November 03 through November 16, 2014
The exhibition at Grand Rapids Public Library was opened with speeches by Mayor George Heartwell and Rev. Wes Granberg-Michaelson, who was the previous executive director of the Reformed Church in America. Grand Rapids is the second-largest city in Michigan (after Detroit). Michigan has been known to hold the largest Muslim population in the United States.
Mayor Heartwell spoke of his hope for the exhibit to contribute to Grand Rapids becoming more and more a place of religious tolerance and understanding.
Rev. Granberg-Michaelson spoke of the unsurpassed hospitality of the Omani people and His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al-Said. He travelled to Oman a few years ago for a special event and spent over 2 hours conversing with the Sultan regarding religious tolerance and the historic relations between his church and Oman.
Justin Meyers, who hails from Michigan and is working in Oman as Educational Programs Director at the Al Amana Centre in Muscat, gave a very positive presentation on the work of the Al Amana Centre in promoting Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogue, and his experiences there, stating that "I am grateful that this exhibition will contribute to the people of Grand Rapid's perceptions of Oman and the wider world of Islam."
