 Welcome to Abraham Out of One Many, an engaging art exhibition brought to you by Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston and curated by Caravan, an international arts nonprofit that is recognized as a leader in using the arts to further the global quest for a more harmonious future, both with each other and with the earth. Interfaith Ministries is Houston's oldest interfaith service organization. Dialogue, collaboration and service have been at the heart of our work for over 50 years. Our programs fall into four areas. We are Texas's largest meals on wheels program and one of the top 10 largest meals on wheels programs in the country. We also have a strong refugee services resettlement program working with Episcopal migration ministries to help resettle refugees into the Houston area. Volunteer Houston connects individuals, groups and companies with nonprofit agencies to transform the Greater Houston community for good through volunteerism and interfaith relations and community partnerships fosters understanding, respect and engagement among people of all faiths and IRCP is thrilled to be able to host this exhibit. Please visit www.imgh.org to learn more about us. Between April 20th and May 21st we hosted Abraham Out of One Many, a virtual exhibit of 15 paintings by three celebrated artists from the Middle East. We had planned to host these paintings in person in our Brigitte and Bashar Kallai Plaza of Respect and Great Hall in April of 2020, but COVID derailed those plans. We were thrilled to work with Caravan to create a virtual gallery experience so that we were able to reschedule the exhibit. A virtual experience allowed for a wide variety of accessible programs including the program you're about to enjoy. We are grateful to the sponsors that made this event possible, especially our lead sponsors, Joni and David Andrews, Debbie and Floyd Kearns, Marion and Paul Cones and Carol and Frank Groon. This exhibit came to us through the incredible work of Caravan. Its mission is based on the belief that the arts can be one of the most effective mediums to heal our world and to creatively foster peace, harmony and wholeness and health in all its forms. Caravan originated out of an artistic bridge building initiative in Cairo, Egypt in 2009 that focused on addressing the then growing chasm of discord and misunderstanding between the peoples, cultures and creeds of the Middle East and the West. The nomadic Caravan theme comes out of the founding vision to encourage and facilitate those from diverse backgrounds and worldviews to journey together through the arts. We invite you to visit oncaravan.org to learn more. This exhibit, Abraham Out of One Many, is a timely artistic exploration of living harmoniously inspired by Abraham, the common ancestor of three celebrated contemporary artists of Middle Eastern heritage from Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions. Today's event is a special one as we host a virtual event that brings four leaders from the exhibit together for a dialogue on the importance of this project. We welcome Paul Gordon Chandler, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming and founding president of Caravan along with the three artists, Sinan Hussein, Keisal Cindy and Shia Zule. From three time zones and two continents, let's join our conversation with the Reverend Dr. Tamla Wilson, a member of the board of Interfaith Ministries and vice chair of our Interfaith Relations and Community Partnerships Committee, introducing our speakers. So to introduce the artists and moderate the conversation, let me now welcome the right Reverend Paul Gordon Chandler, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming and president and founder of Caravan. Thank you. Thank you. And on behalf of Caravan, I want to thank all of you for attending this special artist panel of the participating artist in this Abraham Out of One Many exhibition that is actually on tour right now throughout the United States, both virtually and physically, virtually as it is in Houston in partnership with Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston. This exhibition, I thought I'd give a little context for it before we introduce our various artists. This exhibition originally originated out of an observance of the rise of anti-Semitism and increasing anti-Muslim sentiment in the West. And also with the prejudice and stereotyping and discrimination and even misrepresentation, where we saw it was becoming more and more evident in today's climate. And of course, all of that can often lead to a dehumanizing of the other, whomever the other is, whether in worldviews or words or actions, whether related to color or faith or ethnicity, etc. And so this timely exhibition titled Abraham Out of One Many is really an artistic response to today's climate in all of that regard. Like never before, I think our day needs to be counteracted by creative initiatives that are based on our similarities and what we all hold in common. And so this exhibition really, in that sense, is a creative demonstration of dialogue. One of the things this exhibition does is it serves to remind us that in the midst of all the tensions and even polarization that exist, that Muslims, Christians and Jews all have the same family heritage through our ancestor Abraham or Ibrahim and Arabic or Avraham in Hebrew. Abraham is certainly the most jointly beloved spiritual figure by all those faiths that call themselves monotheistic, Jews, Christians, Muslims, even Druze and some of the other minority traditions in the Middle East. All of them, of course, are considered the Abrahamic faiths and they all see themselves as proud descendants of this one who we would say today is a southern Iraqi. And the followers of each of those traditions are of course referred to as children of Abraham. And these three faith traditions