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Coming back to the carob trees-story

In Crete, a true magic happened. By meeting Korina Miliaraki, we got the chance to learn about the great value of carob trees, which they are willing to share with us.

Thanks to Korina and a network of farmers and experts who are actively promoting, growing, breeding and cultivating them, carob trees are “coming back“ and bringing good to our common future. We visited Korinna’s friends, “carob activists“, old carob trees, and a carob forest in southern Crete. It became obvious there that carob trees don't need much water to grow and bear fruit, which can be eaten right off the tree. Carob trees can live for over 1000 years old and regenerate in a similar way to the olive tree.

You can take a 7-minute inside look at the importance of carob trees for our future.

OR read/view it here

I had a very special relationship with trees, especially one that we grew up with. I had my branch, like my home. The tree was my home, my second home, and one of the branches was my room and my place. I used to dream about being there, most of the time I wanted to be there. I felt that all the information that was around me came to me in a magical way when I was on that branch. I learned the world there. The tree was very alive, I had a dialogue with it because it was something more than a home. We created a very beautiful relationship. And another thing is that because I was always doing 'acrobatics', I felt that there was no way I could fall, because I had a relationship with a tree, the tree also helped me not to fall. And sometimes the people from outside would ring the bell because they were afraid to look at me when I was doing very difficult acrobatics when I was very little, and my mother would come out and people would say, "Please, your child is going to fall", but she would always tell them, "She is not going to fall, there is no way". She always trusted me too much, and my mother and my father too, both of them. I never fell.

I remember sometimes my grandfather was... I liked to see the shadow, I was there, and I was looking at the shadow when the sun was moving, and every moment was different than the other, because I was looking down and the shadows were changing all the time. And I had this feeling that I also have here, that I was moving with the earth all the time, but on the tree. We were travelling and the shadow was giving me this feeling of travelling. But I wasn't travelling alone. And I feel it very strongly here, in this house, too. But I'm here and all, we're moving with the house and with the tree in the universe. And if you have a very good relationship with the surroundings, with the environment, it is really very important. It makes you feel stronger, because you don't feel alone, you're part of the environment. And the environment, it has to do with... You are a part of it, and you all go together. I have this feeling of unity. It was very strong that feeling, very strong.

About the teacher - father

He was first of all an ecologist, before ecology existed. Because he was a chemist and he loved nature. He admired nature, the trees, the flowers, the rivers, the sea... He made me have these strong feelings about it and to feel part of it and respect it. He was against all the chemicals in the house, for cleaning the dishes, the shampoos and everything. He made everything for us to avoid all the chemicals. He was the first one to put up the solar panel and everyone was visiting us to see it. We had a garden and I loved the flowers. I had a very good relationship with the flowers and all the plants and the animals too. I loved them. He was the first one in Crete to make bottled wine and export it. At that time he had taken the prices from the French. (The factory is still run by his cousins).

I hated school. I didn't feel good. I always felt that I was outside the system, the education system. First I wanted to be an acrobat, then I decided to be a minister of education. When our teacher asked us what we wanted to be when I was six or seven, I said Minister of Education. And she asked me, "Why, my child, do you want to be..." and I said, "Because I want to close all the schools and make the next generation not suffer from this system, the school, than we have now."

So I decided to come and work with him and to decide what to do, to see. It's like giving yourself an exam, because you always have to come back to your place to see exactly who you are, after a period of travelling, learning, doubting. And then you have to come to a new battle with yourself.To decide who you are after all these experiences. And I came here and I worked with him. And then through that I decided exactly what I wanted. So that's why I came there. I found my centre.

What connected me to the carob was the carob mill, it was Panormos and the carob mill. I loved trees, I loved carob, but then what made me focus on it was Panormos, and then the next step was the carob mill and the carob mill told me, it was like telling me, this building, its history showed me the way to focus on the carob. It is full of memories, this building, I started from my needs. My need was for this building, it's very nice, to be restored and to be a cultural centre, because we didn't have any cultural centres on the north coast of Crete. Why not create a cultural centre here in a very beautiful village by the sea. It was my need and the need of others, and it worked very well, because people came from all over Crete for the many unique performances that took place here, or for seminars, and also from all over the world. Apart from cultural events, there were also conferences about the future of Europe, the environment... Many seminars, many lectures, congresses. People come from all over, different kinds of people, that's another thing I like. Connecting different kinds of social interaction. People from the cities, people from the countryside, shepherds, farmers and children from schools.

Why carob trees? Because the carob tree is a very important tree, historically, because it saved the population during the Second World War. It is important in very extreme conditions, historical conditions. When nothing else can help you, then, the carob tree appears and says, ”I will save you”. Do you understand? It is too important for me. And I felt as if I had a carob tree in front of me and I was talking to it, and I'm telling him – ”I feel that you have saved us and we have to do everything we can to give you back your lost value, to give you back your lost value, because it's too valuable. It has capabilities that no other tree has. And even in the extreme conditions of climate change, it can save us. If no other tree survives, the carob tree will. And there is something else. This is the only one, the only tree that also gives us flour. Not just sugar, but flour.

Part of the vision is to create the carob mill and, through the carobs and our efforts for the return of the carob, to become the reference point of Mediterranean Europe for the carob. To bring together all the countries of Mediterranean Europe for the return of the carob, to give it more value. I would love to create here a carob foundation for culture, gastronomy and research. And to have a festival here every year.

Manolis Loukakis, breeding expert

Kostas Karatzis planting new trees

Manolas Iliakis is devoted to the cultivation of the land, he loves trees and although he is an architect/engineer and has worked in the public sector, he is first and foremost a farmer.

To develop a cultivation on the island, and not only on the island, but on the island because we're here, by giving the farmers the motivation and also helping them in their search, giving them the right information on how to cultivate, the right way to cultivate, what kind of carob tree would be right, and also giving them the motivation to create new products of food and whatever.

About "equality"

In order to survive, we human beings have to be serious and understand that we don't have differences, we're all human beings and we have to live equally on this planet, and we have respect the environment.

We have the same rights everywhere. And to stop all this moving of the population because of wars. So maybe you'll say that I'm a romantic but I'm very practical, very realistic.

And in this effort the carob tree is going to help us, and I know it.

It is estimated that there are 33 million olive trees in Crete! And the number is still growing... A monoculture! Carob and chestnut trees, which saved them from hunger during the Second World War, are now the exception.

And one of the exceptions is Kostas' farm, where he has planted many young carob trees that are alredy giving fruit.

I'm trying to do my best and I don't have, as you put it, any expectations - "So I'm trying to do this so that tomorrow I'll have this result, otherwise I'm not doing anything..." I've been doing this all my life: trying, trying, trying, trying, because there's no other way. And if something good happens, I'll be happy. If not, I'll still try my best.

