Jordan Times
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Father Gavin unveils 'Jerusalem Rediscovered'
AMMAN (JT) The embassy of Jordan in Washington hosted Father C.E. Gavin, renowned author and historian and former curator of the Harvard Semitic Museum, as the guest speaker in the Ambassador's Cultural Series earlier this week.Father Gavin's presentation, full of mystique and wonder, opened a window of insight to a lost history of the Holy City; Jerusalem, a history that helps dictate our image of the beautiful ancient city, a statement released by the embassy said.
The story involves an influential photographer, M.J. Diness, who, being the first Jerusalemite to have learned photography, set up a photo studio in Jerusalem in the 1840s, allowing the world to see the Holy City through a new and different perspective.
Prior to the invention of photographs, most Western art in mosaics, stained glass, tapestries, and carvings had focused on Jerusalem and what had transpired there, but in ways more revelatory of the artist's fantasy and piety than the actual appearance of the Holy City and its surroundings.
Diness presented the world with a realistic image of the city and enabled people to gaze into the streets of Jerusalem directly; to linger on the Mount of Olives from very far away.
The mystery lies not in the photographs, however, but in the fact that this great photographer seemed to completely vanish at some point with nearly no record of his life or his photographs.
About 120 years later, his prints were finally found in Minnesota of all places.
Father Gavin's presentation of the mystery and its answers made for an interesting night of insight into part of the ancient city's past that was only recently known.
His lecture was the 8th in a series of cultural events the embassy has organised in the past year. These lectures aim to introduce Washington's international and national community to the cultural heritage of the Arab world as it stands to be the cradle of civilisations.
The embassy hosted various Arab and American speakers such as Newsweek's Eleanor Clift, photographer Jane Taylor who enlightened the audience on the magnificent history of the rose red city of Petra, as well as Professor Suheil Bushrui, an Arab poet and critic who discussed The Perennial Philosophy and the Eternal Wisdom of the Arabs.