The Mount Sinai Peace Project

2024

The Mount Sinai Peace Project is a collaborative art performance featuring three artists with three diverse religious and cultural backgrounds: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian.  The performance will unfold on Mount Karkom, known as Jabal Ideid and Har Karkom, located in the southwestern Negev Desert, believed by some historians to be the biblical Mt. Sinai. The goal of the project is to remind followers of the various Abrahamic religions of our common history and humanity and to help restore communication and dialogue between us during this very difficult period.

The artists will travel, camp and live together at Karkom for three days.  At sunset on the third day they will engage in a collaborative painting performance at the base of the mountain.  The journey and the performance will be filmed.

The collaboration will produce three artistic outputs: the collaborative performance, the physical mixed media artwork (approx. three to four meters wide by one meter tall), and the film/documentary of the collaborative project.

The collaboration will produce three artistic outputs: the collaborative performance, the physical mixed media artwork (approx. four meters wide by one meter tall), and the film/documentary of the collaborative project.

Historical and Archeological Significance of the Mt. Karkom Area

Mt. Karkom (Jabal Ideid in Arabic, "Mountain of Celebration" or "Mountain of the Multitude", in Hebrew ה כרכום "Mountain of Saffron") is located in a very remote area of the southwestern Negev Desert of Israel. It is the site of extensive pre-historic Paleolithic religious activities, which are evidenced by numerous shrines, altars, stone circles and pillars, and over 40,000 rock engravings located across the mountain and the surrounding plateaus.  People have been inspired by the spirit and energy of this location for thousands of years.

Mt. Sinai as a Link to all Abrahamic Religions

The essence and spirit of the Ten Commandments, which Moses is said to have received on Mt. Sinai as messages from God, are a foundation of all the Abrahamic religions. But like many issues in the region, the actual site of Mt. Sinai is contested by various groups and stakeholders of different religious backgrounds. The Bible accounts gave clues to the location of the mythical Mt. Sinai, but there is no concrete archeological evidence to support any of the claimed sites as being the true site, or to prove that Mt. Sinai even existed.   More than 15 sites in present day Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Syria are claimed as being the true Mt. Sinai.    

Spirit of the Sinai Peace Project

We see the mountain as a metaphor for the region.   We don’t believe that proving the actual location of the mythical mountain is important.  What is relevant is the understanding that for thousands of years people have come to this place to find spiritual inspiration and search for meaning in this complex and complicated world.  

Muslims, Jews and Christians all trace their spiritual lineage back to this sacred mountain.  All of these nominally different faiths profess to believe in the same basic human principals that we all should strive to uphold.   It is our hope that this project will remind people of our shared humanity and will serve as an instrument for healing.    

Exhibition and Sale of the Artwork

The collaborative artwork will be featured in an exhibition in the region.   The exhibition will include a short documentary film of the project. The artwork will be sold to a collector at auction to raise funds for future collaborative projects involving Palestinian and Israeli artists. 

Artists

Muslim Palestinian Artist:  TBD

Jewish Israeli Artist:  TBD

Christian Artist: Bill Claps