A 9/11 Gallery

What do we mean when we say Levantine?

noun. Levantine: a) someone between and within an intersection of cultures and languages; b) a native or inhabitant of the Levant. adjective. a) a cross-cultural Middle Eastern quality; b) Eastern; orient, oriental; Levantine.

etymology: \Le*vant"\ (l[-e]*v[a^]nt"), n. [It. levante the point where the sun rises, the east, the Levant, fr. levare to raise, levarsi to rise: cf. F. levant.] [Cf. Sp. levantar to raise, go from one place to another.] [Gr. levantine, a stand-up guy.]

"The Levant is a land of ancient civilizations which cannot be sharply differentiated from the Mediterranean world...The Levant has a character and history of its own. It is called 'Near' or 'Middle' East in relationship to Europe, not to itself. Seen from Asia, it could just as well be called the 'Middle West.' Here, indeed, Europe and Asia have encroached on one another, time and time again, leaving their marks in crumbling monuments and in the shadowy memories of the Levant's peoples."

"Ancient Egypt, ancient Israel and ancient Greece, Chaldea and Assyria, Ur and Babylon, Tyre, Sidon, and Carthage, Constantinople, Alexandria and Jerusalem are all dimensions of the Levant. So are Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which clashed in dramatic confrontation, giving rise to world civilizations, fracturing into stubborn local subcultures and the multi-layered identities of the Levant's people."

"It is not exclusively western or eastern, Christian, Jewish or Muslim. Because of its diversity, the Levant has been compared to a mosaic—bits of stone of different colors assembled into a flat picture. To me it is more like a prism whose various facets are joined by the sharp edge of differences, but each of which, according to its position in a time-space continuum, reflects or refracts light. Indeed, the concept of light is contained in the word Levant..."*

What is Our Purpose?

We are an independent institution and do not serve any national, corporate or religious agenda. Our desire is to provide a safe space, an encounter zone, where through culture and art, people of diverse ethnic and religious heritage can find common ground. We support self-determination for all peoples and are duty-bound to reject violence and the language of power as a solution to any problem.

Who is Our Audience?

A. First-generation Americans of Middle East/West Asian or Mediterranean descent, or those who came here at a young age and who embrace the arts as a way to bridge differences and share similarities;

B. The older immigrant generation whose first language is still very much Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Hebrew, Greek, Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish or other Levantine language; and who have great oral histories to reveal about life before coming to the Americas;

C. Academics and other specialists on the region;

D. Professional artists, writers and performers;

E. Mainstream Americans eager to explore the region from a more educated and cooperative perspective than the one sometimes found in the media;

F. The media in search of expertise and good stories.

Questions may be addressed to levantinecenter@levantinecenter.org

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LEVANTINE CULTURAL CENTER
Cultures of the Middle East & Mediterranean
310.657.5511/657.5522
www.levantinecenter.org

Levantine Cultural Center advocates for, educates about, and in general promotes and supports Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures and arts. The Center exists to promote music, literature, art, film/video, new media and history through advocacy, education, scholarship and entertainment. We are strongly committed to the principle of cross-cultural cooperation, and support the strengthening of ties between all cultural, ethnic and religious communities of the Middle East as well as between all peoples of Middle Eastern descent.

* Egyptian author Jacqueline Kahanoff, quoted in After Jews and Arabs: Remaking Levantine Culture (Minnesota, 1993) by Ammiel Alcalay.

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