The Jerusalem Library of Intangibles
Installation at Ayumi Gallery


Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit.

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need”. cicero

 

The garden in which you stand was designed by the late Kiichi Suzuki an architect and world traveler who was on a constant quest to capture and share moments of countless places around the world. In easter of 1981, he visited Jerusalem. The domes of the city alongside the festive spirit marked a strong impression upon him. 

Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities dating back thousands of years, is a vibrant, inspiring and complex city. Time is set in a different way, letting the past echo into the future. Every stone and layer of the city carries an abundance of stories and memories which all blend into extraordinary daily encounters and colorful situations. 

We imagine the installation as a library – an experiment to capture the essence of a place. A place not only for acquiring knowledge but for experiencing a remote and diverse culture. An opportunity to take a glimpse of the kaleidoscopical moments of this extraordinary city. Here one can find the time and space-specific situations, moments, languages, traditions and sounds spread around the garden and under the tree of the Ayumi Gallery. 

Using QR scans, visitors are invited to expose a fraction of the city, and its intangible qualities: from smells of plants to local sounds, spoken stories, and rituals. The map of Jerusalem is scaled into the garden letting each QR reveal a site-specific &  moment in time according to its real location: moments from the east are situated in the east side of the garden, moments from the west will be found in the west.

The Ayumi Gallery garden is transformed into a living dome of cultural richness. 

The typical Jerusalem dome (appearing 2048 times only in the old city of Jerusalem alone) is re-interpreted: from a solid dome it becomes an ephemeral one, built from a series of poles creating its distinct silhouette. Each pole represents the abundance of moments, colors, situations and stories the city carries.

Please feel free to wander inside the installation, sit under the tree, meditate with sounds of the city and collect moments of Jerusalem.  

Creators: Lila Chitayat | STUDIO LinC + STUDIOPEZ

Collaboration with: Nariyuki Kishi, Ayumi Suzuki,

Sound: Emmanuel Witzthum 

Photography Artist: Eitan Witkon

Constructed by: Okaken Koji Co., Ltd.