Berber!
A Rare Books Library - Sony Gallery Exhibit

"We should do this more often." That was the enthusiastic reaction of Dean of Libraries Shahira Abbas El Sawy's to the latest cooperative venture between the Rare Books and Special Collections Library and the Sony Gallery, when in October 2002 they jointly hosted the exhibition "Berber!"

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The exhibition was inaugurated at the Sony Gallery, where Moroccan Cultural Counselor Mohamed Gebari cut the ribbon after speaking briefly on Berber culture and the Moroccan government's efforts to preserve it. The Sony Gallery exhibit consisted of old picture postcards based on photographs by Lehnert and Landrock and their contemporaries from the turn of the last century. The postcards, effectively mounted like miniature paintings, came from a private Moroccan collection and reflected different aspects of Imazighen culture (to use the Berbers' own name for themselves).

An hour later the guests moved on to the Rare Books and Special Collections Library to view a beautiful collection of Imazighen silver and stone jewelry loaned to AUC for the exhibit by the same anonymous collector.

The guests enjoyed Moroccan music, couscous, and green tea in the garden of the Rare Books Library and then repaired to the Library's lecture hall to hear author and historian Jean-Jacques Schaffar lecture on "The Treasures and Mysteries of the Berbers in Morocco." Schaffar, who himself owns one of the finest collections of Berber jewelry in the world, described himself as a man with "a passion for Berber culture." He is the author of two books on the pre-history of Morocco and the Sahara, as well as a number of ethnological studies.

This was the third joint exhibit over the past decade in which the Adham Center has collaborated with the Rare Books Library. The previous exhibits featured the work of photographer Van Leo and architect Hassan Fathy. Dean El Sawy and Adham Center/Sony Gallery director S. Abdallah Schleifer have committed themselves to at least one joint exhibit every academic year.

By Noura Bahgat, Curator, Sony Gallery