Kostas Karatzis is the great success story of Korina's dream to bring back the carobs tree. Kostas lives alone, but his enthusiasm, positive attitude and exceptional results are a great role model for others to learn and plant carob trees in Crete. He works for 10 and also makes products from carob - carob syrup (the best in Crete) and carob brandy.

Corina on carob syrup: "My mother takes one spoon every day, every morning. This is medicine. And for me it's very important, because this carob syrup is not just made from carob pods, it's made from the whole carob and the seeds. The seeds have proteins.

Kostas produces all the food himself - from olive oil, vegetables, fruit, cheese, dried fruit to wine... And when he has the chance to host someone as he hosted us... A magical experience!

Something about the carob. AsI was trying to find out more and more (I'm always searching), I found a rabbi from 300 AD. He was living in Palestine. He lived in Palestine. So he was walking down the street and he saw somebody planting a new carob tree, a very small one, and he asked him, "Why are you trying to do this, do you think you're going to live so many years to eat from this carob tree?" and the man replied, "No, because I'm taking the carobs from another tree that my ancestors planted for me," and he said, "OK," and he walked away. And after a while the light was very strong, he didn't go into a cave, he sat on a rock, he slept, and then he returned. And on his way back he saw in the same place a huge carob tree full of carobs and somebody who was picking the carobs. And he said, ”Hey you, are you the one who planted this tree,” and the man said, ”No, no, no, my ancestors did it for me,” and he realised that 54 years had passed while he was sleeping. So I went crazy when I found it, and then this rabbi, Honi HaMe'agel is his name, in another place, in Palestine, it has to do with carobs this time. I don't know, there's a connection.

The Portuguese have a saying: ”Plant an olive tree for your children and a carob tree for your grandchildren."

more > CAROB TREE PHYSIOLOGY: GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION BIOLOGY

Manolis Loukakis, a professor of agronomy, an expert in breeding, teaching, a great connoisseur of carobs, species suitable for planting and grafting trees, and of Crete.

Nobody knows, I could say, because sometimes, even if something looks very dark or very pessimistic, there are moments, but everything can be changed, so we have to try. And if we're lucky in our lifetime to see a difference, to see this revolution that I believe in, there are moments, but even the environment and human beings together, we can change everything. I don't know if I'll be so lucky to see it, but I can tell you that I've seen it, in moments on a small scale. So if I have this experience of seeing it in moments, that means it can be done, so in that way I am an optimist, but I don't know if I will see it in my lifetime. Everything is possible. Even what we think is impossible now can be possible. But it can only be possible if some people are in the same line, find a way to connect with each other and have the same purpose, the same goal. And even unconsciously, to have the same way, without knowing it, but knowing it, if you understand. Even unconsciously, because there is a social unconsciousness that moves things.

Manos Babionitakis, an inventor of the carob milling machine. Before him there was no one in Crete to process carobs into 100% carob flower, which was vital for all the carob crops.

We are all the same, made of the same material. It's all clear to me. There are no differences. From north to south, west to east, we're all human beings. White, yellow, I don't know what...

>> next steps – carob trees

I have a feeling it's going to save us again. This time in a different way. When I have a dialogue with a carob tree, it has too many secrets and I ask it. "What are your secrets?" I'm going to find out what they are.

The virgin carob forest in Southeren Crete grows where no other plants can grow. The trees are old, but still small, and they regenerate naturally.

When I finished the proposal to the Ministry of Culture to include the carob tree in the list of intangible cultural heritage, I saw in my dream that I was on the carob tree and we were flying all over Europe, all over Mediterranean Europe, together, with the tree. I saw this dream and after that it was great because I did my best to write the proposal and then I felt like "now I've done it, I've done something" and I saw this dream. And I was looking at all the countries of Mediterranean Europe from above, and I felt like I was in that tree when I was very little, but I was flying with it!

In the end, I found out that we can't do anything without democracy. It's not ideal, but it's the minimum we could have, and we don't have it. Only wars. We use it in a way we don't mean. This will destroy the globe, the capital.

Revolution is our attempt to exist. For me it's our attempt to... It's very difficult to explain. Because we do what the others, society, tells us to do. The thing is to decide what we do ourselves, to find ourselves and to create the future that everyone wants. We have to find ourselves.

Art and culture are the most serious weapon to fight aagainst all this lack of thinking. It is our weapon; we have no other. What else can we do, force somebody? No, we must convince them, touch them, so art is a very nice way to do that. Because it gets directly to the heart, not to the mind, the mind follows.

My father was the first ecologist I ever met, before the ecology movement, he was an ecologist, a chemist, and he loved nature. He was the one who introduced me to the carob tree when I was little. He loved nature and trees. He was a chemist, but he was very well educated in everything - philosophy, archaeology, history and everything. He gave me the first carob and said, "Try it, it's better than any chocolate." So I ate it and I loved it, I loved it so much, you can't imagine. From that moment on I always looked at carob trees with great admiration because he taught me "This tree saved the population of Crete from starvation during the Second World War", so I felt an admiration..

But this food, this is a superfood, it is better than many others and for me the carob is the future. As a crop, as a food, and it is also very important for its pharmaceutical uses, it's fantastic. It has many things. And now we've started to concentrate in the carob tree, in order to help it, support it and make it known in the consciousness of the people. It's the coming back of the carob. It is so important to understand that. So, I've done a lot of things - congresses, meetings... I asked the cultivators to come here, to the carob mill. We set up a new institution, a society, an association called The Carob of Crete, made up of researchers, academics, cultivators and people from the culture. We started with the university, because I'm pushing things too much, and now we've started research, very serious research, on different types of carob trees in Crete with the universities, because I've found the best researchers. Not only from the University of Crete, but also from Athens, from the University of Athens, from the Demokritos Research Institute and also from other different institutions and universities in Greece. In April 2019 we had the first congress, a Mediterranean congress at the carob mill, and people from Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Egypt and Italy came here. We started a network for the return of the carob tree in Mediterranean Europe, because it's a Mediterranean tree. And now we are preparing the new one, the new congress.

Sometimes I feel like I'm having a dialogue with the carob, but I feel that it has so many secrets that I have to discover. That is the most important thing forme. But I think it hides some secrets that I have to find , so we have a very erotic relationship. I feel that.

Yes, I feel that. But not now, for many year. I'm afraid that if I talk more, I'm going to…

Carob cultivation is ecological by nature, because it doesn't need what the olive tree needs. It's everywhere, they can grow by themselves, without anything. Of course, if you help them, they would be... You can help them by cutting the branches to see if they have any diseases and sometimes by watering them, because they don't need too much. It's an alternative cultivation during the climate change. This is the most important thing, because they are self-sufficient, everywhere, even in very high temperatures. They can grow up to 800 metres at the highest.

