Antiochian Heritage Museum Opens With Kahlil Gibran Exhibition

By Denise O’Neal


The newly opened Antiochian Heritage Museum (courtesy Antiochian Village).

ON JUNE 17, the new Antiochian Heritage Museum at the Antiochian Village Conference and Retreat Center in Ligonier, western Pennsylvania opened to the public with a special exhibition entitled “A Man from Lebanon: The Art of Kahlil Gibran.” The display includes 40 original pieces of art produced by the noted author and 20th century multi-media artist. The collection, representing a variety of media, has never been on display outside the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, GA, where it is a permanent part of the Mary Haskell Minis Collection. Haskell was Gibran’s benefactor.

Gibran, who was born in Lebanon, became a world-renowned poet-philosopher-visionary. After moving to the United States as a child with his mother and sister, he studied under Haskell in Massachusetts, and eventually authored more than a dozen poetic writings, the most familiar being The Prophet. His words and works continue to inspire millions throughout the world.

Curator Madelon Sheedy aligns the special exhibition with a quote from Gibran: “Art is a step from nature toward the Infinite, a mist carved into an image.” Commented Sheedy, “This misty evolving quality is evident in both his religious works and those used for book illustrations.”

The special Gibran exhibition will be on temporary display until the end of September. Some of the art on display illustrated his many books, but much of the collection includes private unpublished works based upon his beliefs or reflecting his relationships, thus providing the viewer an opportunity to experience Gibran in a unique and not readily available way.

“The Gibran exhibition affords many opportunities for enriched learning about the Eastern heritage and culture through collaborative partnerships for special lectures and readings,” stated Fr. Michael Massouh, executive director for Antiochian Village. “Kahlil Gibran is a renowned name in literature and fine art whose paintings will attract regional and national visitors to Antiochian Village to experience our Museum, our Eastern Christian heritage, and our Middle Eastern culture surrounded by our lovely tranquil environment,” he concluded.

The Antiochian Heritage Museum also will feature displays from its permanent collection of Eastern religious icons and vestments and Middle Eastern cultural artifacts and objects that will rotate periodically. The museum’s permanent collection is designed to take visitors on a journey through the Middle Eastern ancestry of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, which is rooted in Paul’s missionary journeys from Antioch, Syria to European sites. The new museum’s opening exhibition, “Iconography, Religious Relics, Cultural Artifacts” showcases a broad selection of items reflecting the Antiochian heritage from the past seven centuries.

Two special exhibitions of original icons allow visitors to compare the differences and similarities of iconography from around the world during the 16th to the 20th centuries. Although seemingly a traditional stylized religious art form, icons actually are pictures written to tell a particular story or describe a particular character from the Bible. Some reflect a religious tradition—such as a commissioned family icon that incorporates each family member’s patron saint. The icons on display include representations of feast days, the Theotokos (Mother of God), and Saint George slaying the dragon.

Several different displays demonstrate the prominence of textiles and their craftsmanship both in clothing and for household use. Among the displays are elaborate bishop’s, priest’s, and deacon’s vestments, and an exquisite Arab wedding gown. In addition, Eastern hand-woven rugs and special religious banners decorate the walls and floors. The Eastern textiles industry used raw materials, including linen from Egypt, wool from Syria and, beginning in the sixth century, cultivated silk and cotton, also from Syria. Fabrics and threads were dyed with secret techniques and recipes using vegetables dyes as a primary ingredient.

Eastern metal craftsmanship was of particular value, both for utilitarian purposes and aesthetically. Damascus was the heartland for early Eastern metalworking, which used silver, gold, copper, brass and steel. Included in the display are hand-hammered brass and enamel trays, coffee- and teapots, and a variety of other Syrian household objects. Also shown are religious items reflecting later metal crafts from well-known Russian silversmiths who were contemporaries and competitors of Fabergé.

The exhibition also provides a selection of the intricate mosaic inlay known as intarsia, first developed in the Middle East during the 9th and 10th centuries. Examples of precise design and composition are illustrated in a variety of wooden inlay furniture and other household items. Artisans worked with cherry, cedar and walnut woods, together with mother of pearl and bone cut into small polygons that fit together to compose the decoration. The ancient craft is still practiced today, with the best examples of intarsia coming from Egypt and Syria.

Other displays include Eastern-region jewelry samples, a set of historical prints of Bethlehem from the 1800s, personal pocket and purse icons and crosses of elaborate decoration, and a broad sampling of triptychs in a variety of media.

A special display of liturgical items from the burial casket of Saint Raphael is also on exhibit. His remains were moved from Brooklyn in 1988 to rest at Holy Resurrection Cemetery, located on the Antiochian Village grounds. Saint Raphael was an early pioneer of Orthodoxy’s growth in the United States.

Equally noteworthy is a Syrian 5th century funerary relief, with a Greek inscription indicating that the deceased was a Roman Legionnaire.

These are but a small sampling of the 740 items in the Antiochian Permanent Collection, whose collection of religious icons includes 106 dating from the 12th through 20th centuries and representing 14 different countries or regions outside the United States.

The museum anticipates changing its Permanent Collection Exhibitions at least twice a year. “The Antiochian Heritage Museum will provide an opportunity for us to share our heritage and our faith with visitors to western Pennsylvania and residents within the region, while maintaining the security and preservation of our special Permanent Collection,” said Father Massouh. “It will help the Village progress on its continuum as a ‘spiritual oasis’ where people can relax, reflect, and find refreshment in solitude either individually or collectively,” he added.

The Antiochian Heritage Museum will be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guided group tours can be arranged on other days and at other times with advance reservations. Cost of admission to the Museum is a suggested donation of $3 per person; overnight guests receive complimentary admission.

The Antiochian Village Conference and Retreat Center is located on Route 711 six miles north of Ligonier, Pennsylvania. It serves as a premiere meeting and retreat facility where all people can find spiritual renewal while they conduct important business. The Village welcomes all people in the spirit of Christian hospitality. For further information, call (724) 238-3677 or e-mail <AVCenter@antiochian.org>.

Denise O’Neill is the Antiochian Village’s director of marketing and program development.