A big success for the Italian national preview of the exhibition “Mosaics of the Holy Land – a bridge of tesserae across the Mediterranean”, which was inaugurated on Saturday in Mazara del Vallo as part of the fourth edition of the “Sponde” Conference.
Presenting the exhibition, before an audience of several hundred people, was the Bishop of Mazara del Vallo, monsignor Domenico Mogavero, followed by the exhibition’s curators, Osama Hamdan and Carla Benelli, both of whom are collaborators with ATS pro Terra Sancta and who provided background material on the project from which was born the idea for the exhibition: illustrating that mosaic art is an enduring phenomenon, as alive with innovation today as it was thousands of years ago. As pointed out by Vincenzo Bellomo, a collaborator with ATS pro Terra Sancta and the organizer of the “transfer” of the exhibition to Mazara del Vallo, “the preservation of the Palestinian cultural heritage represents not only an opportunity for cultural exchange and dialogue, but also can provide a great benefit to future generations of all humanity”.
In the picturesque Church of Santa Veneranda, the participants at the inauguration were able to admire some of the most beautiful Palestinian mosaics ever made, which artists from the Mosaic Centre of Jericho have reproduced using ancient techniques and materials (stone mosaic tile, glass, gold and mother-of-pearl). The flow of visitors through the Church was continuous, and will likely remain so until the conclusion of the exhibition on 30 September.
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