The planting of olivetres is still for many the solution for agriculture, even price for oil /L is low as ca 3 EUR for L and everybody complains since the threat of deseses growth and sprajing with cwemicals is a "must" . Ther is also a latent fear that some deses can be a catastropy for monoculture of 33 mio trees on the island

Olive trees, carob trees... I love them both, but carob is the symbol of survival, against everything, all the extreme conditions. And that is more important to me. And you can't survive on olives, but you can survive on carobs. To survive with olives, we have to make olive oil, we have to have a process, but carob gives you directly what you need, that's why it saved a population. But yes, this is fire again, preventing fire. A lot of places would burn... It helps the soil to be stronger. I don't know, it's magic. It's something that nature created, it gives us this and I'm so excited about it. I feel it's my duty to do everything I can for it. I feel that way because it's a tree that nobody looks at, nobody focuses on, and I have to show everybody that it's so important. The most important tree.

It is a symbol of survival.

Kostas Karatzis farm is just over the heal of young olive growth. Carob trees don't need any spraying... Drought is not a problem as they can root very deep, even 15 metres... And the fruit is rich in protein, minerals and vitamins. It's a superfood and its use for health benefits goes back 4,000 years to ancient Greece..

As a culture, the Greeks, we have two different aspects, wings. One is Apollo and the other is Dionysus. So these two have educated us, we have been trained to be both of them.

PS: If I had money, I would have done a lot more. I'm thinking of making the first pilot film and then going to Arte (TV channel) or Greek TV, for example, and telling them this is the first one and if you like it, finance the others. Let's do it together. I have the whole scenario, everything.

The team of this story : Korina Miliaraki, Ida Glušič, Ivana Petan, BB

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Produced by MEDLand project/BB : photo, reserch, intervievs by BB, conections organized by Korina Miliaraki, WGO filming photos by Aida Glušič, production assistant Ivana Petan

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Seeds of Palestine Dreams:

SEEDS OF PALESTINE dreans, is the title of 2nd edition of a book, where 99 Palestinians expres in selfportrait and words, there relation with ladn of Palestine and people living there (previev 1st edition) Book -2nd, edition is on the short list, to be published by publisher Sanje

Semena palestinske prihodnosti-naslovkaslo-ang-izdaja2-s-2024

Eyad Tamallah, 20 ....I have many dreams. The big dream is for the world to be in peace. I believe that peace will start from the people themselves and not from the government...

I was born in Quira but I live in Ramallah. I study engineering at Birzeit University. I love to do things where you can see changes. The purpose of engineering is to make life easier for people. I think this is a big purpose. I also love philosophy. To learn about society. For a young person, to build your future, it is good to go to the city. It has more opportunities and you can meet people from different places. You can get a wider perspective so I think this is important. But I also really like coming back to the village during the weekends, holidays. I like the way people here are together, the family evenings, how they love each other. When I am here I do agricultural work and I feel I am part of the village. I do a lot of traditional farming. Here I get a lot of knowledge. I think it is important to work with the land. When you are in contact with nature, you get a very deep connection with yourself. I think this will make you stronger, wiser.

I have many dreams. The big dream is for the world to be in peace. I believe that peace will start from the people themselves and not from the government. This is my big dream, that people find peace in their hearts. I see my future here in Palestine. I think you should help your society, your country, the place where you live and where you share your memories. But I would love to go for a trip somewhere. I wish to go to the sea. To see the other side of our land. As a young man I can’t go to Jerusalem, to the sea, Haifa, Jaffa. So I wish to go there.

BOOK-preview

During 10 days in July 2018, anthropologist Barbara Vodopivec and me did 100+ interviews with selfportraits in the country of Palestine – cities and villages in the West Bank. The result is unique, nothing I could have imagined beforehand. It presents a parallel life, deeply rooted in heartfelt relationships between people, as well as to the land. Land as a space that provides everything necessary for life, as well as culture and history. The wisdom based on the intelligence of heart, which goes beyond unconscious survival patterns of human nature, is very valuable for everyone of us, because we are all to some extent exposed to the pressures of domination, exploitation, control, violence. It is the way to find a peaceful transition to the next step of our evolution in harmony with all beings.
At least half of the Palestinians are scattered around the world, but remain connected with the land and the people in Palestine. In this way, the wisdom they developed is also spreading around the world. The situation is similar to the side effect of the occupation of Tibet since 1950. More than half of the Tibetans live outside of Tibet, spreading Buddhist wisdom all over the world as an important mankind’s endeavor to understand life and develop peaceful ways of coexistence. It is based on compassion, which is also a common point with Palestinian wisdom. It lies in their hearts.
What also became clear to me during our time in Palestine is that Jewish people, through their centurieslong struggle for survival, developed extreme intellectual consciousness. The latter drives and motivates us “from the opposite side” to the intelligence of heart. To this day, these two fundamentally different worlds have not found a peaceful dialogue. When talking about the future, many of our Palestinian interlocutors stressed that the most important goal should be peaceful coexistence for ALL in Palestine, which also includes the settlers who took over the Palestinian land.

PALESTINIAN YOUTH AND SEEDS OF THE FUTURE

introduction from the book by Barbara Vodopivec, anthropologist, Society for Human Rights Humanitas, Slovenia

How do young people in Palestine see themselves? How do they live their lives, what do they dream about and what are their hopes for the future? With this book we try to give a glimpse into the way youngpeople in Palestine think about these questions. Thisis not a research about Palestinian youth or a holisticrepresentation of their lives. Rather, it is an artproject, a mosaic of images and a story about the way they understand themselves and the place andtime in which they live.

Through the use of self-portrait photography and short interviews we hope to capture young people’s voices, particularly their experience and expressionof a personal and collective identity. The portraits,which always place an individual against his or her background, explore identity from a very intimate, individual perspective but always in relation to thebroader environment. Personal and collectiveidentities are closely interconnected and in the narrative of the young people, the harsh politicaland economic situation further intertwines the two.When young people talk about their own lives theyalso talk about Palestine. When they describe their home they also describe their country. In theirnarrative Palestine is not something abstract but what they experience and express through their daily life – through work, dance, sport, studies, art,architecture, friendship, family. As many emphasize,due to the struggle for freedom and justice,Palestine is in everything they do. This means thatpersonal dreams are impossible to separate fromthe hopes and aspiration for a Palestinian future.

