Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation Presents “A Gift from the Desert”
LEXINGTON, KY (March 9, 2010) – The largest and most comprehensive collection of exotic Near Eastern and Arabian equine art and artifacts ever assembled will soon be on view when A Gift from the Desert: The Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse is presented May 29-October 15 in the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse – a Smithsonian Affiliate.
A Gift from the Desert will be the first major exhibition to explore the impact of the horse on Near Eastern civilization, with particular emphasis on the Arabian, the first true breed of horse. It will concentrate on the Near East, covering the modern states of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Turkey, India and Iran. It will begin with the arrival of the first horses in the Near East and culminate in the spread of the Arabian breed throughout the world and the renaissance of purebred breeding in its ancestral homelands today.
This breathtaking exhibition, presented by the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation, will feature nearly 400 artifacts and works of art from 25 museums and private lenders including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford University, Ashmolean Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, National Museum of Warsaw, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, American Museum of Natural History, and many others.
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Tags: American Museum of Natural History, Arabian horse, equestrian community, International Museum of the Horse, Kentucky Horse park, Metropolitan Museum of Art, World Equestrian Games
