Photo exhibit sheds light and understanding

               Lamya Gargash’s image, titled Censorship.  
 

                   Eight photographers – four Muslim and four Jewish – are using their cameras to fight intolerance in a new exhibit titled “A Light Unto
                   the Nations,” which opens at the Bathurst Community Centre on Sept 9 and runs until Oct. 12.

                  The exhibit first ran at the Contact Toronto Photography Festival in May, and then moved to the Miles Nadal Community Centre  
                  from July 26 until Aug. 31.

                  While surfing the Internet in 2004, Rochelle Michaels came across some anti-Semitic conspiracy and Holocaust denial sites. They   
                  inspired her to contact Muslim and Jewish artists and create an exhibit that tries to break common assumptions about the quest for
                  peace in the Middle East and show that peace is truly desired by everyone.

                “I’m not a reader,” Michaels said. “For me, the most impactful thing is the image – glancing at the image above the fold on a
                 newspaper will make the most lasting impression.”

                While not all the works in the exhibit deal directly with the topic of peace, they revolve around ideas of tolerance, freedom, hope and
                the consequences of intolerance.

                One striking, two-part image set by Jewish photographer Gilad Benari features a sleeping infant, labeled Peacemaker. Below it, a
                second image called Combat DNA depicts a double helix constructed from bullets.

                Another powerful image by Muslim photographer Lamya Gargash shows a close-up of a woman’s face, with only her large eyes
                visible. The rest of her face is covered with newsprint-style paper full of Arabic words.

                In a description of the piece, Gargash explains that the photo deals with censorship in the Middle East, and the conflict and tension
                that arises from the desire for westernization while maintaining cultural and religious values.

                Gargash writes that the photo is “utilizing the notion of the extreme in a manner where it is still represented in a fashion-like approach
                and where the femininity of the subject is still clear.”

                Touring JCCs is just the beginning for Michaels, who wants to bring the exhibit to university campuses.

               She said campuses are often politically left-leaning, to the point of “demonizing” Israel. Michaels believes that aiming the exhibit’s 
               messages of peace, hope, freedom and tolerance at students will have positive consequences for the future, because they are our
                future leaders, she said.

               “It just felt right,” she said about targeting her exhibit at young people.

               “Adults will go to the library, or read a newspaper, with their ideas more or less formed. This isn’t meaning to say the exhibit can’t help
               others understand a different perspective.” However, Michaels said she believes the exhibit will have more of an impact on youth.

                She said she has received extremely positive responses to the exhibit so far, many of which are encapsulated in guest books.

                She said that everyone who sees the exhibit has a different favourite piece, highlighting the diversity and intricacy of the works on
                display.

                “If someone is going to come in and lose an assumption that they have, that means the world to me,” she said.