{"id":2096,"date":"2012-05-31T13:34:23","date_gmt":"2012-05-31T10:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/\/?page_id=2096"},"modified":"2023-01-05T16:33:13","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T14:33:13","slug":"reviving-ancient-alexandria-library","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/reviving-ancient-alexandria-library\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIVING ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA LIBRARY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposal for an international project, <\/span> Nona Orbach, 2012<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Alexandria Library in Egypt contained most knowledge of the ancient world. It burned down totally in 47 BC. This severe historical event left us with a huge void and questions of what knowledge was or could have been there. Queries and feelings of loss filled my imagination since I was a child. What was lost forever? What did Aristotle’s second book contain? On the other hand, with the notion that humankind re-invents ideas, and the thought that knowledge does not really die- I propose a worldwide ongoing artist-book project aiming to revive the Ancient Library of Alexandria metaphorically.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Curating as art:<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

A group of \u201clibrarians\u201d [Curators, media masters, producers, etc.] will approach established artists, such as Bill Viola, and William Kentridge. They will be invited to create an artist’s book relating to a great master of the past; a master whose knowledge was in that library, or might have been. The artwork will be scanned and displayed on a website called: Reviving Ancient Alexandria Library. The exhibition- perhaps <\/span>even a Biennale<\/span> \u2013 will offer large touch-screens for the audience to search the website already online. The physical artworks will be displayed as well, at the same space. The event can take place in Istanbul, Rome, Jerusalem, and Athens \u2013 or anywhere that has a history concerning Alexandria, perhaps even in a few places at the same time! It can also be a traveling exhibition.<\/span> This ongoing<\/span> international humanistic project conveys the idea that knowledge will not burn down again, and that it is for everyone to enjoy. <\/span>Thus, eventually, the creations will be donated and exhibited at <\/span>Bibliotheca Alexandrina<\/span><\/span><\/a>, the new library that opened in 2002 as a tribute to the ancient one. A poetical justice will be made.<\/span><\/p>\n

The metaphorical role of the internet for this project: <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nowadays, the Internet is a main arcade of knowledge; I wish to be part of the process as one of the librarians and follow the path and passion of scribes of the ancient library \u2013 to collect, resonate, copy, and create and learn. They would have been thrilled to use such a tool! Additionally, the internet is a conjunction where individual archetypes resonate jointly with the collective ones. Accordingly, I created a personal blog \u201cfeeding\u201d it with archetypes regarding the library and resonance it has in my world and the cultures I relate to. <\/span> On my tiny scaled personal journey, I started \u201creviving the library\u201d: I map myself within the huge \u201cinternet-brain\u201d as connected to this theme; I wrote the story of this powerful metaphor, how I met the library\u2019s fragments in Kyoto, and how I connect my Mediterranean world with cultures of the Far East. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mound Hacker- Ongoing Art Project, Starting Point, 2013<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tel-Nona, as a virtual mound \u2013 is a framework of thought where I excavate for artistic archetypes related to cultures around the Mediterranean and beyond. \u2018Mound Hacker\u2019, my current project, derives from this concept.<\/p>\n

In 2013, I have started to intervene in the timelines of actual Tells [mounds] and archaeological sites. I travel around the Mediterranean for this purpose. When visiting a site, I leave there, a few ceramic shards engraved with a link to my Internet site, \u2018Blog as Artwork\u2019.<\/p>\n

As my blog deals mainly with reviving the memory of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, by leaving such a key, I am connecting ancient cultures to our present-day and possibly even the future. I attempt to observe and record, what happens to the ceramic keys. Hopefully, people will pick them up, access the link to \u2018Blog as Artwork\u2019 and perhaps share their thoughts.<\/p>\n

Possibly, one of the ceramic keys will stay unnoticed until a bewildered archaeologist finds it in 500 years\u2019 time. Will he be able to \u201cread\u201d my project of Reviving the Ancient Library of Alexandria?<\/p>\n

Would it be considered art, archeology, philosophy, nonsense, or something else?<\/p>\n

You are welcome to follow my journeys:<\/p>\n

Go to Mound Hacker\u2019s Global Journey\u2019s map<\/a>>><\/p>\n

Conclusion:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

This vast ongoing project is meant to be a humble gesture of acknowledgment of our cultural roots. It is an act of gratitude to many known and unknown creators of ancient times. Hopefully, we can work together with the greatest artists living today to create an optimistic, good faith internet<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

arcade of knowledge, beauty, and spirituality.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proposal for an international project, Nona Orbach, 2012 Alexandria Library in Egypt contained most knowledge of the ancient world. It burned down totally in 47 BC. This severe historical event left us with a huge void and questions of what knowledge was or could have been there. Queries and feelings of loss filled my imagination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11809,"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2096\/revisions\/11809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nonaorbach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}