A Pixel of Libya

Project: Old Libya in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:19:00 +0000

I was in town earlier and saw a really nice-looking book about the city I live in.

It consists essentially of a compilation of photographs taken between the 1850s and 1960s, each followed by a short description. Beginning as a hobby, it has now become a significant piece of historical research taken from local archives and photographs volunteered by locals. It contains chapters on local landmarks and historical places, views of the environment and famous figures, but some of the most precious are photographs of everyday life showing leisure and sport activities, festivals, farming, work and education. It gives a very interesting look into the traditional ways of living which have now mostly been lost.

It contains hundreds of beautiful photographs, but I'm not putting any more online - those two were just to get the idea across.

Anyway, I was reminded of the countless vintage photos of Tripoli I've seen posted on Twitter and Facebook since liberation, and I thought it would be very exciting to channel some post-revolutionary energy into working on a similar project. By contacting older citizens as well as local and foreign archives a similar book could be put together on Libya over the last hundred years, showcasing our Arab and Amazigh cultures, traditional ways of life, landscapes and landmarks.

As a hard-copy book it would be a beautiful gift, showing our history and not only reflecting nostalgia for the past, but reminding people of their responsibility to help Libya great again. It could be sold around Libya, and all profits would go towards funding some of the projects run by our amazing and hard-working local NGOs.

The old Libyan photos are everywhere, and I've collected hundreds on my computer, but it's important to get them from primary sources and have permission to publish them. So if you or any family members have photos that you would like to contribute to the project, or if you would like to help, please contact me! ahmedgat1@hotmail.com

The Revolution is Safe

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:56:00 +0000

My favourite quote from The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fannon. So relevant that it could have been written yesterday.

I'm not buying any of the fear-mongering about Libya. Sure we have problems, but it's not as bad as it appears; it never is. We've already passed the darkest days, regardless of whether the "hard part" is yet to come. Calm down.

And if you are one of the people proclaiming Jibril-esque portents of doom, go and do something constructive please.

Pride

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:52:00 +0000

Bikku Bitti is the tallest mountain in Libya, right on the chad border. “It was first climbed in December, 2005 by a British team led by Ginge Fullen”. I know that doesn't include the local tebou who have lived there for centuries, but oh the shame. It was a very interesting and impressive expedition, but it's sad that the race which produced the likes of Ibn Battuta can no longer claim knowledge of what's within its own borders. Wouldn't it be great to start seeing this kind of thing done more often by Libyans, and on a more general sale by the whole arab world?

There’s been a massive boom in journalism of all sorts in Libya since 17^th February. As well as the myriad new television stations there are many facebook news pages run by citizen journalists. But my biggest hope is for the non-news media. The torrent of creativity now released has also seen many videos made by individuals, collectives and fledgling NGOs. Here are my favourites so far:

Some Time in Tripoli from live2Tripoli on Vimeo.

حملة تنظيف ميدان الشهداء | طرابلس from 212 Group on Vimeo.

I really hope some of them turn to documentaries. I’ve never really seen a great (non-dubbed) Arabic nature documentary, just politics and occasionally religion. Perhaps we will see the emergence of an Arabic David Attenborough (or several) in the future.

Any budding would-be documentary-makers, take your chance now and be the first. Look at all of the unexplored places I pointed out in my last couple of posts. There’s not exactly fierce competition for time on our airwaves these days, and the niche is open for someone to explore the forgotten corners of the Arabic world. There is also an entire world of culture that most people were oblivious to before this year, and we have a heritage most western historians would die for.

If you're interested, strive for it! Try making your own shows about places you visit, learn to edit videos and then put them on Youtube or Vimeo to get exposure. Get researching your trips and in a couple of years maybe you'll be able to approach a TV network or even university (when they are up and running) to fund your trips.

Btw I'd recommend Tropic of Cancer (from the BBC) to anyone who wants to see an awesome nature documentary filmed partly in the arab world. My favourite section was Oman.

P.S. Here's one of the archaeologists working to preserve our heritage

Places to see in Libya (2)

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:11:00 +0000

Part 2: Natural Section

- Nafusa Mountains – This is very general, but I could write dozens of posts on the different things in the Nafusa mountains. Anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock for the last 8 months will have seen some of the breathtaking plains and mountain scenery in this region.

(Credit: James Wheeler)

There are also several extremely beautiful little-known oases in the area. I’ve heard of at least 2: Ein el zarga and Ein el rumiya, which my dad stumbled across this summer and couldn’t stop talking about for days. He won't give me the photos though, so instead here's Yefren, a town in the mountain range, and a seasonal waterfall near to it :)

(Source here)

- Jabal al Akhdar – A beautiful area in eastern Libya, which should become a protected nature reserve. Heavily forested and full of wildlife. It was once used by Umar al Mukhtar as a base from which he waged guerilla warfare against the Italian colonizers. My shergawi cousins have zardas (picnics) and even camp here in the autumn, when it becomes completely green. In fact, these are straight from his fb, hope he doesn't mind!