all see the figure of Abraham as a model of welcoming the stranger and embracing the other. And so in that way, Abraham can serve as a guide for all of us regardless of what cultural, religious or even non-religious tradition or ethnicity we come from. The exhibition focuses in on what we can learn from Abraham's story about living together more harmoniously. The title, of course, Abraham Out of One Many, plays off of that well-known Latin motto which is on the US presidential seal, E pluribus unum out of many one. The exhibition premiered its 24 month global tour in Rome. It was then showcased in Paris, France, and then it went to Edinburgh, Scotland. And now it's on tour throughout the United States, both physically and then virtually of course due to COVID. And as this important exhibition travels, it takes with it the fundamental message of intercultural and inter-religious harmony, focusing on how we can all live and work together harmoniously to jointly enhance our communities. And throughout the tour, the art really is a catalyst for the development of a whole exciting schedule of programs and events of which this is one to focus on greater understanding in dialogue and further education. And the foundation to this exhibition really is the belief that art can be a universal language that has the ability to dissolve the differences that divide us. There's no question that we have found that art can be one of the most effective mediums to enhance understanding, to bring about respect, to enable sharing, and to deepen friendship between those of different faiths and cultures. And if you will, it's in a sense art helps us put ourselves in the other's shoes. So in this sense, looking through an artistic lens at Abraham's life, this exhibition has the primary objective of helping us see the other with fresh eyes. And so for this exhibition, we invited three celebrated Middle Eastern contemporary visual artists to participate from the faith traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They were each commissioned to produce five paintings that interpret Abraham's life for us today, serving as a guide toward creating cultures of peace and of harmony and justice and healing, all as descendants of a shared heritage. The exhibition highlights five themes related Abraham's life that have profound implications on how we can live together harmoniously as one family. Those five themes are these, living as a pilgrim, welcoming the stranger, sacrificial love, compassion, and friend of God. And we'll amplify a little bit later as we go through what they mean. What can Abraham teach us today from freeing our world from any sectarian strife? That's the question this exhibition attempts to answer. The three artists are these, Shai Azulay, a renowned contemporary Jewish artist from Israel, K. Salcindi, an Iraqi artist from the Chaldean Assyrian Christian tradition, part of the ancient Nestorian tradition in the Middle East, and then Sinan Hussein, an Iraqi artist who is from Baghdad, currently living in Istanbul, who's from a Muslim background. And our criteria for selecting these three participating artists was really threefold. One, they had to be premier artists of international renown, and all three are award-winning artists and highly regarded in international art circles. Secondly, and more than anything else, we wanted to see that their artwork together would flow seamlessly in a joint exhibition that each's artistic approach would in a sense complement the others. And then much more profoundly than even those first two criteria is that they as artists embodied the spirit of this exhibition and really of Abraham in that regard of welcoming the stranger and embracing the other. Now for today's panel, we will ask each artist to share in some detail about one or two of their paintings in the exhibition. And then throughout it, including some conversation and dialogue, and feel free to ask your questions in the chat room as we go along. And we will do so in the order of their historical faith traditions. In other words, we will go with our Jewish artist first, and then Christian, and then Muslim. Shai Azulay. Shai Azulay is going to share about one or two actually of his paintings in the exhibition that mean most to him and really that in a way signify his message to all of us related to this figure of Abraham. A little more detail about Shai. Shai studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design where he received both his BFA and MFA degrees. In his painting, he creates a narrative abundant with figures and scenes that radiate human war warmth and compassion and some irony as well as you will see his work ranges from drawing and painting between the sophisticated and the naive, and between the omnipotent to the limited. Shai has held numerous solo exhibitions around the world, including of course in Israel, the Tel Aviv Museum. He's participated in the Frieze Art Fair. And then going all the way east to Tokyo, to the west of Rome, Paris, and the United States. He's a recipient of the Marasha Award from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Moses Prize from the Jerusalem Artist House, and his works are in renowned collections around the world. Interestingly, just a little tidbit, Shai's family name, Azulay, is a prominent Moroccan Jewish name. For example, the current senior advisor to King Mohammed VI of Morocco is Andrei Azulay, whose daughter, Audrey Azulay, is the current director general of UNESCO. So Shai's family heritage comes out of Morocco and his father immigrated there to Israel from Morocco in 1958. So carrying on that heritage, and I don't know if you'll be able to see it today, Shai often wears a traditional Moroccan hat, which is a beautiful blend actually of the two cultures. And Shai was with us for the opening of the exhibition in Paris, France. Shai, Azulay, welcome. It's