EXHIBITION POSTPONED - NOMAD ACADEMY GOES PUBLIC at Sharjah Art Museum

Postponement: NOMAD ACADEMY GOES PUBLIC at Sharjah Art Museum
Copenhagen, 31th January 2006

As a result of the increasing unrest in connection with the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed brought in the private Danish newspaper "Jyllands Posten", one of the main Arabian Emirates, Sharjah, has just annonced the postponement of the Danish-Arabian culture project NOMAD ACADEMY, an exhibition of which was to have opened the 1th of March in Sharjah.

In Denmark his announcement has met understanding as well a regret.

The exhibition referred to, NOMAD ACADEMY GOES PUBLIC is the next step in a 7-year old project, whose aim is precisely to develop an understanding primarily in Denmark of Arabian art, culture and religion, and at the same time giving the Arabian hosts the opportunity to get aqquainted with Danish art and culture, says Else marie Bukdahl, former director of The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, who is one of the leaders of the project.
We had been looking forward to this latest of our many visits to Sharjah, where we have had extremely fruitful discussions, workshops and exhibitions. There have been lectures and there are published several books in Arabian and English on various subjects – to name just one example, some of the writings of Soren Kierkegaard – as well as an anthology of contemporary Arabian poets.
These activities have also resulted in exhibitions of artists from Sharjah in Copenhagen, giving both sides valuable inside in their respective cultures
Else Marie emphasizes, that the Ruler of Sharjah, HH Sheik Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, has been of vital importance to the continuing succes of the project up till now, as he both on TV and to us personally has expressed that "Art and culture are among the very best instruments for promoting understanding and co-operation between different peoples and cultures" which has become the motto of our project.
It is indeed sad to experience how easily the best intensions can come to grief as the result of thoughtlessness, finishes Else Marie Bukdahl.
Dorte Dahlin, artist and co-director of NOMAD ACADEMY, says of the postponement that it is a great sorrow, that a project whose aim is to create understanding between the Arabian and Danish art cultures has amongst many others also become an unwitting victim to a political situation, which could and should have been avoided.
"Our project has since the beginning looked on dialogue as the primary base of common understanding and I regret deeply its interruption in a situation, where exactly common understanding could be the key to its solution.
One part of the project is a series of architectural models of an Arabian Cultural Instititute in Copehagen. These are constructed by the Aarhus School of Architecture, also during discussions with Arabian collegues. At this moment two of the impresive models are on their way by sea to Sharjah.
This cooperation between Europeans and Arabians shows in my opinion one way to our common goal, in casu a "House of Knowledge", comitted to a greater understanding between the different peoples.
It is extremely sad to see such a vision be stopped, just because of lack of understanding, ends Dorte Dahlin.

The exhibition is therefore postponed, but not given up, and the further developments can be followed on NOMAD ACADEMY's website (www.nomad-academy.dk).