- The Ubari salt lakes – Yes, near where Saif was caught! I have to say, I can’t fault his taste, although hopefully the smell will have worn off by the time I get to go.

- Waw An Namoos – Yep, did everyone know that we have A VOLCANO in Libya?!

(More pictures here)

Okay, actually it's not a typical mountain-of-fire one. In fact, it appears to be more of a cluster of oases in volcanic rock, which I think is formed when a volcano collapses. I’m not educated enough on the subject to explain it to anyone, and there is a real shortage of literature on it (I’ve rarely seen such a short Wikipedia page). So who’s going to go and see it first?

- Tibesti Mountain range – including several extinct volcanoes, on the borders between Libya and Chad. Traditionally inhabited by the Tabou tribe, many of whom wholeheartedly supported the revolution this year. Home to ancient cave-paintings and a critically endangered species of wild dog, among other things.

- Jabal Ouenat – Another mountain, on the border between Libya, Egypt and Sudan. It contains many natural springs and cave paintings of animals. I can't find a picture to do all this information justice, but suffice it to say we have many beautiful mountains in Libya, which almost certainly hold many secrets. Here is the UNESCO report on it, and here is an article on its discovery from National Geograhic in 1924.

- Jabal Arkenu – Another mountain, nearby to the previous one but fully in Libya this time. It's also included in the UNESCO report. The most interesting thing about this one is that it contains a double-impact crater, dated to be back in the age of dinosaurs. Reading that made me wonder if we shall find any interesting fossils in Libya...

- Weather – Ok, there's no need to tell anybody about our incredible sunshine and the temperatures Libya reaches daily, but did anyone know that it also snows in Libya? Especially in the mountains and nearby cities like Gheryan, but it reportedly snowed in AlBayda only last week! I haven’t managed to find pictures yet, but I did find a video of the last time it snowed a couple of years ago.

- Coastline – Only about 1770km (1100 miles) of mostly pristine shore. Say hello to tourist money, my fellow Libyans!

(See more: LYM)

- Wildlife – This is a tough one, I don't know if any resources are still up to date. I've been told mountain lions are extinct, sadly, and gazelles are very rare. There is no shortage of wolves and hyenas in the uninhabited areas though.

Geckos (ابو بريص) are a common sight on the outside walls of your house at night, and I even saw a chameleon on my grandparents' grape vine once! Of course, there are camels, snakes and scorpions galore. We also have several species of birds of prey. I have no idea if this was an urban myth, but my mum says that in her childhood she heard that a man was eaten by a crocodile in Werfalla. That would be worrying.

Less worryingly, there are dolphins near our shore!

I can't find it anymore, but there was a lovely video of a man (one of the thuwwar perhaps?) playing with one in waist-deep water on facebook a while ago.

And i can't forget the adorable but endangered libyan tortoise.

For more info go here and here. There is a very nice wildlife display in the Saraya museum in Tripoli's fort, which I made a point to visit every time I came to Libya as a child. I highly recommend it to everyone.

- Bonus feature – Escapees! Many of Gaddafi’s elite were in the habit of keeping private zoos, and even protected reserves (محميات) full of exotic non-native animals. When the areas were taken by the thuwwar, some managed to escape or had their gates left open. At least, that's how i suspect these things got out here! I don’t know how many there are or the likelihood of finding them, but if you’re lucky you could run into all kinds of creatures.

(Posted by Dr Idris Elgaid)

(I can't remember who posted this, please forgive me/let me know)

All of this is just scratching the surface, and there exist treasures in all corners of the country. Waterfalls near Derna (pictured below), the cliffs of Tobruk, the valley of Bani Walid after the rains, and the rich pastures of Msellata (pictured below). A little different from what you'd expect of North Africa isn’t it?

ما شاء الله, تبارك الله بأحستن الخالقين

اللهم أجعل بلدنا امناُ و أحفضه

If that isn't enough for you, you can read some more here and see more here. And don't forget to see my last post on the cultural treasures of Libya, if you haven't!

This amazing tourism potential will have to be very carefully planned, with routes and tourist lodgings regulated to minimise disturbance to the habitat, but if done properly this will result in a large source of sustainable income for the country, reducing our dependance on oil and diversifying our economy.