wonderful to have you with us, and I'm going to turn it over to you. Shai, are you there? You're on mute, Shai. You're on mute. There you go. Now I'm on. Hello everyone. Now we can hear you. Now we can hear you. Hello. Good evening to everyone in Israel. Now it's noon, I think, in the other places. Thank you for the opportunity for this everything to happen, to make painting that are connected to the big spiritual soul of Abraham. And from the other hand, to meet other artists that are coming from different sources, but still the art is making the bridge to all of us. Actually, it's kind of a dream because I remember that the reason that I choose to start painting is because I couldn't speak so well. I mean that I was very shy, and it's amazing to see that paintings have no borders. They can fly, they can speak so many languages, and they can bring so many cultures in them. So I feel that this is the privilege and the quality of painting in this sense, to meet so many different opportunities with other artists and other projects. When Paul asked me to join this project, I felt that it's big to react to Abraham. It's like very big and challenging. And I was thinking that what will happen now, because usually the way that my process in doing is very simple. I read something, or I hear something, or I dream something, and I make them, and they are becoming a painting. And I was thinking now I had text and I had some kind of subtitles, and I had to react to them. And I felt that it took me a while to understand that I can do it. Paul knows that. And I'm very glad to have those images, these five images, that we are going to speak on maybe one or two of them. So can you please load one of those, Greg? Oh, yeah. This painting is... Hold on. That's yours, isn't it? This is mine, yeah. Yeah. This is not mine. Yeah, we stuck with this one. Second for sure, love. I was thinking... Greg, you need to put the circle one on. Yes, that's what I had. Okay, there we go. I don't see the circle one. I see the other one. Ah, okay. Currently, Shai, we have the circle one up and down. Oh, yeah, yeah. Great, great, great. So first of all, I was thinking of Abraham that he was so... It's amazing to think that Abraham was so open. He was so open to embrace everything and everyone in the circle. And I was thinking of a circle, energy circle, between people that people are meeting and they are dancing together. It's a very cultural thing. And I felt that kind of... I have to make the circle with so many colors, a grid of different colors in them, because people are... For me, they are like colors, different colors, different people meeting together. The combination is making things so special. And then you can see Abraham above them, like flying on the carpet, above them, the blessing of Abraham, that this thing that somebody is looking above you is the blessing of everything. Yes, this is what I can share and say about this painting. We can maybe see another image. Shai, before you change, could you share a little bit about circle dancing within Jewish culture? Oh, usually they are very... It's common, not only in a Jewish religious one. It's common to have circles in dancing, in folk music, Israeli folk music. Even in Hasid, the Orthodox are doing it the same. This is kind of a very tied circle together. This is something that is really happening. Common, it's normal. But I think that people are dancing in circles everywhere, no? Maybe it's only in my head. I don't know. And why do you have... Shai, why do you have the checkered background of different colors? The floor. Yeah, I was saying that I made this grid of colors because I felt that each color is a language, is a culture, is a place that you are coming from, it's a language, it's a taste, it's food. So many things. So as a painter, I see them in colors. Like this, my mind is doing this grid of colors. And I was thinking of doing kind of a blanket, full blanket of different colors that are combining together. This togetherness is abram. It's like to be able to meet so many different people and to connect them all together and to make one of all of them. Okay. Thank you. Paul, can I just ask one follow-up? Please. I have been giving kind of virtual tours to groups. And so this is a pleasure for me because I feel like I know you already because I have looked at your painting so many times. One of the things that I draw people's attention to are the details of the people. They have different clothing, even different colored hair. When you were painting each of these individuals, did you have something in mind about each of them, or were you just using colors and shapes? I think that it's like this privilege of doing painting from your head. You're letting all the demons coming out, all your unconscious things coming out. You make figures that maybe you met them on the bus. Maybe you saw them on the Facebook or maybe you spoke with somebody or you had it in your dreams. So you just, you know, they are popping out of you. So it's and you are dressing them and you are making their hair and you're thinking that you are there. You're telling it to my, usually to my art student. When you are doing a painting, you have to be in the painting. You have to be part of the painting. If you won't do it, the painting will be flat. You will be part of something that you won't touch no one. Yeah. Paul Gordon. The thing that maybe I answered your question. Yes. Greg, please feel free to ask the questions that are also in the chat room. Yes. There is a, there's a, maybe we could do shy this one as well. Again, many people have seen these paintings, but not the artists. So one question was asked was how, how do you prepare yourself to be creative? The, the question is how do you get into, we use in English, the creative zone. How do you position yourself to be creative? What