Christmas Art Installation [Jounieh - Lebanon]

“To each of them their story… to each of us our story…”

Numerous are the Christmas stories we lived that bring us joy when we remember them. The people in the original Christmas story also had their lives, their preoccupations and their interests, yet they left everything behind in order to receive the newborn king.

The artwork’s aim was to strip the traditional manger from all contemporary aesthetics in order to provide a blank canvas inducing personal spiritual reflection. The characters were replaced with obelisks, an ancient structure used in order to keep in writing key stories across history. Each obelisk tells the story of its character.

Since all the characters are unfamiliar one feels compelled to let go of the visual character they are used to see and get in a deep involvement with the story of each person. Jesus, however, slightly differs from the other characters; he is made of light, of floating words. In christianity Jesus is said to be the word, and the light. The manger in itself also tells the story of salvation. It resembles a cave, that same cave Jesus was buried in. All this to show the unity between the birth and the death, it is one story one calling.

On the walls of the manger people were called to write their stories, their experiences so they can also become part of the Christmas story.

Project Type: Religious Art Installation
Location:  St Maroon Church - Jounieh
Discipline:  Art Installation
Project Date: 2012
Tasks Undertaken: Concept - Design - Execution