The portraits and interviews thus aim to tell a story of how young people feel their identity, how they experience it through their personal self as well as through the place in which they live, and in relationto people they live with, or are separated from. Forthe context of Palestine, the latter is particularly important, with Palestinians living divided betweenthe West Bank, Gaza, and the rest of the world. Thisseparation, together with the system of oppression, discrimination and colonization which makes it almost impossible for people to travel, creates a distance that many young people try to overcome in their imagination by pointing to their emotional attachment to places and people they have only heard about, either through friends, parents orgrandparents.

The people we met were outspoken about the way the political and social context they live in limits theirdreams and possibilities for the future. And the sadness and anger this causes. Yet they alsoexpressed an incredible perseverance, resilience andhopefulness. Despite insecurities that perpetuatetheir lives young people stress the importance oflooking forward and struggle for change. Their dreams and imagination of a different future are not to be excluded from this change.

All the photos are self-portraits. While thephotographer set up the photo studio it was thepeople themselves who took the portraits. This so called Selffish Studio developed by the Slovenianphotographer Bojan Brecelj enables people to express themselves in a creative way, making themnot only participants but co-authors of the project.

Every portrait was followed by a short interviewwhich is partially published together with the photo. The photo studio was set up on different locations – streets, universities, youth centres, parks, cafes.Aside from few exceptions most of the people wereselected randomly. Conversations took place in English or in Arabic with the help of a translator.

During our ten day stay in Palestine we visited East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah andHebron, always with the surrounding areas. People wemet live in these cities for various reasons: some were born there while others moved to the area to work,study, or are only passing through. These mix of people with different personal backgrounds shows the flow of the cities and its interconnectedness, the mobility, which although limited, it is still taking place.

During our stay in Palestine we also planned to visit Gaza yet we were not able to obtain permission toenter. Unfortunately, we were also not able to meetPalestinians living inside the 1948 territory, the importance of which was stressed by several peoplewe met. Hopefully, this is something we will be able to do another time in the future.

Lastly, we would also like to mention that both authors of the publication are form Slovenia and donot live in Palestine. This of course had an impact onthe way we approached the project, on the set up ofthe studio, on the questions we asked and the final selection for the publication. Our voices are thus impossible to exclude from the publication. This istherefore not just a book about the way young people see themselves, but to a certain extent, it is also connected to the way we see lives of youngpeople in Palestine.

Intruduction to the 2'nd edition : (google translate from slo )

Hopefully this is something we will be able to do at some other time in the future, stated in the foreword to the first edition, because we were not able to get permission to enter Gaza to interview the young people as we were able to do in the West Bank ( the Jordan River) and in Jerusalem.

If I had not visited Palestine and Israel, it would have been an impossible mission for me to connect and understand this part of the world. Meetings and conversations with many people throughout the West Bank of occupied Palestine, who welcomed me with open arms, opened my eyes. So many years of constant oppression and aggression should make them miserable. But I experienced the opposite. The Palestinians showed us another side of (human) nature - I met proud and down-to-earth people whose self-confidence is based on trust in life itself. They managed to establish a parallel life, which they live together to the fullest. Order there is not based on obedience or survival, but on self-awareness, self-awareness that is not formally expressed. I could identify with this because, even though I was only a passing stranger, they welcomed me so warmly. A simple definition of coexistence among Palestinians in this part of the world has three pillars: a loving relationship with the land where they live; strong mutual relations or strong community; a deeply internalized consciousness of unity with a unique, invincible life. Many have expressed their dreams in interviews that one day there will be peace and harmony among the people currently living on this earth. Palestinians in Palestine - now in Gaza - know that many more can be killed, but that their spirit and the true nature they embody will eventually be part of a shared peaceful future. In a world where the consciousness of interconnectedness (unity) is a threat to many, the "parallel life model" mastered by the Palestinians, especially in Gaza for 75 years, the Lebanese with the experience of the thirteen-year war in Beirut, the Syrians and other Arabs in this part of the world , a common human experience that is spreading, as a large part of these families are displaced around the world - they live among us. at the same time, they remain connected to their original place and people. The awareness that it is possible to live fully, even as a parallel life, should not be just a dream for many around the world who do not agree to violence. In a world with such awareness, there will be no division between Palestinians and Israelis.

Project was exibited first time in Ljubljana /SLO/-Galerija Bolka - please connect us to the next place to exibit and netwoork on, bojan

Lui Petrič

Just before Lui Petrič left, he gave his final quote..

Lui Petrič final Q

whatever in the human being is, everybody works and wants to know whether it is his or not his if you do not have that policy, stability what you are working for and money,,, aye it is aye than it is terrible.. for instance Israel was saved because of kibbutzim.. there is no money, once there is no money you have to listen..then other people think for you ..pollution is the greatest enemy, we destroy nature...

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Be Enlightened -visit Lebanon

Our visit to "Lebanon – Be Enlightened" took place in June 2022, when Ivana Petan and BB were invited by fans of Ivana’s ceramics to celebrate life with them. I was able to take time to follow the light in the name of the MEDLand project, and Ivana and I both fell in love with the heartful spirit that goes far beyond and over the limitations of continuous pressure to …for best view use (laptop) computer !

Vladimir & Rafi * Rafi & Vladimir, two friends, two colleagues, two blessed people by their own definition, determined to continue to live in Lebanon and co-create with 30 other people – one of the most advanced landscape architecture Bureaus based on experience and knowledge of integrating and amplifying the energies of place in harmony with being(nes)s that coexist there.

VLADIMIR DJUROVIĆ / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

... differences make us a special team, and this is our strength in a way. We are so different, and when you combine us in a different way, the results can be incredible… I cannot articulate that, but it’s the beauty of this diversity and of the difference…of accepting and celebrating the difference. And really knowing that it enriches everything. It adds a lot. Nobody is perfect, everyone has their flaws. You know, I also I do a lot of unexpected projects – like this one tomorrow: taking coworkers to their parents' house to design and plant a garden there. It just came up. So I take them from work, "leave all your work, come", and then we go have lunch after. And then, as I told you, the beautiful parts are when we get a big important project and we travel in a group of 6-7 people, smaller team from our office, we go experience new place, new culture. We’ve been around the world, from China to Mexico, to Canada, everywhere, we grew up together, we shared life together.