goes on in your heart mind or your, or your soul? This is something that I would love to share because I'm really, I mean, I'm like a sportsman. I, I'm sleeping very early and I'm waking very early. Like I'm waking in like 4 a.m. and I'm studying, studying Torah Kabbalah a bit and then I'm, I'm going to seculate the nature for one hour in almost dark and then I'm going to pray and I feel that this, this thing is making me very clean when I'm coming to the studio. I'm, I'm getting to the studio at around 8 30 in the morning. And then I think that this thing is like keeping me very sharp and it keeping me like my, I'm a channel. It's like the channel is open in my channel is open. I'm not disturbing images to go out of me. And this is kind of a very simple, secret, secret way to be creative. You have to be clean. You have to be clean tool. The things will come out of you. Thank you. If you could, that, that would be a question I would love to, I think, and others would love for the other two artists. That's a great idea. Thank you. You want to go to your next painting? Shy? If we have time, if not, if we have time, we have, yeah, we have time. There we go. Let's go to the other one. I love, I love the other one as well. The one with the hands. We have it up now. Yeah. So it's like an open hand. Yeah. There is a blessing in the morning that you are blessing you should, that you should open your hand to get the bless. When your hands are open, your blessing is coming to you. When your hand is closed, nothing is coming to you. So there is a praying. Usually when, when you are praying from the, from the, from the, from the Torah, you have to, you have to react to the text. Sometimes you have to react physically to the text. So you're saying, so it's saying a sentence and then you have to open your hand to get the blessing. And this painting is about this thing. I think that you have, you have to choose in your life. If your hands is closed or your hands are open, it's a choice. If they're closed, don't be surprised when you're not, you will not get the blessing or you not get all the energy. When your hands are open, you should really, really, really expect all the good or the things that will come to you. So I was thinking of those figures that are flying. They are like kind of an angels that are the good angels, even if they are in dark, it's for the painting, but they are good angels. They are flying away. They are bringing good. They are, they are coming up and down. It's very simple actually to open your hand, open your hand, people. That's it. And Chai, you often have flying figures in your paintings. Can you give us a little background as to why? Flying figures, it's like to be high spiritually, I don't know, glad, happy, joyful. Sometimes you're so happy that you feel that you don't have balance, like you don't have any, any weight on your, you can fly. You're like an astronaut. You can lose your, your, your energies, like you can fly like a bird. And I feel that usually when you are very light, it can happen to you. And when I'm, and when I'm doing flying figures in painting, painting is a very static thing. It's a very static thing. And when you are doing a flying figure, it's bringing some surprise into the painting. So I'm using these flying figures for me to be surprised. Maybe I want to fly as well. And of course, Chai, the background to this painting, the theme being a friend of God, is the idea of embracing all things, hence the open hands, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To just get them to open your hand and to expect that some good things will come to you, just to open your hand. But it's not easy, you know, it's easy to say. It's maybe easy to paint it, but it's not easy to do it. We are fighting so much between all of us. We are fighting for everything. It's not only religious. It's for this COVID brought to the world. A very simple thing that we see each other in our home, in our inside. And we understand if we can't fight all the time. We have to live. Yeah. And I have to say, Chai, just the first time I met you, I very much felt that spirit from the moment that Charles de Gaulle airport there in Paris. And then, of course, seeing you with all of those at the opening there at the American Cathedral at Paris. So we're really grateful. And I would say that open handedness very much is one that actually describes you, you know. So I'm very grateful for that. I just had to add that it describes you as well, because you are so generous. And you are so open and you are so talented in the way that you are connected and believing in things. So I'm my privilege. I'm lucky to share this thing with you. Thank you. Thank you, Chai. Very kind. Let's move and we'll come back and we'll have some interaction later. But let's move to case. Case El Cindy. Let me tell you a little bit about our friend case. Case El Cindy was born in Baghdad in 1967. So he's three years younger than I am. And he has a BS degree in engineering. They were obtained in 1989, as well as a BFA and an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts at Baghdad University. He left Baghdad and the first place that he went was Amman Jordan, where he lived for four years. And while he was there, he taught art in in architectural engineering at the University of Applied Science there in Jordan in Amman. And beginning really with his first major exhibition, which was titled Letters Don't Burn, which was about the burning actually of the Iraqi, the famous Iraqi library. He has exhibited around the world on themes related to humanity and culture and civilization and has won numerous distinguished awards. He currently lives in San Diego. Case comes from the Chaldean Christian heritage, which traces their their own heritage back to the Nestorians, which was a very ancient church that was known to be very creative in its assembling of other cultures, which is you can, for example, you can go to China today and see pagodas, Christian pagodas, that are as a result of the Nestorian movement, Christian movement all the way east. Case will actually be here in Wyoming later this week for the opening of an exhibition here. He was with us at our opening in Edinburgh, Scotland, when the exhibition was still there in Europe. And he attended the opening and spoke at the opening in Omaha, Nebraska, and in Jacksonville, Florida as well. So, Case, it's wonderful to have you with us today. Thank you, Paul. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for everybody here. All you are always amazed me in the way that you express your thoughts. It's my pleasure to be here. I'm very delighted. Just like before I start, like when the epidemic happened, I realized how important is this project of Abraham, because when the virus of corona, when it wants to get in any human being, the virus, the virus will not ask you, are you like Christian or are you like, are you Muslims or are you from any other faith? The virus will come right to you. Also, like when it's rain, the rain will not fall like for specific people. It will fall for everybody. That's why when Paul, when you approached me to be part of this exhibition, I was very enthusiastic to do so. And especially to try to destroy those fossil stereotyping, antiquated stereotyping about the ideas that we have about each other. And in this way, we'll be able to melt the iceberg that keep us away from each other. And this will help us also, as I mentioned many times in other occasions, that instead of throwing stones at each other, let's us like collect these stones and build a bridge. The exhibition of Abraham, it's one of the major like shows that I have in my life, because it has a lot of humanitarian, humanitarian aspects here, I wanted to share with you, like briefly about the sketches that I prepared. Can I start like sharing a file please, Greg? Yes, I have stopped my share and we are ready for you. Okay, that's supposed to be here. I'll make sure our settings are set. Let me try again. Is this one here? Anyways, I don't know why I can't see it here. It's in my computer, but I don't know if I'm allowed to share it here. I will double check my settings here. I apologize. I think you should be able to. There it is. I think we've got success. Okay. And here, when I started to do the exhibition, I started to do many, many sketches, as you see here, like an extroversionist and also an abstract extroversionist style to portray Abraham. And the way that this portrait of Abraham can reflect the normal human being, especially the human being in our region. You see, for example, this painting, this painting, it's the origin of the major, one of the major paintings, number three, which is, I type of, he is yours. And this case, you may, you may want to click on it so that we can see it in a larger way. I will. I will. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I will. And can you see it now? I think it's large right now, right? No, no. No. How about now? It's, it's working. Not quite here. Let's see. Let me stop sharing. Let's share another one here. Okay. Seems like it's not. Greg, are we sharing screen again? Let me see if he's. I have it here. I have it here. Okay. Let's see if this works. There we go. That looks much better. Yeah. And in this painting, I showed Abraham as an elderly people, like carrying his son Isaac, he is like sacrificing his son. I'm not showing the face of Abraham, as I'm saying that Abraham is representing like anyone of them, anyone of us, because all of us are sacrificing something. But this is the big sacrifice. I painted this like short palm tree. We showed that this sacrifice is bigger than the palm tree, which is what, which is one of the main trees in the south of Iraq, as you see here. And I want to share the video again. Now are you seeing the video or the picture? We're seeing the picture right now. Okay. I'll stop here and start the video again because I want to talk about how I could. Okay. Here we go. Okay. Now you see the video right? It looks like it's initiating. So let's see when we see it come up. Yes, we are ready for the video. Okay. And when I started this project, I wanted to like to add authenticity, originality to this project. That's why I asked one of my friends living in here, as you see in the video, this is like south of Iraq, in this city, which is the origin of Abraham. As you see here, here is the accurate of where this is the origin of Abraham. And now it's called Nasiriyah. I asked one of my friends living in this area to go to find a shepherd, an elderly shepherd, asking him to give away his pluck. The Iraqi people are very generous. Like when you ask somebody to give something away, he will be like more than happy to give this to you. And he was lucky, my friend, who was fortunate to find like one of the old shepherd in the desert of Nasiriyah, that means the dead desert of war. He was lucky to find someone who was like, he was were coming to give away his float, his coat. And I asked my friend to keep this float like as is, with the dust, with the odor of the sheep, with everything as dirty as it is, because I want to feel the sense or the smell of this area. It was a very like hectic and exhausted way to bring this float from Nasiriyah to Baghdad, from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan, and then to New York, and after that here in San Diego. When I received this float here in California, I cut this float like to small pieces, as you will see right now. This is the float, you see. I cut it like to small pieces and I started to paste those pieces on my painting. As you see here, when I pasted this on the clothes and the garment of Abraham, I told the story to the people who attended the exhibition, the