From the Holy Land to Milan, a contagious passion for beauty and preservation

“Great people! Of an equilibrium and calmness that are not easy to keep in that land of constant conflicts!” says the Professor of Human studies, of the of the Salvador Allende Institute in Milan, at the end of the lesson on mosaics in Palestine and the history of the Mosaic Centre Jericho.

The presentation is about the most famous mosaic works of this land, through the history of the Mosaic Center, the NGO that forms boys and girls in the study of the preservation of artistic heritage in the Holy Land. The lecture is held by Osama Hamdan, professor of the Al-Quds University and director of the Mosaic Centre Jericho, and Carla Benelli coordinator of cultural projects for the Association pro Terra Sancta.

150 students of the Institute are following the lecture, all are very attentive. All of them in complete silence. They are all captured by a great story of a great, great land.

It is a succession of images and names of ancient places, part of a common culture. And then there are the many stories of young people, the boys and girls of the Mosaic Centre Jericho, who have been given a great opportunity to learn a profession which gives them a new awareness of their heritage.

But it is not just about history; what emerges from the encounter with Osama and Carla is above all the passion for ideals that are often forgotten: the passion for beauty, the struggle for what one loves, feeling responsible for what surrounds us.

This is what strikes the students and professors of the Institute, most. Another professor tells us: “These people have passed on their passion for the work they do. A great witness of how peace can be built in a different and new way!”

Students and teachers of the institute were really enthusiastic at the end of the meeting. For this reason they decided to start a new relationship between the Allende Institute and the Mosaic Centre.