RIYADH, 19 April 2006 — British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw opened the “Common Ground” exhibition at Riyadh’s King Fahd Cultural Center yesterday. “We are one common world, one civilization,” he said during his address to the assembly of British parliamentarians and Saudi ministers.
The attendees included Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Culture and Information Minister Iyad Madani, British Ambassador Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles and British Council Director Alan Smart.
Straw, who heads the British delegation at today’s “Two Kingdoms” conference, said: “The images in the exhibition show the different communities in the United Kingdom and the contributions that Muslims have made to our life.”
He pointed out that there was a large Muslim community in the UK whose members came from countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Straw said that he was familiar with Islamic culture as there was a sizable number of Muslims living in his Blackburn constituency. Blackburn is an industrial city of about 10,000 of which about 20 percent are Muslim.
“The names of 600 young soldiers who joined the British military after World War I have been engraved in the common war graveyard. More than 50 percent of them were Indian and most of them were Muslims,” he said, pointing out that they gave their lives for the British Empire and its people.
In his brief address, Prince Saud said the two countries enjoyed a century-old relationship and that events of this nature would further enrich the understanding between the peoples of the two kingdoms.
“Clashes of religion and culture are nothing but lack of understanding. Basically we are all humans and we are all alike,” he said, adding that exchanges of visits and cultural programs were needed to understand each other more.
“We can trust and cooperate with each other. If we do so, we can contribute to the well-being of the international community,” said Prince Saud.
“Under the guidance of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, relationship between the Kingdom and Britain has recently witnessed considerable development in several fields,” Madani told the assembly, pointing out that the exhibition would provide a platform for exchange of experiences, ideas and concepts among photographers in the two countries.
“As the title of the exhibition suggests, we hope that this joint venture will lead to a better understanding and intimate communication between the participants in the two countries,” the minister stressed.
A total of 181 exhibits are displayed at the show. Alongside the eight British photographers exhibiting their works is a Saudi artist, Manal Al-Dowayan. She said that her collection was influenced by an ongoing dialogue that affects Arab women’s lives everyday.
Manal, who started with black-and-white photographs in 2002, has a masters degree from London Metropolitan University.
Alan Smart of the British Council said that British artist Rehan Jameel is expected to deliver a lecture in Dammam today and in Jeddah on Saturday.
