Beatrice Brovia

Tree of knowledge

Italy / Sweden, 2010

Brooch

Materials

Wood, date seeds, metal wire, gold

Techniques

Knotting, twisting, pulling wire. Hand

polishing. Assembling.

Dimension in cm

20 x 9 x 4

Artist Statement:

There was a time when Iraq was

synonymous with Eden and the tree of

knowledge of good and evil was to be found

at the meeting point between the Tigris and

Euphrates, in the village of Qurna.

Thousands of kingdoms, lives and wars

later, what is left of it is a woody relic, faded

by the sun, cast among the date palms. Iraq

today stands at quite the opposite of a

Paradise on earth. It' s rather its antithesis:

a dried out piece of land, the colour of the

muddy waters of the two rivers. A country

cast off, abused and squeezed to the last

drop of juice. Then left hanging on its own:

fruitless and faded by the events and

history. Impressive it is to acknowledge

how from Eden we can now talk of hell. I

can' t help but thinking that, if there has

ever been a tree of knowledge of good and

evil, that must have been a date palm,

symbol of fertility and sacred plant to many

populations that had been living by the two

rivers.

What was your starting point or your

inspiration for doing this project?

The inspiration came from an article I read

about Qurna (Iraq), which is, according to

timeless sources, the site of the tree of

knowledge of good and evil (or what is left

of it). The article was published on the #1

issue of triple canopy

(canopycanopycanopy.com), an online

magazine engaged in political+cultural

debates with an open eye on the middle

east.

Do you have a personal (or other)

connection to the exhibition’s theme?

Not personal. My interest in the middle

eastern area resides in its complex both

ancient and most recent history. I' m

interested in those dynamics that brought

countries such as Iraq, from cradle of

humanity, to become a synonym of turmoil

and eternal conflict. This also thanks to the

irresponsible policies perpetrated by the

west.

What were the main reasons for choosing

the materials, shapes or technique in your

work?

The piece is very simple in itself: no special

techniques were involved and the materials

are shown for what they are to enhance the

idea of the relic, of a timeless found object

consumed by the events and history.

Materials are presented in their honesty:

not coated, modified nor camouflaged. The

choice of date seeds is crucial: the date

palm is perhaps the most important plant

for the sustenance of some populations.

Besides growing in areas with scarcity of

water, the dates are traded and even the

seeds are often ground and used instead of

coffee. To hand-polish the seeds until they

resemble bones is a meaningful action. It

stands for sucking up the juice, drying out

the meat until what is left is nothing but a

bone, white, pure, faded by history.

What kind of feeling you wish the viewers

will get from your work?

I would like to stimulate a reflection on the

deformative power of history. History

doesn't necessarly add. It rather polishes,

consumes.

Personal information:

personal website:

www.beatricebrovia.com

Artist links:

http://icameherewithnotools.blogspot.com

Browsing:

www.thekaleidoscope.eu

If I wasn’t an artist what profession would I

choose?

Astronomer