Just to tell you. We are working with some of the most important clients, like Aga Khan Foundation, and we’re working with top architects in the world, top ten architects in the world. So these guys have lots of expectations and very very serious deadlines. Quality of the work has to be… Because you have to exceed their expectations. We don’t only want to meet them, we want to exceed them. And with all this looseness that you feel, we still deliver the best work. I mean, when it’s time to work, we do amazing work, but without forcing anything. I just tell you what is due, when it’s due (date), you agree. I also ask you, you tell me, yes, I can do it in this amount of time. And then, do it. For us, the secret is also you have to motivate them… Not manage them with fear, with force or with a schedule… Every Monday morning, we spend an hour and a half together, the entire team. We talk about every project, every deadline, anyone with any problem will voice it, we’ll see who needs help, we’ll help him, and then we attack.

you can’t live and not feel joy

... when everybody is laughing and happy, when they go back to work now, after lunch, they eat the work. Because it’s not slavery. You gotta live. When you live and you’re happy, you give the best you can, your best. Without anybody telling you to do anything. And life: you can’t live and not feel joy. For me. I keep talking about it in the office. We have to find joy in everything we do. Otherwise, we shouldn’t be doing it. You know, you have one life, and the time that passes doesn’t come back. You can’t go back and bring it back... It’s done! So let’s be happy…

VLADIMIR

About the flow of life & work ...

It comes by itself, the goals or aspirations that I have for myself on a personal level… I just look and then they fit perfectly for the company as well… One way of looking at things, the same interest, the same passion that revolves around nature, and always almost sailing, but not on the sea. Just open up and see where things are going , and it’s very interesting how many different winds you catch, and it takes you somewhere very interesting… So I’m very open... Audio transcript >>>

VLADIMIR

A "personal project" in Montenegro "started with the idea that I am the client, so I can do it 100% as I see fit...

...to bring together these special energies . That’s number one. And what is also definite for me is that I want people to come all year round to be there. With me, without me, I want it to be a lived experience. And what people...

Audio transcript >>>

RAFI karekachian

About Lebanon ...

Lebanon is the warmth of the people … a life where people don’t fear each other … I’m attracted to smile … We are free people, it’s in our nature … I want to unlearn everything and relearn it my own way … “Lebanon is a message” … a coexistence in a universal sense, not just between humans … our minds must change … Zionist ideology … the system has to change … new laws … go back to human scale … future architecture and its redefinition … bring need and necessity in the equation … vernacular architecture … by talking to each other, a new formula must emerge … It’s tricky, but we shouldn't be afraid of it … I want to challenge … Audio transcript >>>

I have never found this kind of warmth anywhere else I traveled. so that’s what's most special about Lebanon for me.

R A F I

... and more about architecture

… In the past, people didn’t sit in the shade of what they planted. We’re about to lose this concept, altogether.

All these buildings that are owned but nobody is there ...

... The issue of continuity ...

... Life… It’s not history, it’s evolution, and it’s change ...

... Architecture and architects …

... Survival 🙂

... Vernacular architecture ...

More >>>

R A F I

The role of Hezbollah

Civil War in Lebanon … Hezbollah … Hassan Nasrallah … you and I have the same right … Western media … people living together with equal rights … one-state country … with will and determination, any unfair situation will have to end.

The initial plan of the Americans was to give Lebanon to the Palestinians and solve the Palestinian issue: take Lebanon and forget about Israel and Palestine. So at some point, they came all the way to this village here (above Beirut), which is a Christian neighbourhood, with a Christian headquarters in another village half an hour from here. So it became very scary, they were basically able to invade the most critical areas of Lebanon in terms of Palestinians. At this point, the Christian leadership asked Syria to intervene. To stop the plan. So the Syrians came in and they stopped the plan, basically. So that was the first blow to the Israeli-American plan. And the Syrians began to push the Palestinians back to where they were, to their camps, and they recaptured all the territory that the Palestinians had taken under their control.

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Ivana and I (BB) first met Rafi in person in the middle of the night, when he picked us up at the airport and took us to his nice big family fleet in Beirut. He said we could stay for a week, but we stayed until the last day! He had taken a week of just to show us around Lebanon. His favorite place is the Jabal Moussa forest reserve with very old cedar growth and canyons in the Mount Lebanon area.

Here in the mountains, I could finally admit that the light is special, intensive in a very specific way. By here, I mean in Lebanon, wherever we went ... I have a theory why, and it is also for this reason that I want to come back, trace more and explain that bit of the story as well.

ERICA ACCARI –

FARMS NOT ARMS HAS LAUNCHED THEIR FIRST FARM, TURBA

Turba, a women-led regenerative farm in Zahle, Beqaa in line with the Farms Not Arms design model.

Turba, the Arabic word for soil, encompasses our values and our focus of placing soil health front and center to heal our land, our communities, and our planet. We are employing regenerative principles

to grow and cultivate healthy and nourishing food much more efficiently while creating a scalable farm model for food security.

BUZURUNA JUZURUNA:

Our Seeds are our Roots

Story of a Land, Protection of a Heritage – Buzuruna Juzuruna: قصة أرض وحماية التراث

Walid is a Syrian farmer, a refugee in Lebanon since 2011. In 2014, he met Zoé and Ferdinand, two Frenchmen, on a trip to the land of the cedars. This encounter gave birth to Buzuruna Juzuruna ("Our seeds are our roots"), a farm-school located in Saadnayel, Beqaa, supported by CCFD-Terre Solidaire.

INSTAGRAM

CATALOGUE 2022

R A F T

What is difficult for me is that sometimes I feel alone. It’s hard, you know, because I don’t see a lot of people around me – I'm not saying there aren’t people – around me, among friends, colleagues. I’m somehow, maybe, marginal. But that's OK… There are a lot of people like that, but I’m not surrounded by them. But especially the young generation, when we talk about these things in general, not specifically in our work, in general about architecture, they are very open to this and very receptive. Much more than the older generation. Because they live the problem that the previous generation created. So even the religious differences, the new generation is fed up with these divisions. They don’t want to hear about it anymore, Christians, Muslims, Jews. But the previous generation fought for it, one fought as a Christian, the other one as a Muslim… But the new generation is more open. The minds of the others are blocked. The same goes for these issues. They very easily accept it and then work around it. Yeah, but you have to do it in a… I don’t like to nag, that is dangerous, if I keep nagging “this is bad, this is bad…” No, this is what we have, and we have to change it. You change by being self-critical, seeing what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and trying to change that. It’s as simple as that. And believe that you can change. Which I do, definitely. So that’s the key, I guess. Not to nag, not to be destructive. Not to just complain without being constructive. Try to give solutions. And one of my solutions was to take a new look at the architectures of today in terms of legislation. Which means a new way of thinking, a new way of approaching.