PS. Before you go off on an expedition, please don’t forget there are a lot of unexploded mines lying all over various remote areas in Libya, particularly in the southern region dating all the way back to the Chad war in the 80s. Do your research before going anywhere off the well-trodden path, safety comes first. في أمان الله

Places to see in Libya (1)

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:38:00 +0000

As a starting point for people who haven’t heard of them before here’s a list of some of the amazing places we have in Libya, many of which we have taken for granted or been ignorant of for decades. If I’ve missed any please comment/tweet me a link and I’ll include them.

Part 1. Cultural Section

Libya has some of the best preserved ancient ruins in the world. Our rich heritage includes the ancient civilisations of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and even two Amazigh ones, Numidia and Garamantes, who are native to Libya and about whom relatively little is known.

I’m sure every Libyan will have heard of at least the first 2 places on this list. They have been severely neglected in recent history, and there was a real worry that they would be damaged during the war. By the grace of God alone they survived mostly unharmed. الحمد لله

- Leptis Magna (Libda) – A 3000-year-old Phoenician colony near al-Khums, slightly east of Tripoli. Later ruled by the Romans, and birthplace of the emperor Septimus Severus.

- Sabrata – Another Phoenician colony in the west.

- Cyrene (Shahhat) – Ruins of an ancient Greek colony near Benghazi. It's mentioned in the bible.

- Old city of Ghadames – A beautiful white city with an extremely unique two-storey design. The walls of the buildings also served as paths, allegedly for women to use to avoid crowds. There are also covered walkways between many of the buildings, built to avoid moving around under the hot sun.

- Tadrart Acacus – A mountain range in the far south-west containing some incredible prehistoric rock art, 14000 years old! This is sadly being slowly damaged by the shockwaves created by nearby oil exploration. It is very close to the town of Ghat, which also contains an old fortress, although no-one seems to be able to say who built it.

- Lost Cities – The capital of the Garamantes, Germa, is still being excavated, and recently new cities have been spotted by satellite. Only time will tell what new discoveries will come from these sites, and they will be a valuable resource in training Libya’s next generation of historians and archaeologists. When those two faculties are up and running again in universities, students should certainly be invited to help at the digs.

- In addition to these, all cities have their own “old district” with traditional libyan buildings and businesses. You really are missing out if you haven’t made it a point to visit yet.

These aren’t the only ancient cities; there are at least 3 more cities in the east (Ptolemais, Hadrianopolis, Olbia) and probably many more lying undiscovered. I’d love to hear accounts and comparisons of them by people who have been; I’ve never had the pleasure.

ِAnd this is just what I've been able to gather information about. You are quite likely to stumble across an unnamed gem, like this 400 year old mosque in rujban. I've heard there are several, although one was recently destroyed by fanatics.

These places need a dedicated ministry, they need to be thoroughly surveyed, registered and protected (!!), not to mention thoroughly studied and written about. Local staff should be trained to look after them. Some of them are already registered as world heritage sites by UNESCO (the cultural body of the UN) and perhaps more will follow. Imagine the income it will attract from tourism, although we will have to make sure they are very well managed and cared for to prevent the damage can tourism do through litter/pollution, wear and irresponsible behaviour.

And tourism doesn’t exclusively mean foreigners. Most developed countries have established internal tourism, and it provides a strong boost for local economies when city folk go to small towns for a weekend away, to see the sights and enjoy the culture. As far as I’m aware, this mentality barely exists in Libya. Normally you’ll just get a bemused look and “shino ideer hne?” if you tell someone that you’re not local and just in town for a few days, but hopefully this will change.

More interesting stuff here, and plenty of pictures on flickr and the photos albums on this group. Try not to let your jaw hang open! It's hard not to be optimistic about our future when you see all of this amazing stuff.

Book schemes

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:50:00 +0000

I found out about these after writing the last post, so I thought I'd share them. It's good to know something is already happening.

1) A Book for Every Injured
A campaign to send books to injured fighters. An incredibly worthy cause, please help do what you can.

2) Library Book Drive - A Free Generation of Readers
A planned future project to get books donated from the US (possibly extending to other countries?). Keep your eyes open for it, and get in touch with the organisers Free Generation Movement on their facebook page if you can help!

If there are any others i'm not aware of please let me know. I'd also love to help, although i'm not in libya right now.

Books in Libya

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 13:15:00 +0000

I've been thinking a lot about books lately. Especially their future in Libya. I'd always thought mobile libraries were a relatively modern concept, conceived in the west and predominantly (or even exclusively) found there. Imagine my surprise when i saw this photo:

Mobile Library, 1958

(taken from http://finjangahwa.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/mobile-library/)

As a society we probably read among the lowest numbers of books outside of impoverished third-world countries. This should not be. But to remedy it, understanding why we are in this state would be helpful. Is it because, of course, ignorance is the mother of oppression? Are there so few libraries in our lands simply because our tyrants discouraged and banned them to block dangerous ideas? But we have been in intellectual and cultural stagnation for hundreds of years, since we passed the baton to Europe during the renaissance. It seems to have been a slow process, starting well before the end of the Ottoman Empire.

