Traveling Exhibit - Families of Abraham

Winner of Charlotte Magazine’s

“Best of the Best” Award

for Best Exhibition for 2007”

Originating Venue:

Levine Museum of the New South

On reserve to Meredith College, Raleigh, NC

February 3 - April 6, 2008

On reserve to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

May 11 - September 15 2008

Sponsored in part by Ford Foundation's

Difficult Dialogues Initiative

On reserve to University of Wisconsin at Madison

October - December, 2008

Nearly half of humanity--Jews, Christians and Muslims--claim the same spiritual ancestor, Abraham. Through the eyes of eleven families explore what we have in common in today's world.

People today are overwhelmed by the enormality of violence around the world in the name of religion. With headlines of escalating tensions in the Middle East confronting us daily, distrust and even hatred is building between Jews, Christians and Muslims. And yet these three religions originated from the same part of the world and the same ancestor, Abraham.

Featuring the work of eight documentary photographers: Byron Baldwin, Donna Bise, Eleanor Brawley, John Daughtry, Donna Foster, Chris Keane, Tina Manley, and Nancy Pierce, Families of Abraham is a photographic narrative exhibit of eleven families, Jewish, Christian and Muslim, who were selected to participate in one year of photography of their day-to-day life and faith traditions. Among the families: a single mother who moved with her daughter from New York following 9/11, a family with a father who was born in Kuwait, a local cardiologist and his wife from India, a new mother from Nicaragua, a refugee family from Bosnia and a family originally from South Charlotte-still living there today surrounded by generations of family.

Recoup the exhibit loan fee while building your museum membership base.

This exhibit includes our donation of 56 exhibit books and 150 special edition exhibition posters to be used as new membership incentives.

A photographic narrative exhibit celebrating life and faith traditions of Jewish, Christian and Muslim families

PARTICIPATION FEE

Call for pricing and information.

Loan includes

(56) books,

(150) lithographs, personal appearance by Eleanor Brawley

(valued at over $11,000)

Exhibition Specifications

EXHIBITION

CONTENTS

(204) photographs

with captions,

(6) 3' x 8' free standing kiosks, wall text panels, media kit, (56) books and (150) exhibit lithographs for use as new membership incentives.

SPECIAL

EVENTS

Included in the loan fee is a personal appearance by Eleanor Brawley for VIP gallery walk, book/poster signing, panel discussion and opening reception events.

(Schedule permitting. Actual travel expenses excluded)

EXHIBITION

CONTACT

For further information,

contact

exhibition marketing manager,

Vickie Rehberg

(561) 883-2145

The photographers captured major Holy Days in all three religions, such as Yom Kippur in the Jewish tradition, the Christian Easter celebrations, and the Muslim month-long Ramadan fast from sunrise to sunset. Important family milestones were also captured such as the first moments of life for a newborn Catholic baby, the Bar Mitzvah of a young Jewish boy, and the greeting of a newborn Muslim baby as the father whispers the Call to Prayer in the infants ear.

Families of Abraham is organized by photographer and poet, Eleanor Brawley and contains (204) photographs mounted on sintra, (6) free standing kiosks, an exhibit book, exhibit posters, media kit, sample event programming and suggested artifacts.

Installation photograph from the galleries of the Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC

Visitor Comments:

“Not only were Jews, Christians and Muslims neighbors in medieval Spain, we are today neighbors in Charlotte and in countless other cities and towns in the United States. In discovering the many faces of our neighbors, we find our horizons expand to include plenitude of God’s presence among the families of Abraham.”

-Dr. Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University and Director of The Harvard University Pluralism Project.

“I found this exhibit particularly poignant in the way it uses photography and people’s own words to evoke the power of spiritual practices in both their similarities and differences across traditions.”

-The Reverend Samuel H. Speers, Director of Religious & Spiritual Life, Vassar College

“The cultural beauty of the Families of Abraham brought thousands of people together. The simplicity of the exhibit’s pictorial portrayal of the commonalities of everyday life gave additional depth to the diversity seen in the religious displays. People who had never spoken before dialogued by hundreds. The discussions were heartfelt, warm and engaging, opening doors of understanding between people of many faiths and ethic backgrounds.”

-Rabbi Murray Ezring, Temple Israel, Charlotte, NC

“In my opinion, this exhibit is a powerful tool for promoting understanding between the Jewish, Christian and Islamic Communities which constitute the majority of humanity. It should be shared in museums throughout the nation and the world, if possible.”

-Imam Khalil Akbar, Masjid Ash Shaheed, Charlotte, NC