MBI Al Jaber Foundation Supports ‘Buildings That Fill My Eye: The Architectural Heritage of Yemen’ – New Exhibition Curated by Professor Trevor Marchand
The MBI Al Jaber Foundation launched its photographic exhibition “Buildings That Fill My Eye: The Architectural Heritage of Yemen” on Wednesday, July 12th at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS to a large, enthusiastic and appreciative audience. The exhibition, curated by Professor Trevor Marchand of SOAS and co-sponsored by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, Gingko and the British-Yemeni Society, will run until September 23rd 2017. A reception hosted by the Foundation continued throughout the evening.
The launch was introduced by Dr Deborah Johnston, Pro-Director (Learning and Teaching) of SOAS, Carolyn Perry, Director of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, and Trevor Marchand, Emeritus Professor of SOAS. Their speeches were followed by the opportunity to visit the exhibition before Susan Denyer of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) delivered the first of the exhibition’s public talks, “Hope and Resilience: the Power of Cultural Heritage in Yemen and the Middle East”. Susan’s talk reported on recent destruction of cultural heritage in Yemen and other countries of the Middle East and what has been done in terms of recovery. On the basis of case studies from Yemen and the wider region, she highlighted some of the difficult questions now being posed including: “How can the urgent need for shelter and business spaces be addressed alongside the long-term recovery of places and spaces that relate to identity and belonging?”
The exhibition and its series of public talks explore the astonishing variety of building styles and traditions that have evolved over millennia. Yemen possesses one of the world’s finest treasure-troves of architecture and three of its ancient cities – Shibam, Ṣan‘ā’ and Zabīd – are UNESCO World Heritage sites, with a number of other towns and building complexes around the country awaiting inclusion. The principal objective of this exhibition is to remind the public of Yemen’s tremendous cultural creativity and the need for international collaboration to protect it and its people from the destructive forces that have beset the region.
The second public talk, “Yemen’s Architectural Heritage in Peril” by Professor Trevor Marchand, will take place on Saturday 5th August at the BP Lecture Theatre, British Museum at 6pm. To register, please go to: bit.ly/MBILecture2017Booking
We look forward to seeing you there!
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