Allan Ross
Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities
Phone: (309) 793-1300
e-mail: aross@jfqc.org

Coexistence: The Art of Living Together

International art exhibition comes to Quad Cities spreading message of coexistence.

Rock Island, IL (March 26, 2007) – Allan Ross, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities, in partnership with the Figge Art Museum, today announced plans for a community-wide project titled Coexistence: The Art of Living Together. Several months of local events will culminate with the arrival of Coexistence, a giant outdoor art exhibition traveling the world.

Coexistence was initiated and created by the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem and encourages dialogue between people of all races, faiths and cultures. According to the curator, Raphie Etgar, “It involves changing our lives and changing the way we think. Coexistence is not necessarily learning to live together but perhaps learning to live side by side.” 

This exhibit consists of forty-five 9’x15’ thought-provoking images created by 43 artists from all over the world, highlighting in a creative way, the art of living together. These huge panels will be displayed in groups in the Downtown Davenport Cultural District August 31^st through September 27^th, 2007. Locations include the Figge Art Museum, West 2^nd Street and LeClaire Park.

The exhibit was originally on display in Jerusalem in 2001. Since then, it has traveled to 27 major cities around the world including Berlin, Amsterdam, Belfast, Sarajevo, Zurich, Cape Town, Washington D.C., Minneapolis/St. Paul and Buenos Aires.

Allan Ross, who is coordinating the efforts to bring the exhibit to the Quad Cities, remarked on this rare opportunity. “This exhibit only travels to major international cities. It’s quite a feat to get this project to our community. The Riverboat Development Authority has graciously stepped up to become the exhibit sponsor. I’m pleased the RDA board saw the value of this project for educating adults, school children and visitors to our area.”

An estimated 25,000+ visitors are expected to come to the exhibit, including over 10,000 students. There will be opportunities for school groups to visit or explore the topic of coexistence in their classrooms. Part of the funding being sought for the project will pay for busing underprivileged children and adults to the exhibit and busing under-funded school groups to the exhibit.

According to Ross, “Several community organizations have planned events this year in conjunction with Coexistence. Quad City Arts will be issuing a call for entries for a competition featuring the theme of coexistence. The winning entry will be included in the exhibit locally and may be added to the Coexistence exhibit in future locations. The Bettendorf Public Library is also involved and is bringing internationally known poet Naomi Shahib Nye to the Quad Cities in September.”

More information about the exhibition and the Museum on the Seam can be found at

www.coexistence.art.museum/exhibitions/

and

http://www.jfqc.org/

Raphie Etgar, Curator
Museum on the Seam

Istvan Orosz, Hungary

Over 150,000 pounds of garbage, tires, and other illegally dumped items were removed from Quad City waterways during Xstream Cleanup ’06.

View more artwork

Click here to download walking tour of exhibit.

Artists and writers call for coexistence around the world