My cousins in Libya weren't quite sure what I was getting at the first time I complained about the availability of books during a holiday there. Who needs to read that much anyway? Borrowing? You mean the books are free? How do you know the people would bring them back when they're done?

To me maktaba means library, not bookstore. Why can books only be purchased?Come on, surely the idea of borrowing books isn't that incompatible with our culture? Again, look back at the picture above, from about 50 years ago.

"A man who does not read good books has no advantage over an illiterate man" -Mark Twain

In that respect, our relatively well-off society in Libya has little advantage over, say, Yemen. The spread of ideas is essential to prevent us from sinking into the pit of mediocrity like before, and as informative as Aljazeera news may be, it's not going to cut it. The Arab spring will not produce meaningful change unless it is a lasting change within our attitudes.

I don't have all of the answers, I don't even have all of the questions, but we need to start sorting this out now. We have to promote reading across the world, and especially in the newly liberated countries. We need to lobby our new government once it is created. Our rebuilding and development must include public libraries in every town and city, and the great period of upheaval and change coupled with a new emerging generation gives us the change to embed this in our culture. I'd expect Egypt-Libya-Tunisia to become the centre of publishing in the Arab world, as writers will be freest to express their ideas in our democratic societies.

And if anyone isn't aware of our heritage of science and learning in the Arabic (and wider Islamic) world, I would recommend these books here, here and here. It is time for that heritage to be restored.

Happily, someone is way ahead of me. I saw this on twitter:

Civil Cultural Project: National Library of King Idris I

(Thanks to @Gheblawi)

Someone else on twitter had the idea of starting a book club to encourage reading. Perhaps starting in Libya, and then expanding across North Africa and the rest of the Arabic world. We like goodreads.com: it's really fun to organise lists and collections of your books, rate them, show them off to friends and receive recommendations. The social element makes reading fun and desirable, which is essential. Joining and making your friends in Libya join would be a very small step, but in the right direction. There is also so much more that could happen; eventually we could have book conventions, fairs, all sorts of promotional events. And this would also encourage new writers. In schools in the UK creative writing forms a very important part of English lessons, and children are encouraged to use their imagination and make up stories, as well as improving their literacy.

(I was also pondering another question:, why are short stories the only (relatively) successful form of Arabic literature? Why don't we have novelists as good as our poets?)

In my university during the first week of term this year there was a stall on the walkway outside the Students Union building (which we also need some of) selling books for £1. I asked about them, and it turns out its being subsidised by the union to encourage more people to read - the original price on the book is about £8. It's just a fiction book, nominated for last year's Man-Booker Prize, but what the book was didn't matter. The objective was just to get students reading and talking about what they are reading, and this is also being promoted by talks from the author, discussion sessions around campus over the next month, and various other events. Philosophy, history, science, biographies, religious jurisprudence, even fiction. I would even consider handing out Stephanie Meyer books; we just have to get our children reading!

Does anyone have any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas?

P.S. Does anyone have any further information on either of the 2 photos? perhaps a grandparent who remembers the former? Or details on the plan for the new library or a contact who'd be able to find out? I'd love to know more.

Edit: I just saw this, and it's too funny not to include:

Destiny

noreply@blogger.com (Ahmed) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:04:00 +0000

Subhan Allah, how the times change. You can be on top of the world one day, then the next...

There are some lessons we can learn from the plight of Gaddafi, and I dont just mean the usual don't kill people, don't try to rule for 42 years and quit while you're ahead. (you'd think these were obvious enough, but some people (ahem ahem) are still failing to get the message)

In the 80s, Muammar al Gaddafi called dissident libyan expats "stray dogs" and ordered their asassination. Today, he is roaming the desert (well, probably by night), scrounging food and hiding in holes fearing for his life, if he has any idea what's going on and retains control of his mind, which is debatable. His family drift across borders without control, accepting any hospitality. Just like his "stray dogs", but without the dignity they had.

He talked for years about democracy, the people ruling themselves, the weapons for the people etc etc is now watching it be finally realised. He was so in love with the rhetoric of a popular revolution, now he's finally got one.

Be very careful what you say, it will come back and haunt you. Man's worst enemy is his own tongue. And hypocrites and liars will always be exposed, no matter how long it takes. If God wasn't above such things I might say Qadr is written with a sense of humour.