The official opening program for THE KEY was held at the historic Riverside Church in New York on September 21 to commemorate the UN International Day of Peace during the UN General Assembly.

Special remarks were given by:

-Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, Senior Minister of The Riverside Church
-Ambassador Ahmed Farouk, Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in New York
-Ambassador (ret) Michelle Gavin, Managing Director of The Africa Center
-Imam Mohamed Bashar Arafat, President, Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland and Founder of Civilizations Exchange & Cooperation Foundation
-Dr. Reda Abdel Rahman, Co-Curator and participating artist

A special address was given by The Honorable Rabbi David N. Saperstein, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. There was also a musical performance by Sufi musician Amir Vahab & Ensemble

​

THE KEY exhibition opened in Cairo in March 2016 on the banks of the Nile and was then showcased in London at St. James’s Piccadilly, across from the Royal Academy of Arts. It is now being showcased in New York at the historic Riverside Church, a stronghold of peace activism over the decades, through November 6, 2016.