associate Editor, Washington Post
-
James Zogby,
President, Arab American Institute
A private dinner followed
in the
evening
at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s
The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing.
These
are just the first in a series of initiatives to build bridges
between the Arab world and the West, and follow similar events
in London two weeks prior where the participants included former
prime minster Tony Blair.
Entitled “East-West: The Art of Dialogue”,
the initiative will sponsor exchanges between young and emerging leaders
in the arts, sciences, law, media, business and social
entrepreneurship drawn from the Arab world and the West.
Speaking at the London event, Mr Shafik Gabr, the Egyptian
investor, art collector and philanthropist, whose idea this
initiative is and whose Foundation is providing the funding to
make it possible, said:
“Governments and their diplomats have failed. If we are ever
to have understanding private citizens must reach out and find a
common ground. In today’s world we have instant access to
immediate global communications of every type, but even so we
don’t understand each other. As a result, I’m afraid we are on a
trajectory that can lead to more conflict than resolution. I
hope that by giving emerging leaders in the Arab world and the
West the opportunity to know each other, and talk to each other,
rather than at each other, and collaborate in joint projects
that this can create better bridges of understanding, that such
positive developments can have a ripple effect across time and
space, and give the next generation better opportunities than we
have given them so far,” he added.
The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, the former UK Prime Minister, speaking
at the London inaugural event said: “The future of the region
lies, in my view, in the creation of open societies and
economies. The only solution is when people believe they can
live together, regardless of their differences. I think this
concept of cultural exchange is really, really important. You
can’t understand some of these issues unless you understand the
different cultural perceptions,” concluded Tony Blair.
About The Shafik Gabr Foundation
The initiative is in part inspired by Mr Shafik Gabr’s passion
for the European and American artists of the 19th and
early 20th centuries who travelled to the Middle East
and immersed themselves in the local culture and way of life.
By sponsoring a series of exchange visits in which participants,
the Gabr fellows, will have the chance to experience each
others’ cultures and societies at first hand, the Shafik Gabr
Foundation aims to help reverse the erosion of public
understanding and trust and rediscover the profound
commonalities and the enriching differences between East and
West.
Targeting twenty candidates aged 24-30, initially drawn from
Egypt, Bahrain, the US and UK, The Art of Dialogue programme
will help promote professional
and personal relationships that bridge the cultural divides.
The candidates will be tasked with developing creative projects
that leverage their exchange experience and reach out beyond
their home communities to a wider public. These projects will be
presented at a conference in Washington, DC in November 2013,
which they themselves will help shape organize.
Similar
events will take place in Paris, Istanbul and Cairo in 2013.
The launch also coincides with the publication of
“Masterpieces of Orientalist Art: The Shafik Gabr
Collection.”
Mr Shafik Gabr also said:
“Despite the massive growth of access to electronic and social
media in recent years, empathy and understanding between the
Arab World and the West have declined, curiosity is ebbing and
stereotypes risk hardening into caricature. The long-term
implications for relations between East and West are deeply
worrying".
Mr. Shafik Gabr continued:
“The Orientalist traveller painters, whom I call the early
globalists, demonstrated through first-hand portrayals of the
Arab World the power of close observation to transcend
stereotypes and engender empathy and informed understanding.
“Rebuilding the bridges that once existed is what “East-West:
The Art of Dialogue” aims to achieve. I believe passionately in
the power for good that can result,” he concluded.
About Shafik Gabr
Shafik Gabr, Chairman and Managing Director of the ARTOC Group
for Investment & Development, is an international business
leader, philanthropist, and one of the worlds leading collectors
of Orientalist art.
The ARTOC Group is a multi-disciplined investment holding
company with interests in steel, the automotive industry,
engineering and technical services, consumer products, energy,
publishing, real estate and construction.
Mr Shafik Gabr is Chairman of Egypt’s International Economic
Forum and a member of the International Business
Council of the World Economic Forum. He serves on Yale
University President’s Council on International Activities, is a
Global Leadership Council Member at the Brookings Institution
and also serves on the Advisory Boards of MIT’s Center for
International Studies.
His Foundation for Social Development has made a major
contribution to improving elementary school education and
medical and health services in the poorest areas of Cairo.
About the Shafik Gabr Collection
Mr Shafik Gabr’s collection comprises some of the finest
examples of the great masters of Orientalism including Jean-Léon
Gérome,
Ludwig Deutsch,
Frederick Arthur Bridgman, David Roberts, Gustav Bauernfeind,
David Roberts, John Frederick Lewis, Étienne Dinet and Jacques
Majorelle. Over the years, it has become one of the most
complete tributes to the world of Orientalism. A new, lavishly
illustrated book, Masterpieces of Orientalist Art: The Shafik
Gabr Collection, reflects its importance in the art world and
includes essays by some of the most distinguished experts in the
field. Published by A.C.R. EDITION, Paris, to place an order
contact ACC
at
800.252.5231 or
sales@antiquecc.com
FOR INFORMATION ON
THE SHAFIK GABR
FOUNDATION:
http://eastwestdialogue.org
|