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| "BYBLOS IN A BARREL" | ||||
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Author: Anita Toutikian Title: Byblos in a Barrel - Interactive outdoor installation Location : “Place de L’Unesco “ Byblos – Jbeil Lebanon Date : Summer 2004 Byblos off Festival Materials: Metal Barrels split into halves , Paper Boats, Sea Water, Sun Heat to evaporate water. The Work Handmade paper boats swim in split metal barrels, filled with seawater, exposed to the sun, placed at the heart of the Byblos ruins in ancient Phoenicia. The hot sun gradually evaporates the water in the barrels, until the paper boats sink to the bottom, unable to swim any more. The Barrels bear date marks from the inside written in descending order: - 3000 BC
As the water evaporates, the paper boats in the barrels start to descend, exposing more recent dates, the boats continue to sink until they reach the year 2000 A. D. mark (i.e. now) which is at the bottom of the barrel. - 2000 BC - 1000 BC - 0 - 1000 AD - 2000 AD This work speaks about the glory of ancient Byblos in Phoenicia (Lebanon) and its historic harbor with its ancient Phoenician ships that exported the alphabet from Phoenicia to the world. Byblos now is endangered, drowning in its own ruins. Byblos needs the support of its inhabitants as well as the world. Visitors of the exhibition are invited to fill in the barrels with new water and replenish the evaporated water in order to prevent the boats from sinking. Children and adults are given paper to make their own boats and place them in the barrels as a symbolic gesture that symbolizes the rebuilding and revitalization of Byblos and the preservation of its cultural world heritage. Most adults are surprised to find out that they are unable to make paper boats even after several trials, they have simply forgotten how to make them, and this is also an indicator of oblivion. We simply forget and neglect so unsurprisingly. At the end of the exhibition the buckets are distributed to the people as a reminder and a token of their responsibility in the collective duty of revitalizing Byblos and preserving human heritage |