KARACHI, April 21: An 18-day exhibition focussing on “Islam in Sicily: a garden between two civilizations” will open on Saturday at the 19th century Frere Hall. The exhibition is being organized by the Italian consulate in Karachi in collaboration with the city government and the Institute of Architects, Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the consul-general of Italy in Karachi, Bruno Pasquino, said the aim of the exhibition was to highlight the period in which three monotheistic religions co-existed with remarkable harmony in southern Italy.

“It must be borne in mind that while barbarism raged in the rest of Europe, this period saw a great deal of prosperity and religious tolerance. Clearly, my country is sending a message of tolerance and openness – a message which has acquired even greater importance following 9/11,” he said.

The consul-general said that there were around two million Muslims in Italy. He added that Islam was the fastest growing religion in Italy, as indeed in the rest of Europe.

“Sicily was one of the first territories in Italy which was touched by the Muslims in the ninth century AD. The presence of the Muslims in Italy influenced the lives and culture of the native people and contributed to the development of several fields, such as philosophy, mathematics, literature, astronomy, medicine, poetry, music, architecture and other aspects of daily life,” he said.

Mr Pasquino praised the city government for restoring the entire gallery of the Frere Hall, which had suffered greatly under the impact of an explosion that had rocked the US consulate on the Abdullah Haroon Road some time back.

He said that a second exhibition titled “Spirit II” would be inaugurated at the same venue and would be a tribute to a group of Pakistani sailors stranded in a ship anchored off the shores of Naples where they had been helped by the local residents of the city, providing them with food.

Mr Pasquino introduced Lorenzo Romito, founding-member of the Stalker, the group of architects, designers, video-graphers, scientists and artists who created the exhibition.

Mr Romito informed that the exhibition would start with a documentary film screening the battles which led to the Islamic conquests in the island as well as the Norman victories that came after it.

“A large tent is placed in the exhibition which contains the panoramic scenes of areas in Sicily as portrayed by Arab geographer Bu Abdullah Mohammad bin Mohammad bin Abdullah Idrisi in his book Nuzhatu-al-Mushtaq Fi Ikhtiraqi Al Afaq (The delight of him who desires to journey through the climates).

Mr Pasquino said that apart from the main exhibition, the consulate of Italy in Karachi was organizing three related conferences on “Dialogue and understanding”, “The waiting dock: the Spirit II case, border crossing and human rights” and “The architectural response” on April 25, April 26 and April 27, respectively.