BESA Exhibition at SFU Teck Gallery

Just got back from hanging out with a good friend and fellow local artist who works at SFU. As we were downtown she took me to the SFU Harbour Centre campus to take a look at the current art exhibition titled BESA: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II. BESA is an ancient Albanian principle of offering protection to those who need it. I was quite taken by it indeed as it depicted stories of Albanian individuals and families of Muslim belief as they recall housing and protecting Jewish people in World War II. This is an incredible exhibition telling a little-known piece of history. Each individual story gives a recollection of the Jewish people that were housed and protected, what it meant to protect them and their reasons for doing it often tied back to principles from the Quran.

Click here for more information on the exhibition. I highly recommend it.

The hands of Atlin Qeleshi holding a snapshot of Shalom Adixhes and her daughter Nina, a Jewish family rescued in Shkoder, Albania.