people were thrown and wanted to feel the smell and the spirit and the soul of Abraham. That's why many of them approached the painting and started to smell it. And of course, this was before Corona. I don't think that somebody there like to smell the painting right now. Yeah, I started to smell it. And you see like these pieces, these pieces, it is something maybe imaginable or maybe like it's a kind of spiritual. I feel that the soul of Abraham is really there, is really in the dust, is really in the air there. When I bring this piece and paste it on the canvas, I felt I really got his spirit to be there. That's why the people interacted with it. And this was my main intention to get such interaction with the audience and with the crowd. And that was my major intention to get the interaction of the people, all in my other artworks, like the video art, the selections, the conceptual arts. I get the audience involved in my artwork. Even they smell it, they touch it, or sometimes they, let's say they taste it. I do all these things and the five senses of the human being work my artwork. Wonderful. Yes. And let's go back to share the painting again here. And you see here, this sacrifice, I believe that everybody of us has a duty and responsibility to sacrifice something in order to understand the other people. Because I believe that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are such like three rivers are flowing and meeting in a lagoon, or in a sea, let's say, or a gulf. When you go to that gulf, the water of that gulf, you won't be able to recognize or distinguish what this water is coming from, which river, you know, you don't know which channel, because they are melting together, they are mixing together. And this is our target in this exhibition to show the people that there is no any differences between us, that we have to live harmoniously like between us. And this painting, this painting has this concept on it. The other painting I will talk about briefly is, let's stop sharing this one, and I will go to, let's see here. We have about two more minutes, case, and then we'll Yes. Yes. Yes. And the other one I have here is this one. And it's this one. Here also, as you see, like Abraham is embracing, like three kids. And these kids are like a brother, and with this long arm to show like his paternity, to show his passion about his kids. And you see here is the piece of the clothes, of the garment, of the clothes that I pasted on the painting. And you see that he has the passion of the father who is taking care of his kids. And this was the painting about Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament, when Abraham wanted to protect his people if he find righteous people, righteous people in the city. And I feel all of us will be righteous. We'll be good people if we believe in each other and respect each other. And I, I believe this is our humanity message that we have to share with each other. Thank you. Thank you, case. Greg made an interesting comment that from a distance, that last painting looks like a mountain in many ways. And so there's some symbolism in that as well. No question. Yes. And, and I have to say over and over again, throughout the tour of this exhibition, people have loved smelling that cloak on the, on all five paintings, you know, and touching it, you know, God forbid when, when, when we're not looking as well, you know, but it has added another dimension. So thank you for that. I will tell you something very quick before I, like one of our target also is to destroy the stereotypes that we have, you know, these stereotypes that we have. Like when I was teaching in the College of Engineering, like a technical architectural department, one of my students, I wasn't a man, Jordan, you know, and I didn't visit the States yet. One of my students who like was raised here in New York, she asked me a question. She told me, sir, do you use camels in your transportation, you know, in Baghdad? And do you have really the flying carpet? You know, those stories from one night at night, you know, and she was believing that we use the cattle, the camels and our transportation. And I was laughing, why do you think so? She said that this is what the picture, which is the image that imprinted in my mind. And this is so funny, because each of us has such a stereotype, has such an initial image of the other. You have just to think out of the box. If you have a queue, we have just to flip over the queue to see the other side of this queue, because the queue has six faces, six surfaces, just we have to see the other part. And then we will be able to understand the other people, you know, and everybody has such stereotype in its mind, like it's full of corrosion and erosion. And then we will be more able to be open minded to receive the other. And that's what we want to do. Thank you. Thank you, Kase. I'm just a little disappointed, because I was going to ask you to bring your camel this coming weekend to Wyoming. But obviously, that's not going to happen. Thank you, Kase. Thank you. Our third artist here is Sinan Hussein. Sinan Hussein. I think Sinan, you're the youngest of all of us among the three, born in 1977. And of so much of his work relates to his Mesopotamian ancestors. He comes from Iraq as well as does Kase. And that vast civilization with its really splendorous history. Art started very young for Sinan at age 14. He started practicing and sketching portraits of his family. His father was a musician and an artist and saw that kind of innate inherent gift that he was given for art and encouraged that. And then eventually, of course, that was not only self-studying, but eventually more formalized. And he obtained his BFA at the University of Fine Arts in Baghdad. And then not long after graduation in 2004, he left Baghdad because of the war and a lot of the sectarian