True stories from the Mediterranean | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon
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0:10 - 0:15The Mediterranean
is a pair of chapped lips, -
0:15 - 0:18whose top lip speaks in Latin,
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0:18 - 0:21and whose bottom lip speaks in Arabic.
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0:21 - 0:23And when it tries to swallow,
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0:23 - 0:25when it closes its lips,
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0:25 - 0:27it hurts and it stings.
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0:27 - 0:31It suffers because
there are all these borders, -
0:31 - 0:33barbed wire, sentries and checkpoints
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0:33 - 0:36around the Mediterranean,
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0:36 - 0:39which prevent it from speaking.
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0:39 - 0:42In 2011, I was in Marseille
at the time of the Arab Springs, -
0:42 - 0:45and it felt like there were
free individuals there -
0:45 - 0:47who were speaking out again,
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0:47 - 0:53who were refusing to be taken away
in these barbed wire sacks, -
0:54 - 1:00and were taking back their right to exist
and to say what they wanted to say. -
1:00 - 1:04In that moment, I thought
that the right thing to do -
1:04 - 1:06was to go and listen to them.
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1:06 - 1:08Meaning,
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1:08 - 1:11to no longer view the Mediterranean
as a group of Nation States -
1:11 - 1:14that do not talk to each other,
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1:14 - 1:21but as a community of inhabitants
that don't know each other very well, -
1:21 - 1:27and to go listen to them
and create a giant library, -
1:27 - 1:30a communal database, copyright free,
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1:30 - 1:35a library of true stories
from the inhabitants of the Mediterranean, -
1:35 - 1:37in every Mediterranean language.
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1:37 - 1:39In 2013, I proposed this in Marseille,
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1:39 - 1:42which was then Cultural Capital.
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1:42 - 1:44So, from December 2011,
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1:44 - 1:47I embarked on my little speaking tour.
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1:47 - 1:49I started in Barcelona,
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1:49 - 1:51I wasn't too sure how to do it at first,
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1:51 - 1:53so I went to see people on benches,
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1:53 - 1:55and little by little,
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1:55 - 2:00we came up with a number
of options to collect these stories. -
2:00 - 2:02You can collect true stories,
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2:02 - 2:04just by being face-to-face
with someone you've met. -
2:04 - 2:07It's possible to do this together here.
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2:07 - 2:10You'll all come up and tell a true story.
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2:10 - 2:12We can have candlelight vigils,
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2:12 - 2:15we can make discussion tables, etc.
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2:15 - 2:17There are so many ways to collect them.
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2:17 - 2:19There are so many ways
to reproduce these stories, too. -
2:19 - 2:25All of the arts obviously
can retell these stories. -
2:25 - 2:28So I began like this in Spain.
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2:28 - 2:31Next I was in Morocco in January of 2012.
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2:31 - 2:34Then in Algeria,
and there, the project took off -
2:34 - 2:37because there was a huge amount
of Algerian stories that came in -
2:37 - 2:41both in text-form on the website,
which gathered them, -
2:41 - 2:44and then I met tons of people.
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2:44 - 2:48So there, the collection really got going
in February 2012. -
2:48 - 2:49Then I was in Tunisia,
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2:49 - 2:53and there as well,
there were really amazing meetings. -
2:53 - 2:57Following that, I wasn't able to go
to Libya with what was going on, -
2:57 - 2:58and so I went to Egypt.
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2:58 - 3:02I arrived in Lebanon
and continued to collect stories. -
3:02 - 3:04I was in Beirut a lot.
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3:04 - 3:07At one point, I was invited to Hammana,
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3:07 - 3:11which is a little town
on the uplands of Mount Lebanon, -
3:11 - 3:15a little town with a Christian majority,
about 45 minutes from Beirut. -
3:15 - 3:19I arrived there
and the people were waiting for me. -
3:19 - 3:21Everyone was in the library,
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3:21 - 3:25it was like a candlelight vigil,
but in the middle of all these books. -
3:25 - 3:27And there, we all took turns speaking.
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3:27 - 3:28I told a story,
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3:28 - 3:31and the people, the eldest, the youngest,
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3:31 - 3:34in French, in Arabic,
told their stories to each other. -
3:34 - 3:38They chose - and this is what
I asked the people each time - -
3:38 - 3:42from the story of their lives,
from birth up until now, -
3:42 - 3:45"What would be the story
that you want to share -
3:45 - 3:47with the rest of the world?
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3:47 - 3:51What would be the incredible anecdote
you have in your heart, that's dear to you -
3:51 - 3:57and that you want to pool
in a large library?" -
3:57 - 4:00And with that, I had tons of stories,
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4:00 - 4:03and then we met for drinks at the end.
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4:03 - 4:06There was a woman named
Samira Fakhoury who was the library head, -
4:06 - 4:09who said to me, "There is one story
that I haven't told." -
4:09 - 4:13It takes place in 1976.
-
4:14 - 4:18It was the first year
of the Lebanese civil war, -
4:18 - 4:24it was also the year when the Syrian army
came to occupy Lebanon. -
4:24 - 4:28Especially in Hammana,
they set up channels -
4:28 - 4:32to bombard Beirut,
and waited for the counterattack. -
4:32 - 4:34When Samira and her husband saw this,
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4:34 - 4:38they decided to get the children to safety
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4:38 - 4:40in the Beqaa Valley, next to Zahlé,
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4:40 - 4:43while they stayed in Hammana
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4:43 - 4:47to take care of the family houses
so that they wouldn't be pillaged. -
4:47 - 4:49So there were three homes,
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4:49 - 4:50and they stayed,
-
4:50 - 4:52they had a grandmother
in one of the other houses, -
4:52 - 4:56and the other was
requisitioned by Syrian officers, -
4:56 - 4:58so they lived in one of their houses.
