Khalil Gibran, here we come !

Today I put my children on their way to Lebanon for the summer, despite everything... 

Had I not decided to have them spend their school vacation in the country of their forefathers, I would have most probably chosen a European city--say London--to make them visit and learn about art and architecture. 

Eventually, our penchant for roots and heritage was stronger than anything, particularly resistent to news of instability and enemy threats in the region. Though latest news have demonstrated that lack of security is not confined to our region.

This time, my children, the sons and daughters of life longing for itself... are off to embrace Lebanon and visit and learn about Lebanese culture. So speaking, I cannot sidestep one of the most eminent Lebanese artists (poet, philosopher and painter), Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883 - 1931), whose domain and museum can be visited in Bcharré, a stone's thow from the Cedars, North of Lebanon. 

As a foretaste and in anticipation of a visit Cedar-wise, here's an extract from Gibran on the Children of his own Lebanon. (1)



[...] " Let me tell you who are the children of my Lebanon.

They are farmers who would turn the fallow field into garden and grove.

They are the shepherds who lead their flocks through the valleys to be fattened for your table meat and your woolens.

They are the vine-pressers who press the grape to wine and boil it to syrup.

They are the parents who tend the nurseries, the mothers who spin the silken yarn.

They are the husbands who harvest the wheat and the wives who gather the sheaves.

They are the builders, the potters, the weavers and the bell-casters.

They are the poets who pour their souls in new cups.

They are those who migrate with nothing but courage in their hearts and strength in their arms but who return with wealth in their hands and a wreath of glory upon their heads.

They are the victorious wherever they go and loved and respected wherever they settle.

They are the ones born in huts but who died in palaces of learning.

These are the children of Lebanon; they are the lamps that cannot be snuffed by the wind and the salt which remains unspoiled through the ages.

They are the ones who are steadily moving toward perfection, beauty, and truth." [...]

(1) From "You have your Lebanon and I have my Lebanon", written after the First World War. 
Paintings posted here are also from Gibran Khalil Gibran.