violence at that time. He ended up for a while in Kuwait. And he eventually settled in the United States, where he's actually now a US citizen. Though he is in the exotic city of Istanbul as we speak, which is kind of his first or second home now in that way. He's participated in numerous exhibitions around the world. He just actually one of a beautiful exhibition of his just opened in Beirut a few weeks ago. And I was envious that I couldn't be there for that opening. And he's collected by numerous Middle Eastern and art patrons, including a number from various royal families throughout the Middle East. Sinan comes from a Muslim background. Sinan spoke and was with us at the opening in Rome that was in participation with members of the Vatican. And it was a very special event. And Sinan, it's wonderful to have you with us today. You're on mute right now, but I'm going to turn it over to you and and ask you to share a little bit. Sinan, welcome. Sinan, you're on silence. You're on silence right now, Sinan. No, not you're still still on mute. There we go. Okay, okay. Thank you so much for everybody. Just today, I'm talking about myself. Okay. And my painting. Okay. You know, I come from Iraq. I left Iraq when I was 27. Okay. And I go to the Jordan. After that, I leave to Kuwait. I stay in Kuwait five years. After that, I go to America. I stay in America eight years. After that, I left America. And now I'm in Istanbul. Okay. Just I come from Beirut. You know, I have exhibition there in Beirut, solo exhibition. And sometimes I have another exhibition in Bahrain. Okay, but a group exhibition. It is named Sharnafa. Caterpillar. Caterpillar exhibition of the corona. Yes. Okay. And another not exhibition also in Ankara. Okay. And for the last month, you know, is that a lot, a lot is the work I have it. Okay. And a lot of trouble because I travel to Ankara after that to Iraq after that to Beirut. A lot of trouble. Okay. You know, I'm talking, now I'm talking about my painting. Okay. You know, my style is very much is the basic on the flying is separate from the people and people. Okay. Today I selected the painting title, sacrificial love to tell you more about it. It is the last painting in the booklet title, Abraham out of many. The reason why I saw this is the painting is that dares to my heart because this special event of the story is considered to be the most emotional and separate is virtual part of the story of Abraham. And the only part of story we still carry on until that the end of this day. But each Abrahamic religion carries on that event. Definitely also this very special event all Abrahamic religions carried on the tradition of sacrifice until this day to express a thing to God, Allah, praise and and applications also it is no no win for is the offering that sacrifice for the purpose of a church to fill it filling the pool. Moreover, the important of the event is carried in the message that is called within the sacrifice itself that matter how different we are. We come from the same father. We are considered to the cousins by blood and that's our blood ties is why more old and important that's what we think. That's great. Thank you, Sinan. Thank you. Thanks for you. Now, Sinan, one thing that everybody says about your work is they usually look at it and they go wow. Thank you. And they also are wondering all of these various symbols that of course immediately one doesn't know exactly you know what you're trying to what they represent. Like for example in this painting here what intrigued me is if you look right in the center of it, there's a black glove. You see Abraham wearing that black glove, right? Do you want to talk a little bit about that Sinan? Can you tell us what that black glove represents? Black, you know, black gloves, yes? Yes. Yeah. This black for the evil act for is the killing the sun. For the just black okay. But and the other thing is the red color, red gloves. Okay. For is the blood sheet and urgency. Yeah. Okay. So the blood, the red is for the blood. One of the things I find very interesting about all of your works Sinan are the cones that are in there. And of course here you've got three different cones. But and I remember the first time talking to you about them and you were sharing that symbolically they represent a sacred moment, a kind of a private moment, a special moment, right? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. You know, Brent is not talking a lot about is the my painting. Just maybe I work a lot more than I talking. Okay. You know, I for is the not as the specific for is my painting for Abraham for another another painting. Right. I I make details about is the separate. Okay. Oh, it's virtual or souls. Okay. All of them I've been start when I make like this style. Okay. I make is the spirit I make is the souls. Okay. And fly in the world. Okay. And when you when you come and I'm talking to me about is the Abraham. I fall is this painting specific is the my my is the painting. I can do that because because is that that's that a lot details I feeling in my in my in my soul and my may have frozen there. Oh, you may have frozen. Okay. Oh, I think I think some connection. So now and I think we just had a small connection issue a problem. But now we can see you well again. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Okay. So now I just I have a question I would love to know from each of the three artists, what interests you or intrigues you or what you're impressed with and the other twos artwork. So shy, I'm going to start with you. Could you give me tell me what a little bit your thoughts and what what has fascinated you about cases and Sinan's work? I think that the thing that I was more felt there is a connection I found the connection. I found the connection in the sense of the colors and the brushstrokes between all of us. Even though the language is a bit different, sometimes it's more precise, sometimes the images are more sharp. But the brush stroke something with color. It's very Middle East. I don't know how to explain it. I don't know if there is a sense of it, but I feel that there is something very ballady, like something very basic in it in a in a very good way. And and I saw it on the painting. It's not a phlemic painting. It's a Middle East painting. Okay, there is something that I love to see when I saw the exhibition. I felt that there is something that like we are making the same music in a bit, maybe sometimes different twos, maybe different sounds, but it's almost the same music like it's the same festival. And this is what I felt that it was great. And from the other end, another thing is that they are very talented. Sinan and Cosis, very talented, very much. I'm proud to show with them. Thank you, Shai. One thing that I remember when I first saw the exhibition was when they all came together, some of the three, you know, the five, you know, pillars of the three paintings each, some of those three, the colors were just natural, you know, so like the theme of the compassionate, if you look, there's quite a bit of orange in actually each of your pieces, which is quite interesting. So case you want to reflect just briefly, very briefly on Shai and Sinan. Yes, what I like in Shai and Sinan, both of them, I see that when I see their paintings, their art works, I see that they are like, impacting dreams, they're depicting visions, like especially, I like the simplicity in Shai paintings, you know, very simple. And this like the dreams that I, when I was like kid, how is my dreams are? You know, this is very innocent, very imaginary and very, you know, very pure. This is what I like in Shai paintings, very direct, very honest of these dreams. And in Sinan, he's a very capable artist and he has very good like academic style. He reminds me of the images of divine comedy, of Dante, you know, that you dive in a lot of symbols and in a lot of figures that you open your mind for multiple layers to represent these concepts and the symbolism. And this is what I like, both of them, both of my like exhibition mates, they are painting, you know, dreams. And this is what I like. And I think that dream is the area where we can live and we can accomplish, you know, accomplish what the things that we are unable to accomplish and achieve on the ground on their life. That's beautiful. Thank you, Case. Thank you. Sinan, just a little bit about what you think about Shai and Case's work. Both of work is the very, very, very good work. Okay. And I like is the both of work. Case, he's a professional. He's a very, very good artist. And he's a he's make a lot thinking about is the painting. More details. He's about is something different about me and about Shai. Okay. Very different, very special. I like it. Okay. He's he's a make is that exactly Abraham, Abraham, exactly story. Different me, different Shai. Okay, because me is that I put it is the my painting. I put it is the my thinking or my thoughts in in the painting. Okay. But is the case? No, he's read a lot. Make sketch a lot. Okay, about about it. He's also talking with me before before is the before make any any is the painting talking with me and talking about is the Abraham. He's interest more, more about it is more than me. Okay. Shai, he's also make it like me make is the painting like his painting. Okay. He's a have also is the details. Okay. And where when you see when you saw is the painting for Shai, you saw a lot is that he's religion. Okay. Not is the is the okay. He's he's he's a make is that specific is the religion or for is the Christianity. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And both both of them is that Shai and the case is make is that perfect and make is very, very good job. Thank you. Thank you. Let's see here now. I think it our time is up pretty much is up sadly. Right. So I want to thank the three of you for participating in this from various parts around the world. Thank you. And some of some of you are in context right now where there's a lot of conflict and it's not easy to have actually gotten online. So we're grateful that you could all get online. Yes. And it came together even though we've got various Wi-Fi connections and all of that. So we're very, very grateful. And it's wonderful to see the three of you all together in front of me on one screen. So very kind of you to give us this time together. And I'll turn it over to Greg. I'll just have a couple of closing remarks. Pardon us for going a little long, but just this is the first time I think the three of them have been live together since who knows when. So this was not only a artistic reunion, but also I think a family reunion. There was one question that we won't be able to answer. But I think it's a good closing question because it is really focuses on one of the intents of the of the of the exhibit. And the question is this, what role and commitment do you think religious communities, artists and men might have in creating a level playing field for girls and women to ensure all people have higher levels of education across the world, given the fact that more education women have the better that the better outcomes that people have. I think that's very, very important. I think it's also a question that indicates that this isn't just an artistic exercise, but this is as Reverend Bishop Chandler mentioned, how art is a creative way to change the world. And we are grateful on behalf of Interfaith Ministries that to be able to host this exhibit and to see how this art has can can change people's minds and hearts so that there can be change in the world. So on behalf of Interfaith Ministries, thank you to all of you for your time, Bishop Chandler. Thank you to you and to Caravan for your work.