My wish is to “not leave a trace”… There is an Armenian poet who has a phrase I like a lot: “Like a flower I take out of the earth, I smiled at life, I walked away and left”. This is what I mean by “not leaving a trace”. Now, smiling at life is the trace, the kind of trace I want to be, yes, only that kind. Just smiling at life and then walking away and leaving. And I read that on one of my birthdays, quite by coincidence 🙂 There is a joke about coincidence: two philosophers are discussing (this is also in Armenia) whether there is chance in life or there isn’t. So the guy that believes there is chance is says to the other, “Let’s say you’re walking on the street and the flower pot falls on you from the balcony. What do you call that?” The other one says, “This is an accident." He’s avoiding the word "chance". The first on says, “OK, the next day you’re walking down that same street and then from that same balcony another flower pot falls on you. What would this be?” The other one says, "This is coincidence...” 🙂 The first one says: “Ok, suppose the third day you’re walking again and then the flower…” And the second one says, “This has become a habit." 🙂 They (the Armenians) have very funny jokes, especially in the Soviet times when you couldn’t say much and everything was hidden.

The bigger the problems, the closer the solutions. Everything we are doing beyond our needs is a poison. - R A F I

and PIerre

"Young people should stay in Lebanon, but..." Besides offering his chocolates, Pierre – LE NOIR Atelier Du Chocolat – also

shared his opinion about young people in Lebanon.

We ordered coffee and got chocolate with it :-))

AND editor's note:

The title of this exclusive Mediterranean story, "Be Enlighted – Visit Lebanon", can be explained in three ways:

– Lebanon (similar to Palestine) is the best place to see how life can be simultaneously experienced and lived as parallel realities. One is based on connections and sympathies, being connected to the land and cultivating heartful relationships with each other. Such wisdom gives us the strength to live... a life. The other reality is the fact of living in a country and area (Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan) that has been the target of strong manipulative egoistic interests since WWII, which makes life very hard even today! 32 years have now passed since the civil war (which lasted nearly 15 years). The majority of the population no longer knows how it was "before", and 60% of the population live abroad as messengers of the wisdom of coexistence, as they remain well connected to Lebanon. Today, we are in a critical situation globally that forces us to be aware of our own parallel realities that give us opportunity to connect and coexist where peace and freedom are present.

– Be enlightened... Here the light is literally different, very bright. This could be related to the specific conditions in this part of the Mediterranean.

– Be enlightened... is something almost normal here. The people are very friendly, attentive, self-aware and well connected with the land, which is still very strong and primal, despite being overpopulated. Here meet the sea and minerals of the land, mountains.

Rafi's statement – The bigger the problems, the closer the solutions – works here, where conditions are good and people are connected to them. I know that living in parallel worlds also exists in other parts, gaps and pockets of the world, and practicing our own parallel worlds as individuals and communities should also contribute to the "pot of wisdom". In this sense, Lebanon is a great place to stay and get inspired.

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Released by MEDLand project / film, photography, editing: BB TRANSCRIPTIONS : Ivana Petan proofreading: Tadej Turnšek, godfather of the story: Ivana Petan

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Visiting -Svetac and Brusnik islands in Adriatic

..goving over the sea never repets

Coming from the 2D world by default and continuing on the surface of the 3D world – the sea is exciting and never the same

The destination is ahead, but being on the sea with the winds gives me the opportunity to be present and connected even more as ALL is ONE. This time, the 2D and 3D worlds merged even more, fish and sponges below and birds above were close neighbours!

These feelings also came to me when Neja Rojc shared this blissful time with me. Neja is deeply connected to animal kingdoms, whoever and wherever these animals are.

It was a simple visit to two islands in the open sea of the Adriatic. One is the small pure volcano island of Brusnik, and the other is the island of Svetac. It was a “call” to get to know the places and not the people. Anyway, no people were supposed to live here, as we were told beforehand. But there are actually 4 people living on Svetac.

My first impression when approaching Brusnik was WOW, such a crowded place with spirits dwelling in small and big black rocks scattered all over the island.

The rocks! Mineral & crystalline matter, the great body of Gaia lives and gives the heartbeat, the pulse we all relate to … In the middle of nowhere, in the presence of all connectedness, it was magic and much more real …

Get to know more about Neja: Terra Anima Society for Deep Ecology and CENTER KIRON

wherever- however-whatever we "do", we live traces, which are NOT forgotten BUT embedded

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In between – Aine

If I was to describe the 4 weeks' time of Inbetweening with Áine, I’d use the sentence ‘Is that so?’ from a story about Zen master Hakuin that Áine told me one day on the boat.

A very ‘humble, disciple, and great master in one’-soul; young, full of passion to learn, to experiment, to be persistent, but also willing to surrender when need be…; is that so.

Formally we got stuck with the maintenance work on the boat that was not finished in time to do the planned MED trip BUT! we took this trip from day to day heading through MED Land tasks that always need to be done.. for the good reason to create conditions where we can meet and exchange what and for what we are ..

Aine started a new Youtube channel for MEDLand Project, and created three videos during her time here – including a video specifically about our In Between-time:

What is Med Land Project? -intro on youtube

This video briefly describing what Med Land Project is, why it exists, where it operates, how it came to be, and what it aims to do. If you are interested in a deeper explanation, please hop over to this video:https://youtu.be/7YPMWxGlpPY by Aine

In Between: Nalu's Engine Surgery

video:https://youtu.be/D8V8dTYc3c0 by Aine

In Between: Handover

s video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6LHy09eUAY by Aine

AND : image review-selection of Ainas pics from that time, that I can point out :

1,2 - dynamic composition, by default static- main object in the center BUT here front and background is in a dynamic relationship and makes photos beautiful

3 - again every bit has a sense here..I start and end looking where the eyes should be and I do not miss them!

4- a detail with a lot of stories that light and color speak directly

5- the light dominates here! light has a form..

6- if you forget about the bike and observe only shadow ..photo starts to "move on "

_________________________

images of a storyteller :-))

...wrigting, droving, filming, photografing ... storytelling

follow her here https://www.youtube.com/c/AineDonnellan

and Instagram of-course : https://www.instagram.com/ainedonnellan/

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NEW channel! where all WGO MEDLand videos appear

subscribe :-))

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In between – handower…

The times in which we are living is...MEDLand project is...

In Between

The engine, the heartbeat of Nalu was handover to Drago..in Sučoraj, just 60km from Nalu home port but long enough to traveland meet Nikša, the archeologist from Sučuraj* and stop at the stone circle-new land art structure on Hvar island :

THIS GEOPUNCTURE CIRCLE IS DEDICATED TO THE SACREDNESS OF LIFE. Erected at the end of May 2022 at the Stari Grad Field - Hvar island in Croatia, in the olive growth of Aldo Čavić. It is a creation of Slovenian VITAAA Art Group - creators: Marko Pogačnik, Marika Pogačnik ,Ivana Petan,Aleš Križnar, Nataša Hrast, Simona Čudovan.

