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May 14, 2004
Embassy of Jordan Participates in Mosaic Foundation's Washington Al - Andalus
Festival
Washington, DC — The Embassy of Jordan and the
Mosaic Foundation
co-hosted an evening concert of Arab music as part of the
Al-Andalus Festival. During the two-week tour sponsored by the Mosaic
Foundation, the Festival involves a series of public events in art, music,
history, education, and film that focus on the historical period from 750-1500
in Islamic Spain: Al-Andalus. The extraordinary era fostered an environment of
religious tolerance and cultural exchange during which people of all faiths;
Muslims, Christians and Jews embraced each other’s thoughts, discoveries,
philosophical interpretations and styles. The Al-Andalus Festival intends to
showcase the enduring cultural legacy of Islamic Spain and hold up the
jewel-like character of that time as the height of cultural achievement.
Through an ongoing series of public, high-profile cultural, musical, and
artistic programs, as well as bazaars of Middle Eastern crafts, the Mosaic
Trustees showcase their countries' culture and heritage while simultaneously
raising substantial funds to support charitable and educational programs for
women and children across the globe. These events are a window into their world
and provide rich cultural experiences for their American participants. The
Washington-based Mosaic Foundation was founded and is supported by the wives of
Arab Ambassadors to the U.S. “We wanted to take a proactive role in conveying a
more complete image of the peoples of the Arab World to the American public and
press,” says Mrs. Kawar, wife of Jordan’s Ambassador to the US and Chairman of
the Mosaic Foundation’s Cultural Affairs Committee as well as Vice Chairman of
the Festival. “We look for cultural areas of common concern and interest at both
the local and global levels — to the mutual experiences all people have in
common — so that we can build a greater degree of understanding between the Arab
and American cultures.”
Working towards these goals as the Ambassador’s wife did, Mrs. Kawar established
the Ambassador’s Cultural series in 2002, which brings a variety of speakers to
the Jordanian Embassy on a monthly basis; recent lectures have included the
history of Petra, the renowned rose city in the south of Jordan and Arab
philosophy and poetry. Cultural events also include visiting Jordanian comedians
and concerts highlighting Middle Eastern musical instruments such as the lyrical
sounding Oud. “We have an incredibly rich heritage and I want to share it with
my American friends and neighbors while my family is living here,” says Mrs.
Kawar. “And this is precisely the role Mosaic plays too. All of us, as Arab
spouses, work together to make a difference and to enhance understanding between
ourselves and Americans.”
The Mosaic Foundation is an American charitable and educational organization
founded in 1998 by the spouses of the Arab Ambassadors to the United States who
are living here. The Trustees seek to convey a more complete image of their
countries and peoples to the American public and press, and simultaneously raise
substantial funds to support charitable, cultural, and educational programs for
women and children across the globe.
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