Tower and Town, May 2020

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Editorial: East West

This edition conveys richness and connectivity. Paul Collins, (the Ashmolean Museum), draws our attention to the cultural connections with Mesopotamia, (Modern Iraq), plus to the Ashmolean collection and recent Basrah Museum development; an insightful and timely article that is greatly appreciated.

Ancient Iraq, arguably, was a crucible for one of those East-meets-West episodes that have had such a huge impact on global history. The late international architect Zaha Hadid has gained from this as pointed out in my relevant article; and John Osborne reminds us of the different thoughts associated with Persia/Iran.

Japan is another East-meets-West case, and here Hugh de Saram eloquently describes some enriching cultural transmissions. Moreover, the onset of Covid-19 lockout and the forthcoming Olympics in Tokyo, (Japan), have prompted Jonathan Jarjis to write for us about the economic impacts of the pandemic and the pros and cons of hosting the event.

Looking nearer home Germany often conjures East-West thoughts. My Berlin article deals with witnessing re-birth at a time when Germany was in flux. In addition I have penned an article that highlights an interesting East-West episode in the pottery tradition. You will also find a really local flavour in the article by Peter Noble about the technique of fencing.

I would like to express my gratitude to the authors, volunteers and key workers.

Raik Jarjis