* Nikša Vujnović - does very interesting guided tours in and around Sućoraj! and you can find him in souvenir shop in port >< recommended by medlanders

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In between-Nalu’s engine surgery

The times in which we are living is;

In Between

MEDLand project is;

In Between

The engine, the heartbeat of Nalu is also;

In Between

HOW come? A dear friend, Japec Jakopin, who has cared of the Medland project's well-being from the very start; originally as a board/team member, defining the 'why, who, how, when & for whom' this project is aimed – and continuously helping to maintain Nalu – has donated her a truly prima boat engine.

Without Japec and many others, this project would just exist on paper, and not in the water, crossing long distances over the sea to MED islands with Nalu.

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ABOVE expectations..

2021 MED Land destinations were Peloponnese and Crete. Ivana Petan, Ida Glušič, Matej Michalec and BB were the team.

MEDLand 2021 Ivana, Maček, bb first days to the first Greek island

Maćek produced 5 WGO films about the trip and Storytelling encounters on the Peloponnese, all on MED Land >WGO

BB did two main stories, and one together with Ida (yet to be published).

Ivana did report of her geomantic encounters with the beings of the places we stopped (yet to be published).

Ida was making WGO films, and she made the first one, a film with Dimitris Therianos, even before we meet, while waiting for us to pick her up! AND a special film for the main story about Zlatka from Crete (yet to be published).

The last MED Land trip in 2021, from Pylos (Peloponnese) to Stari Grad (Hvar island in the Adriatic) was above expectations.

We decided to postpone “the sailing back from Crete“ to our home port to the end of July, when all planed stories were done, but we still had a 1000 km long sailing trip to reach our home port on the island of Hvar in the Adriatic. We wanted to have additional time for this long trip and focus on yet another theme.

The theme I was longing for on our long trip back to our home port in the Adriatic was to observe, experience and communicate with elements, like waves, streams, winds ...

I could not get the promised crew till the 1st of October and left 16 days later than planned. I met our new crew member Iva here for the first time, when I picked her up with the car on the way to Split. From there, we continued by ferries to Ancona and Patras, and from there on by buses and taxis to the boat. Iva has never before on a sailing boat before, but she is a person strongly connected to nature, especially to Iceland, where she lives now.

There was over 80 NM from Peloponnese to Zakynthos island (main port Zante) – and since I had to fix some things on the boat, we started late and it was already dark when we arrived at the main port of Zakynthos island.

VIDEO - Iva has never been on a sailing boat before! But in a few hours, she already confidently took over the rudder :-))

Jana Prepeluh, an artist from Slovenija, was the second team member, with her last sailing experience on Nalu, when we did our first research trip to Greece for the MED Land project in September 2016! Jana was waiting for us on Zakynthos and spent some time with the Therianos familly.

It was a full moon day when the weather started to turn unstable, windy, rainy, stormy, forecast for several days to come! Uh-oh, what to do? I missed the super stable sunny and warm weather. I knew very well that if the weather changes around full moon, it means it will stay unstable ... And indeed it was.

After two, three hours of sleep in the port of Zante, a strong noise of the boat hitting the pier woke me up! It was a serious situation because of the very strong wind and big waves in the port. Luckily, I found some big plastic drums on the road and tied them between the boat and the pier. Next thing was to find a better place. In two hours, I found a better place, but in the meantime, the wind picked up much more! It was impossible for Iva and me to push Nalu away from the pier. At that very moment, early in the morning, young strong men appeared on the pier and helped us to do the maneuver! The wind became even stronger, and we had to stay in Zante for two more days and hope for a one-day gap with less wind, just enough to reach Ithaca. Jana joined us in Zante, but because the boat was moving so much, she got sea sick already in the port … Not many would be willing to go out sea sick, but Jana, as strong as she is, did it. And all the way for the next four days, she did everything to be positive and overcome sea-sickness .

..two more days in Zante..in a safest part of the port..

Marketplace in Zante

Late in the night, in strong rain and wind, we reached Vathy, the main port of Ithaca. The port was empty, but a man approached us, greeting us: ”I remember you! Yes, here you can tie the boat, and electricity and water are free – a leftover of previous boat, take it, and welcome!“ On Ithaca, we had a one-day stop to meet with Leila again (MED Land story).

She always inspires me! What she did and how she lives now on her farm, full of experiments, will be in the upcoming update of her story.

The next port was Gaios on the island of Paxos, and the already normal procedure was to tie the boat in heavy rain and strong wind. The early morning ritual was to get some diesel, which happened in15 minutes ... ”Welcome, you are here again!”, with a big smile from the diesel truck that drives through the port to fill up boats. We had to take of as soon as possible, since we had another long trip to reach Othonoi island – the last Greek island before Otranto, the passage between Albania and Italy, and AGAIN with only one-day gap of less winds on the route to reach the destination.

North of Othonoi, we had to wait again, but it was a must-stop anyway to meet Yiannis Katehis (MED Land story) , who also became a harbor master, apart from being the vice president of three islands. He is a hyperactive activist and a never-ending inspiration for me. My brother, I could say ... He spent with us one wonderful day, in his studio, with his mother serving us the best pasta and with long, great conversations that we had in a coffee shop. The update will tell more!

Yiannis' success on Othonie is finally a proper ferry line every day ...

... AND fresh SPRING water for the whole island. More in the update >>>

In the port, there was a single Italian sailor on a much bigger boat than Nalu, also waiting for the right time to cross Otranto towards Italy. I decided to take of early, very early in the morning, when the winds started to go down. And Jana was not ready to go with me this time. She stayed on Othoni for another couple of hours to join the Italian sailor, who decided to do a much shorter route to Italy, which was not convenient for us considering the forecast for the following days. This was the best solution! After 22 hours on the sea with big waves and also rain during the last hours, Iva was still in a positive, relaxed mood. And finally. the port of Brindisi! I was sure it was going to be calm inside, but it was NOT.

We arrived to Brindisi in the night and tried to moor in two places - but still to much movement up and down. Morning came soon, and I walked to all marinas in the port to get a place.

Naval Balsamo was definitely the best bet: very kind family business, also boat-building and repairing site, all that you need was here for a fair flat price!

Here, I discovered that the engine cooling system is leaking water! I took off the part that was leaking, and since they could not weld copper here in marina, they took me immediately by car to the car cooling system mechanic. In a good half an hour, I was back and the job was done!

BEST pizza place. Strict COVID regulations in pizza restaurants brought us to this family shop with TOP pizza and all that we needed for food. After two visits, we were already "friends" and we got extras like pasta, vegies etc. as a gift.

