The Notre Dame University in Beirut will create an installation offering an interactive experience through a pathway that may or may not lead to a destination. The pathway’s edges will foster interaction rather than segregate people, to echo the idea of inclusion.
w-ALL: Blurring Boundaries
Europe Readr spaces are popping up around the globe, but this one is very special and dear to our hearts. Throughout July, architecture students from the Notre Dame University–Louaize and the local NGO NAHNOO were designing a w-ALL installation, which will be situated in the Horsh pine forest of Beirut. Its position along the wartime demarcation line and different sectarian communities makes it a most promising space for cultural dialogue.
The project aims to find synergies between Europe Readr's objective to promote reading and public discussion on the one hand, and the social need for inclusion and interaction on the other. It is a reinterpretation of boundaries, negating the notion of separating walls, which can be found in the city of Beirut and in the park where the w-ALL installation will be located.
The project follows the three dimensions of sustainability – social, economic and environmental – as it meets the community's need for a reading oasis. It is designed to foster equality by addressing all social groups in the part of the city accessible also to the elderly and the physically challenged.
We hope to see it come to life soon.
Kavaliauskaitė uses people’s interactions and the way they pass each other by, their eternal grip on solitude, as well as an ironic and playful gaze towards art and the source of creation. She focuses on the value of a single life, touching upon the components forming the foundation of the self and human identity. She pays attention to childhood experiences and how they are relived in adulthood. Yet the chosen angle, space, and details as well as the method of narration make the storeis in this book exceptional. The author manages to create an original chronotope and a wide kaleidoscope of experiences.
To sum up, I can say that Kavaliauskaitė is a distinctive, original, and necessary voice, and Bodies is a creative, playful, and intriguing book truly worthy of attention.