KAHLIL GIBRAN: A Guide for Our Times is a CARAVAN peacebuilding touring exhibition that will culminate at Sotheby’s in London between 6-10 August 2018, featuring over 38 acclaimed contemporary artists from the Middle East inspired by the universal message of peace and harmony found in Kahlil Gibran’s poetry, writing and art, such as in his best-selling book The Prophet, which celebrates its 95th publishing anniversary this year.

The exhibition visually highlights how Kahlil Gibran, a supreme East-West figure, can be an unparalleled guide for our times, related to peace, harmony and the building of bridges between the creeds and cultures of the Middle East and West. Reflecting the compelling universal spiritual contribution that Kahlil Gibran has made and continues to make to the world, the exhibition will show how Gibran’s voice is timeless and can be a guiding spirit for our times. Gibran’s work focuses on the themes that unite all peoples and religions, leading the reader or viewer on a journey towards peace and harmony, reconnecting us with humanity.

Kahlil Gibran, the Lebanese born poet-artist, who immigrated from Lebanon to the US in the late 1800s, and who came into worldwide renown in the 1920s, visited London in 1910 at the end of a two-year period of art studies in Paris. While in London he was profoundly influenced by the mystical work of the poet-painter William Blake and deeply impressed with the paintings of William Turner. During Gibran’s short visit to London with two compatriots, they came up with an ambitious plan to reconcile the faiths in the Arab world on a grand artistic scale. And in London they sketched plans for an opera house in Beirut showcasing two domes, one resembling a church basilica and the other featuring mosque minarets, symbolizing the reconciliation of the two religions.

The exhibition will run from 6 – 10 August 2018 at Sotheby’s Mayfair galleries in London and a percentage of the artwork sales will go to charity, toward peacebuilding in the Middle East through the arts.

The exhibition is co-curated by Janet Rady and Marion Fromlet Baecker and is in partnership with us here at The Arab British Centre. CARAVAN previously held similar exhibitions inspired by Kahlil Gibran with acclaimed artists in Bahrain and Egypt in the spring of 2018. The two exhibitions, together with a selection of work from new artists, will all come together for this larger exhibition at Sotheby’s.

London, U.K.: 6-10 August (Open to the Public: Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM ). Sotheby’s, 34-35 New Bond Street, London W1S 2RT, United Kingdom (Upper Entrance, West and Linell Galleries)