Dena Rashed follows in the footsteps of an artist -- and some red helmets When Spanish artist Joseph M Rius (aka Joma) started his trip around the Mediterranean, he took along 150 red helmets -- adjuncts of his unique project. His friends thought he was mad, but Joma was determined enough not to listen. Entitled Endless Journey, the project consists of visiting spots of significance along the Mediterranean coast -- whether historical or contemporary, lining up his red helmets, and photographing them. An illustrator and contributor to Spanish newspapers, Joma studied both journalism and art. However strange the idea, Joma had the inspiration to form an ideal path linking the civilisations of the Mediterranean countries through the dotted lines of his helmets, a road that could be travelled in different directions. "On a map, you can connect the countries by forming lines, so in real size it is like forming an ideal path by connecting people, geographically," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The idea is also to view the Mediterranean as a place and a continuum to be travelled as opposed to the frontier image we are given persistently." But why red helmets? Joma has an unexpected explanation. "They were a gift from a friend who works at a factory that produces safety items for workers. They decided to throw them away, but she knew I had an experience in using books as bricks in a previous project, so she decided to call me first and I accepted them without any doubt." Artistically, for Joma, a helmet represents many things: the work, the need and the sense of destiny involved in contemporary migratory movements. They are working items that could resemble a boat, symbolising the movement of people in the sea, here developed into points connecting spaces. For Joma, they were also travel companions. But the route he passes is not arbitrary: he picks the places he wants to emphasise, especially those revealing traces of the past, like the ruins of the archaeological sites. He set out first to Syria, in 2003, with a couple of friends and four helmets, to test out the idea. The result proved stunning, he found, and the process was relatively simple to put into practice. His first photographic sessions took place in Tel Hallula, Ain Dara and other remarkable places. In 2004 he went to Lebanon, but one trip to each country was not enough, so Joma returned to Syria and Lebanon to take more pictures. He is now in Egypt, the third country on his path, where he has photographed his red helmets at Saqqara and has plans to visit the oases. Although he initially concentrated on ancient sites, he is increasingly delving into the contemporary surroundings, creating a much stronger path between the present and the past as he does so. In Lebanon, for example, he managed to line his helmets at the Israeli border, at Fatima's gate. Working with a structure, Joma has compiled the images following a sequence from life, dreams and death. For example, there are dreams he tries to capture, in his photos, which occupy a space between the busyness of the streets and the harsh reality of death at the borders. In this sense, the path has turned from an idealistic into a symbolic one, conveying a message about non- European people around the Mediterranean. "It is all about letting the people see what is on the other side, in a way we are all the same and that is what I wanted to show the Spanish people back home, that we should trust each other and can become friends with our Mediterranean fellows." Joma argued that people in Spain could be afraid of what they see on TV. "People could be misguided by the political reality they receive from the media and the way certain countries are portrayed, the bombings that take place, and since I am an artist, I really like to make beautiful images and try to show them the beauty of the places I photograph. It is about seeing beyond tourism." Joma is evidently fascinated with the idea of discovering the other, and knowing in what ways people differ according to cultures. "We basically look similar, and if we take time to look each other in the eye, we will appear to be the same. Even the Roman temples are similar to the Pyramids in a way, and one has to experience that as a traveller too." Joma also planned on photographing historical sites to reveal such similarities, perhaps causing confusion to the viewer as to the real location of the photos. Joma intends to follow a path in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Spain and then Italy. But he knows he will need years and years to bring his project to a close. Since he depends on personal resources to finance it, it proves difficult to work at a faster pace. He has tried to get funding for the project but he failed. It did not stop him. "I believe in my project, and believe in the importance of knowing the others. Everywhere I visit, questions pop up in my head like: Who are you? What is your past?" On a personal level, the project has allowed him to meet many artists from the countries he has visited. It has created the possibility of future collaborations with them. The only problem he encounters, he says, is the language barrier. Joma learned a few Arabic words during his trips and, with his excellent pronunciation, one could well imagine that he speaks the language. And yet, "not knowing the language of the country one is visiting sometimes makes the work more difficult, yet still the hospitality of the people makes up for that point." The beauty of Joma's project is the connection it invokes for passers by and others he meets during his trips. When he tells people about his project, they usually have a location to suggest. "People relate many times to the project and being natives they manage to suggest beautiful places in their countries, or ones that are close to their hearts, and also become involuntarily part of connecting people through the project." As he also keeps a diary of his trips and the steps he has taken, he manages to recount the thoughts of the people he meets on his path. Every photo makes a different impression on the viewer, "for one person the helmets could look like fingerprints, for another they are like rose petals. I like to believe it is good to let the people open their eyes."
