Project Description
The opening of the exhibit of Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner's paintings and prints of the Holy Land at Boston College (1996) coincided with escalating battles in the Middle East in October 1996. Organizers of the show aimed to help "salve the wound" through the exhibition and an ambitious array of related public symposia with participants from all the faiths rooted in the Middle East. Presenters included: Anwar Sadat's daughter, Camelia; Rabbi David Rosen, director of interfaith relations at the Anti-Defamation League in Jerusalem; and Rev. Samir Kafity, Anglican bishop of Jerusalem. Topics of the public symposia were:

• Significance of the Architectural Monuments of the Holy Land for Three Faiths
• Jerusalem and the Holy Land in the American Consciousness and American Politics
• The Role of Jerusalem and the Holy Land as the Center for Three Faiths

Civic Engagement/Dialogue Activities
Public programs created around the exhibition were led by experts from different cultures of the Middle East who made presentations in three-hour symposia held at Boston College. Symposia were extremely well attended and audiences included church and synagogue groups and the general public, as well as members of the area's college community.

Project Summary

Information Sources
Temin, Christine. "A peaceful vision of the Middle East," The Boston Globe, October 6, 1996, sec. N, p. 1.