The Rev. Paul-Gordon CHANDLER is the Founder and President of CARAVAN: an author, interfaith advocate, arts patron, social entrepreneur and an American Episcopal priest. He grew up in Senegal, West Africa, and has lived and worked extensively throughout the Islamic world in leadership roles within faith-based publishing, relief and development agencies and churches. Most recently, he served as the rector of the historic St. John’s Church, Maadi in Cairo, Egypt (2003-2013). He has curated high profile exhibitions at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, Egypt’s Museum of Modern Art, Metz Cathedral (France), St. Germain des Pres in Paris, Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral, New York City’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, London’s St-Martin’s-in-the-Fields and St James’s, Piccadilly.
Background on CARAVAN, the global coordinating body
The I AM exhibition builds upon nine successful years of strategic East-West arts initiatives implemented by CARAVAN. CARAVAN is an international peacebuilding arts NGO that originated in Cairo, Egypt in 2009, with the objective of building bridges through the arts between the creeds and cultures of the Middle East and West.
CARAVAN’s experience demonstrates that the arts can serve as one of the most effective mediums to enhance understanding, bring about respect, enable sharing, and deepen friendships between those of different cultures and faiths in the Middle East and the West. A flagship initiative of CARAVAN is the globally recognized annual CARAVAN Exhibition of Art, a unique arts initiative that brings together many of the premier and emerging artists from the Middle East and the West. These CARAVAN exhibitions have resulted in unprecedented gatherings of renowned Middle Eastern and Western artists who use art for intercultural and interreligious dialogue. These exhibitions have garnered attention from the international press, media and art world, and attract thousands of visitors. For more information on CARAVAN, see: www.oncaravan.org
Following on from the strategic successes of the CARAVAN peacebuilding art initiatives, the I AM exhibition takes the same message of intercultural and interreligious understanding and harmony around the world.