Telling the story of The Jesus Festival
From Press office on 27 July 2010
A new photography exhibition giving an insight into one of Syria’s most important religious festivals has taken residence in Solihull Arts Complex’s Gallery.
Birmingham photographer Dan Burwood captured the images for The Jesus Festival during a trip to Maloula, an Aramaic-speaking and mainly Christian village in Syria, in September 2009.
The festival from which this exhibition takes its name is the most important event on the Christian calendar in this part of Syria and is packed full of crosses and ritual celebration fires.
Dan’s photographs – which document some public aspects of the festival as well as some of the people involved in the fires – were taken over a three-day period following a visit to the village a year earlier, where locals had shown him round and educated him about the festival.
The exhibition, which runs until Saturday 21 August, will feature two free public events that will give further insight into the stories behind the photographs.
Firstly, the Mayor of Solihull will officially launch the exhibition this Thursday (29 July), from 6.15pm-7.30pm. Then, the following Monday (2 August) Dan Burwood will give an artist’s talk about the project, again from 6.15pm-7.30pm.
For more information about the Solihull Gallery, visit www.solihull.gov.uk/gallery or phone 0121 704 8138.
For media enquiries only, please contact Dave Musson on 0121 704 6136
Email: dmusson@solihull.gov.uk