From the Rooftops! Urban Community Garden Program

From the Rooftops, Beirut Art Center’s community garden is one of the very modest ways in which we are trying to think through our current economic circumstances and social crises by gathering around communal projects of mutual aid and self-sustenance. We propose these projects not as solutions to a profound crisis whose scale is beyond any one initiative, nor do we think that solutions can ever be found in a return to any sort of prior state. Rather we think of these projects as opportunities to gather and think through making, and to gain awareness of the mechanisms that dispossess farmers, craftspeople and workers alike. 

Over the past few months, we have held a series of workshops in our garden based on skill sharing and introducing over 90 participants to the basics of craft and technical work. The series of workshops we offered are based on skill sharing and introduce participants to the basics of crafts, preservation and distillation. This program will evolve and expand within a range of urgent to more leisurely needs, in a bid to widen the center’s audience and community on the one hand, and notions of what might constitute artistic practice and discourse on the other. Ranging from culinary, artistic, and agricultural skills using natural resources, the six workshops were developed in line with the aims of our garden, to galvanize local practitioners and cooperatives while relying on sharing and rethinking our know-hows as spaces to propose alternative micro-economies.

The first of the workshops was woodworking led by Faris Marashli. The workshop focused on wood carving for beginners. Over the span of 2 days the participants will learn the basics of wood carving, proper use of tools, wood engraving methods on oak, walnut and beech wood, and they will leave with their own engraved object.

For our second workshop, Amina Dakhlallah conducted a two day session on fermentation techniques used to make mouneh, the traditional preservation of vegetables, fruits, and animal products in the region. Focusing on makdous and olives, Amina walked the participants through her recipes and process. The participants left with fermented makdous and olives. 

Using pine needles as the primary material, Marwa Abou Khalil conducted the third workshop of the series on basket weaving and shared her knowledge on weaving using natural material. Participants learned the basics of weaving and create their own basket using the coiling technique. Participants left the workshop with the basket they created from pine needles.

In our fourth workshop, Nathalie Abi Khalil guided the participants through the practical and sensorial experiences in extracting essences from herbs and flowers. The participants learned to use the steam distillation process to extract essential oils and hydrosols (aromatic waters) from sage and rosemary. Through discussions and testing of different oils, the participants learned about native aromatic and medicinal plants used in extraction as well as their benefits and traditional uses.

In this workshop conducted by Mona Ayoub, the participants learned two techniques of dyeing, tie-dye and bundle dye, as well as develop natural colors from organic and inorganic material such as safflower, alkanet root, walnut, onion skins, hibiscus and iron. Mona guided the participants through the different processes of fixing dye on silk, steps to bundle dye, basic tie-dye folds, and pigment baths of plant material while discussing the methods and stories of the plants used.

In our final workshop conducted by Buzuruna Juzuruna, participants were guided through the basics of planting seeds and seedlings for the winter season. Through discussion and practical applications, the participants learned about best practices in planting, preparation of planters, soil depth for specific winter native plants and planting techniques. Buzuruna Juzuruna is a small organization that teaches agro-ecology and seed production skills to help people regain resilience and autonomy.

We thank all the facilitators, participants, and homecooks who provided all the workshop meals. Thank you to the donors here who supported the project!