Lebanon

The story of Peace Marker Lebanon begins on the internet with a Google for significant artists living and working in Lebanon, a search that was conducted by Brent Scheneman resulting in a number of candidates from which I selected Ms. Salwa Zeidan.

From the very beginning there was a great chemistry in our mutual orientation regarding world peace and a certain grace about Ms. Zeidan in her embrace of the WPMP as the ambassador of the project for the great nation of Lebanon.

Ms. Zeidan is a fiercely committed artist with deeply rooted convictions which combined with her artistic dominium of technique results in powerful yet graceful works that project the intensity of the drama in her journey to peace and self realization.

Ms. Zeidan is a widely acclaimed artist, her work has been exhibited at mayor international venues since 1989. When asked to share her own views on her art and philosophy she offered the following statement:

"My paintings are formed out of my impressions, observations and my emotional experiences I see reality as an endless process of conflicts and decisions , therefore the tonality of experience can never be resolved in a definite way.
The texture of life is like the surface of a block of clay; it is shaped and molded by the circumstances of daily conflicts, personal and collective catastrophes and individual questioning.
My work lives on this quest until it becomes a rite of realizations, a struggle for the possibility to order the sensation of consciousness."

Peace Marker Lebanon began to take form in her imagination as she searched for a particular set of circumstances that will favor a special environment where Peace Marker Lebanon could find a permanent home. Shortly after Ms. Zeidan came upon the idea that the beautiful garden at the International Center for Human Sciences-UNESCO in the city of Byblos would make an ideal location.

The selection of Byblos brought with it a number of startling revelations whose historical value was to add a great deal to the relevance of the WPMP installation and the history of that ancient city where quite by chance, its citizens where making preparations to celebrate the 7,000 anniversary of this resilient and remarkable mediterranean city which in a way has witnessed most of the history of civilization. The name Byblos is Greek name for the Phoenician city Gebal, previously known as Gubla; its current name is the Arabic Jbeil.

By the year 1200BC according to archeological evidence, there was in use a twenty two letter alphabet from which the modern alphabet is derived placing thereby Byblos at the headwaters of symbolic writing for civilization. That fact added a new layer of significance to the placing of Peace Marker Lebanon in Byblos.

As it happens, it was with the advent of writing that the idea of "world peace" could be construed and therefore its intended meaning was encapsulated within its symbolic embrace. The marker on the other hand, is another symbolic carrier that embraces the idea of world peace but because the WPMP is a model, a working model of the reality behind world peace, the occurrence of both at the same time in the same place created a reunion of the most magnificent kind that can be experienced as the promise of the written word is brought face to face with the realization of its meaning.

Furthermore the reunion took take place at two fundamental levels at the same time and may I add for the first time in the history of civilization. as the written idea and the reality of world peace where experienced physically as Peace Marker Lebanon was unveiled and accepted as a new element of the of the continuing history of Byblos and Lebanon at large, but also at a conscious level as peace marker became the 7th point of peace for the rest of the world.

Ms. Zeidan, was fully aware of that connection from the start and proceeded with the delicate time consuming and complex task of gathering together the people and energies to create the environment and the consciousness needed to realize the placement of Peace Marker Lebanon.

That is the collaborative aspect that distinguishes the Peace Marker Ambassador as a catalyst of the unique experience that comes from creating art that can only be distinguished from life by the presence and action of the artist. That distinction, however, is becoming the hallmark of art in the 21st century as the artist assumes a new role as the model makers of reality.

It follows that with the collaborative efforts of his Excellency the minister of culture Mr. Tarek Mitri, the honorable mayor of Byblos Mr.. Gino Kallab, Mrs. Christiane Semaan Moradikian from the International Center of Human Studies-UNESCO that the efforts of Ambassador Salwa Zeidan where realized as the invitations for the unveiling ceremonies were produced and distributed to the public and the Lebanese media.

Mr. Henry Zoghaib, a poet who is one of the brightest cultural icons in Lebanon graced the proceedings with his words and wisdom, he presented the relevance between Peace Marker Lebanon and little known facts about the history of the nation. From day one Ambassador Zeidan found in Mr. Zoghaib the support and wisdom that guided the creation of the 7th point of peace, a happy coincidence that he braided into the history of Byblos and its celebration of the 7,000 anniversary of the city in the seventh month on the seventh day.

A particular mention must be made for Mr. Maurice Zeidan, husband of Ambassador Zeidan and Racha Zeidan whose support helped Ambassador Zeidan sustain the difficult task of organizing the many energies needed for her to create the environment for Peace Marker Lebanon.

Those labors required the additional help of very special people who invested time and effort to make the presentation the success that it was. They are:

Mr. Alexy Karim whose help was invaluable to Ambassador Zeidan throughout the entire process

The reverend fathers Simon, Khalifi and Jeon Jabbour who provided and prepared the theatre for the ceremonies. Ms. Lea Bark, Mr. George Gerious, Ms. Rita Abi Gosn who graciously received and seated the guests.

The logistics for Peace Marker Lebanon were assisted by the collaborative efforts of the following patrons.

Mr. Tarek Gaga of MEDIAPAP printing company for the beautiful invitations.

Ms. Tania Ksaifi fro BLINK designing group, for the invitation's design.

Alexy Tchaprazian, of INTERIOR A JOUR Co. who created the marvelous Peace Marker Lebanon wooden pedestal and Plexiglas vitrine.

Ayoub and Joe Bark, from CAMERA JOE for their videography and still photography of the event.

Adel Tawili and Milo Hajj, owners of the wonderful Byblos Sur Mer, for guest accommodations.

Alexy Karim , owner of DAR AL AZRAK ocean food restaurant who hosted a celebratory banquet for the attending guests.

Mr. William Matar of ONEFINEART.COM published an on line invitation to the ceremonies in Byblos, the link to this very fine artists service is http://onefineart.com/en/events/

Thank you! each and everyone of you

And so it is that a whole community as beautifully represented as in the case of Byblos extended their hands to accommodate world peace in their land and celebrate its arrival in their minds and heart. I have heard the uniformed voices from detractors of the WPMP say "what can a piece of steel do for peace?" How elegant and understated can the answer be; when it presents itself even without the need to word an answer.

The story continues in the next page, where I will examine the effect of Peace Marker Lebanon in new and quite unexpected developments.