Dead Sea water recession leaves vast, unstable, salt plains. Photo credit Quentin Budworth.
The natural fresh water 'top-ups' for the Dead Sea are being diverted for human consumption, therefore the water level keeps falling.
Close up of the 'throwaway' paper sculpture/image that echoes the experience of bird movement over the discarded waste.
Dead Sea water recession leaves vast, unstable, salt plains. Photo credit Quentin Budworth.
Dead Sea Ecology
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the Hoopoe Foundation and the international Artists For Nature Foundation together with the Amman Center for Peace and Development and the Dead Sea Research Institute undertook a bold arts project to raise global awareness to the ecological plight of the Dead Sea within a fractious geopolitical situation. I was one of the invited artists who spent a couple of weeks travelling and working in Jordan and Israel, and the following year building up a body of work in response to the issues.
The Dead Sea is one of the most intriguing geographic formations in the world, supporting unique ecosystems and harboring historic and cultural treasures. The long-term decline of the water level, through watershed, industrial exploitation and resources for tourism, is creating an ecological imbalance on both land and sea that will eventually destroy this unique and precious ecosystem. The culture of environmental artists, conservationists and resident youths from all shores provides a unique, non-political platform for people of this war-torn region to connect to their natural environment and to one another.
The initial catalogue of participants is linked here. The project book Bringing the Dead Sea to Life - Art and Nature at the Lowest Place on Earth by Hadas Marcus & Prof. Yossi Leshem was launched at the International Ornithology Conference in Vancouver during August 2018. ISBN: 978-965-92011-2-9
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