In 2014 the Kahlil Gibran Collective reported the discovery of a rare photograph of Gibran at a Detroit banquet, hidden in the Smithsonian under a misspelling of his name. A large original print has now been acquired for the Collective's archive.
By Glen Kalem-Habib
• ❧ KGC ❧ •
KAHLIL GIBRAN COLLECTIVE
By Glen Kalem-Habib · Kahlil Gibran Collective · 2019 · kahlilgibran.com
• ❧ KGC ❧ •
I
In 2014 the Kahlil Gibran Collective announced the discovery of an extremely rare photograph of Kahlil Gibran, part of the Faris and Yamna Naff Arab-American Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History,1 with these words:
Francesco Medici, an international Gibran scholar, has unearthed a rare photograph of Gibran lost in a private collection. This photograph may have eluded scholars and researchers due to the incorrect spelling of Gibran's surname: "Giran."
The Photo Craft Studios photograph, taken in October 1924, captures an event hosted by the Progressive Syrian American Club — an evening held to honour Gibran for his community and literary work. Men and women are seated at banquet tables in a large room at the Hotel Tuller; a small band is on stage at the far end of the room, and Gibran sits just to the left of the stage.
The Hotel Tuller, now demolished, was one of the largest luxury hotels in Detroit. The event, held on Friday 24 October 1924, was announced to Mary Haskell by Gibran without much enthusiasm as "a banquet which some good people wish to give in honor of The Prophet… I do not know what they are going to do with me there. But I shall try to return to New York as soon as possible."2
• ❧ KGC ❧ •
II
A rare large-format copy of that photograph — eleven by nineteen inches, roughly 28 by 48 centimetres — has recently been purchased and now forms part of my personal collection. It needs some restoration, and I hope to return it to its former condition and exhibit it alongside many other rare items.
❁
1 Smithsonian Collections Search, "giran." ↩
2 The Letters of Kahlil Gibran and Mary Haskell, pp. 655 and 658 (16 October 1924; 21 October 1924). ↩
All Rights Reserved © Copyright Glen Kalem-Habib 2019
