Tate Gallery in the UK is presenting, between 1 September 2006 - 18 February 2007 a fascinating collection of British art, from 1500 to the present, with the title "East-West: Objects Between Cultures". The exhibition is exploring the Christian-Muslim explores Christian-Muslim relations, encounters, cultural, artistic and commercial exchanges during the last five hundred years. The curators have chosen a vast and impressive collection of objects, carefully selected to offer a new interpretation of this complex history and the connections between historical contexts, ways of thinking, objects and national traditions.
It is an unique manner of looking at things, providing a fascinating insight into the relations between two completely separate and distinct worlds. This distinction manifests itself in several object, real hybrids of both cultures, being formed and then transformed in the process of cultural exchange. Some of them are commercial goods, other are documents regarding the establishment of Muslims in the UK, others are silent witnesses of the contemporary politics. The whole project is meant to change through art the way these five centuries are regarded today and to challenge the ideas of history, national art and identity.