As always, I talked to other people in the port who we also waiting for the wind to go down. And that is how I met Tomaž, who was on an even smaller boat - a wooden sailing boat from Sweden - waiting to cross the Adriatic. “Good, we sail together than“ - and that is what we did, two Slovenes with two funky sailing boats, the only wooden boats in the port. We started the next evening, a 33-hour trip to reach the Korčula island. When we came out from the port, there were still big waves and NE wind - a difficult direction for our route, but we knew that sooner or later the wind will go down :-)) Still in the night, when I could already use autopilot since the sea calmed down, I found out that the autopilot was not working any more. ”Tomaž, Tomaž, Tomaž“, was my call on Channel 9, and I asked him to sail in front of us, so we could follow his lights. The trip over the open sea in a tandem was really much easier :-)) . **We crossed the deepest part of the Adriatic, and observing water, waves, light, clouds here was very inspiring for me. One of the inspirations was that the see, as well as rivers, are (in many cases) the places where the primeval earth forces can be very dynamic, more dynamic than on solid land.

All in all, the trip was intensive, but also very inspiring . The key for this experience was that Iva, who NEVER EVER did a sailing trip before, was completely “in” all the time, happy, relaxed and reliable to do anything that was needed, including taking over the rudder under the sails for many hours. She was happy being on this trip, so I could be in tune with what was going on and relaxed, even when I was wet, cold and tired. In this way, the true wave that was taking us over was being at the right place at the right time and meet “good” heartful people who were really helpful and touched my heart deeply. The landing on Korčula was a welcome story for as again: the marina stuff did not charge us, and the police and custom registration process upon arrival to Croatia was very relaxed.

We did miss 16 essential days of good weather, but I would not change it after ALL! I had to be really open to observe, experience and communicate with elements such as waves, streams, winds, in conditions that where pulling me to survival mode! Exactly opposite to where I wanted to be ... And what happened was that I reached this blissful in-tune moments, to be first of all in experience mode and be inspired, like in the middle of the Adriatic, above the deepest part of this big bay, in a very deep way. If you feel blessed at the end, then EVERYTHING had meaning ... That is how the life should be ... Ready for next passage.

It took another night and day to reach the island of Šćedro - a small island along Hvar island. Nobody could expect that this small island under its "bigger brother" could be an entire world of its own! I keep coming back to understand more about these two close, and yet so different individuals-islands. “Yes, it is like this,” I heard a whisper, “because these two islands grew up long ago in different evolution times, when dragons were the most active.” Which one is older? “It does not matter, all is also now.”

Šćedro island

Šćedro island

And the last challenge on this trip awaited us on the way back, already in Split, where I have parked the car, a borrowed car :-)), and found out that a whole exhaustion system was stolen! And also the car battery was completely empty, because I left the lights on :-)) It was already the middle of the day, and even though I had battery cables to connect to cars from people that wanted to help, it didn't work. BUT, very quickly, situation started to go in a different direction. The nearby housekeeper of the Naval Museum is a mechanic who had special cables. He managed to start the engine and even take me to a very kind car exhaust mechanic at the outskirts of Split. Of course, there was no way to get the original exhaust system, so he made a new on in just 3 hours :-)) . Meanwhile, Iva was in the port waiting with my luggage, including the money that I needed. Mechanic was far from the port, and luckily a taxi stopped ... "We are the cheapest in town! Take a sweet from me to calm down ... “ were his first words, and quickly we found out that we have common friends since he was from Sarajevo. Like Ibrahim Spahić. The exhaust system was repaired just in time, since I was in a rush to return to Slovenia because my computer was also broken, and a repair specialist was on his way. I reached him in time! I had to leave the computer with him since its motherboard was broken, but Primož lent me one with my disk inside, so I was able to work without any delay for the next few weeks :-))

Why do I write all this?

This time, it all started in Ancona on the way to Greece by ferry with Iva. We had time almost all day, and I went "for a walk" alone and with an open heart. The first encounter was with a refugee from Sri Lanka, and when I sat on the bench next to him to eat, I offered him some food. I saw him as a person in trouble. He refused to take any food, and in short conversation he convinced me that he is not in a bad situation at all! He sees opportunities, knowing where and how to go to continue his life, and he is also in contact with his family!

I went on towards my destination, an old big palm tree in the middle of the town ... A friend. I could not find her ... I circled persistently around the area. Finally, I came to the "no tree any more" place, just a tree stump! WHY? Last time, it looked heathy, strong, biggest among many in the park, which were still there. For me, this palm tree was playing an important role as a pilar of vital connections and interactions blessing and interacting with Ancona. I stayed there for a while, and slowly, the palm tree appeared to be still there! Still existing on a nonphysical level, but actively present ... Still living. This is beyond imagination, but to grasp some of this, I had to open my heart very much, and this kept me going. Focused, peaceful observation, as well as acceptance of the adventures that come my way, being aware that I am doing my best, gave me a very special experience that I love to share with you, straight into the universe. THANK YOU ALL!

Ancona >>>

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Released by MED Land project, photos by BB, film by : Ida Glušič; voice, words : ZlatkaFerlez

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Exhibition »VENICE – EMBRYO OF THE NEW EARTH SPACE« is extended

'Summary' : Six years ago, MED Land project started in Venice, and in 2020, Venice was again inspiring me in a new way. This year, the book “Venice - Embryo of the New Earth Space” was published, and the exhibition with the same title, on display in ZRC SAZU Atrium gallery from 22 December 2021, has been extended to 21 January 2022

NA DAN ZAPRTJA RAZSTAVE BOM V GALERIJI, da vam predstavim zgodbo projekta in da podpišem NOVO fotografsko knjigo, »Benetke – seme novega planetarnega prostora«, ki ponovno nagovarja izvorni prostor projekta MED Land: Benetke. Projekt je potekal v letu 2020, kjer nič ni ponovljenega , in se spogleduje z Benetkami kot prostorom inspiracije za preskok v novi svet in nove čase.

Še posebej pozivam tiste, ki ste podpirali, donirali in na različne načine sodelovali v projektu, da vam poklonim podpisano knjigo! Sicer pa je glede na izredno malo, butično naklado (120 knjig) in zelo kvaliteten tisk cena le 35 EUR! Pričakujem vas med 12h in 20h!

Risbe Marka Pogačnika (originali in fotografije Bojana Breclja, serija 3+2, natisnjene na arhivski papir in unikatno uokvirjene – format 27x41cm + okvir) – so zelo ugodno naprodaj: 250 EUR.

Kontakt: Galerija Fotografija, +386 1 25 11 529; info@galerijafotografija.si

NAJPREJ PA SI JIH OGLEJTE: Atrij ZRC SAZU, Novi Trg 2 do petka, 21. januarja 2022 do 21h (vstop brez PCT!)