The evening's program will include:

• Remarks by María Rose Menocal, author of Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain,
  and by R. Seldon Rose, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, and Director of the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University
• A premier showing of Al-Andalus: A Journey in the Garden of Memory, produced by Unity Productions Foundation
• Presentation of the Mosaic Foundation 2004 major beneficiary grant award to the Academy for Educational Development to support girls' education in three Arab countries
• And historically-inspired music by the Al-Andalus Ensemble.

The Mosaic Foundation is contributing its 2004 Major Beneficiary Grant to AED's projects in support of teacher training and gender equity in Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti. AED was selected as this year's recipient because of its 40-year commitment to the education of children; its long-term success in reaching out to a diversity of cultures and opinions, especially in the Arab World; and to its groundbreaking solutions toward achieving gender equity and improving girls' education.

The Academy for Educational Development (AED), founded in 1961, is a nonprofit international human and social development organization headquartered in Washington, DC with project field offices in 49 countries, including Egypt and Jordan. Through a staff of 1000, 250 of whom work overseas, AED seeks to alleviate poverty and to advance social progress in the areas of education, health, youth, and the environment in the United States and around the world. AED’s programs seek to empower local leadership, create sustainable systematic change and establish successful partnerships between all levels of government and civil society.

The Mosaic Foundation is contributing its 2004 Major Beneficiary Grant to AED’s projects in support of teacher training and gender equity in Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti. AED was selected as this year’s recipient because of its 40-year commitment to the education of children; its long-term success in reaching out to a diversity of cultures and opinions, especially in the Arab World; and to its groundbreaking solutions toward achieving gender equity and improving girls’ education.

The years between the eighth and fifteenth centuries were unquestionably a period of collaborative and productive interaction of different cultural and religious viewpoints. The artistic, scientific, and philosophical accomplishments of that period were instrumental in leading the rest of Europe toward the Enlightenment and the Renaissance. Intellectual pursuits, largely unfettered by intolerance and ignorance, were allowed to flourish within a very diverse society. Treasures from Al-Andalus remain today: the poetry of Abd al-Rahman, Ibn Arabi, and Samuel the Nagid; the philosophical works of Averroes and Maimonides; the architecture of the Alhambra and the Great Mosque of Cordoba.

The 2004 Al-Andalus Festival is the Foundation’s attempt to bring about a better awareness and appreciation of the interweaving of the historic, artistic, and intellectual cultures of the Arab and Western Worlds. It is our hope that the legacy of this Festival will be a positive contribution to constructing bridges of understanding between the past and the future and between all men and women of goodwill.

The centerpiece of the Al-Andalus Festival will be the Mosaic Foundation’s Annual Benefit Dinner. Serving as a special event to thank Mosaic’s corporate and individual donors, it will offer a glimpse of Al-Andalus – the medieval Iberian Peninsula during the 800 years of Arab influence. Through décor, menu, and entertainment, the evening will create a unique cultural experience.

The National Building Museum will be transformed into a courtyard of old Al-Andalus. The evening will educate, fascinate, and inspire guests through the many influences still with us today – in architecture, science, mathematics, courtly love, poetry, literature, and musical form and lyrics.