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4:58 - 5:00They were neighbors,
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5:00 - 5:06and in the Spring, like every year,
Samira and her husband argue. -
5:06 - 5:09And they always argue over the same thing:
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5:09 - 5:10the poplars.
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5:11 - 5:14They have four poplars
that are next to the garden, -
5:14 - 5:15and I don't know if you've seen,
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5:15 - 5:19but the poplars make
little cotton balls, buds, -
5:19 - 5:23and those balls get all over the gardens,
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5:23 - 5:25and every Spring, it's the same thing,
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5:25 - 5:29Samira's husband tells her,
"This is the last year, -
5:29 - 5:31'khalass', those poplars,
I'm going to get rid of them, -
5:31 - 5:33I'm going to chop down the poplars."
-
5:33 - 5:36And Samira tells him,
"But you don't want to do that! -
5:36 - 5:39We've got to live with the trees,
they give us shade in the summer." -
5:39 - 5:42And at that moment, there's
a Syrian officer who's passing by -
5:42 - 5:45and hears this and it's the first time
he's heard them argue. -
5:45 - 5:48He says,
"Is there a problem, Mrs.Fakhouri?" -
5:48 - 5:50She is so upset after her husband,
-
5:50 - 5:54and maybe it's the tension linked
to the occupation and the war as well. -
5:54 - 5:57She looks at the officer like this
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5:57 - 6:00and says, "It's my husband,
he's going to divorce me. -
6:00 - 6:02that's it. He wants to divorce me."
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6:02 - 6:06The Syrian officer there and hears this,
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6:06 - 6:10and we don't know what he has,
but it just so happens that he's moved, -
6:10 - 6:14maybe it's been months
since he's seen his wife too, -
6:16 - 6:18and there he says,
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6:18 - 6:22"But why? He can't do that...
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6:22 - 6:26He can't make this decision.
He has to reflect on it longer! -
6:26 - 6:29Mariage is sacred!
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6:29 - 6:31He can't divorce you like that,
Mrs.Fakhouri. -
6:31 - 6:34You are a very good wife, etc."
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6:34 - 6:36Samira says to him,
"He wants to divorce me, -
6:36 - 6:39and Mister Syrian Officer,
I'll tell you why." -
6:39 - 6:42The Syrian officer says, "No,
I don't want to know anything. -
6:42 - 6:45Listen, it's your personal history.
-
6:45 - 6:48It's your private life,
I don't want to know anything." -
6:48 - 6:51She says to him, "Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I want to tell you why. -
6:51 - 6:54You see these poplars,
Mister Syrian Officer, -
6:54 - 6:55you see these four poplars,
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6:55 - 6:58well they make those little cotton balls.
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6:58 - 7:00They fall and get all over his garden.
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7:00 - 7:02He was to cut down the poplars,
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7:02 - 7:05and I don't want him to,
so he's going to divorce me." -
7:06 - 7:09The Syrian officer looks at her
like this, and says, -
7:09 - 7:11"That's your problem, Mrs.Fakhouri?"
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7:11 - 7:14That's your problem?"
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7:14 - 7:20So he goes back and calls his soldiers.
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7:20 - 7:23He calls them like animals,
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7:23 - 7:26he says, " 'Hayawan'! Come my soldiers.
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7:26 - 7:30Gather around Mrs.Fakhouri's garden."
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7:30 - 7:33All the soldiers gather.
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7:33 - 7:37The officer says, "You see these
four poplars?" -
7:37 - 7:40The soldiers, "Yes,
we see the four poplars." -
7:40 - 7:42"Well soldiers,
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7:42 - 7:48you're going to pick
all the buds from the poplars." -
7:49 - 7:51And then Samira says to me,
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7:51 - 7:56"I saw the Syrian army, climbing
three-by-three up into my poplars - -
7:56 - 7:59I wanted to take a photo,
but I didn't dare - -
7:59 - 8:02and delicately pick
the buds from these poplars, -
8:02 - 8:05then climb down and put them in bags.
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8:05 - 8:10And I thought, "Now,
this Syrian officer has a heart! -
8:10 - 8:12He was scared for my marriage."
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8:14 - 8:17She tells me this, and with that,
the evening was over. -
8:18 - 8:21And then I continue my trek.
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8:21 - 8:25I went to Turkey next,
a lot of time in Izmir. -
8:25 - 8:28In Greece, in Athens.
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8:30 - 8:32In Sicily, I only did Sicily in Italy.
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8:32 - 8:35I finished with Israel,
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8:35 - 8:39where I spent bit of time
in Tel-Aviv, in the Kibbutz, -
8:39 - 8:41in Haifa, in Nazareth.
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8:41 - 8:42And then in Palestine,
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8:42 - 8:45where I started in Hebron,
which was a real shock, -
8:46 - 8:50then Ramallah,
then Nablus, then Bethlehem. -
8:50 - 8:53And then I spent some time writing
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8:53 - 8:57from all these stories
that had been collected, -
8:57 - 8:58in two different forms:
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8:58 - 9:02the stories, to redistribute them,
to retell them to the people. -
9:02 - 9:04In book form, "The Moon in the Well"
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9:04 - 9:06which is the collection of true stories,
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9:06 - 9:09where I give the example,
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9:09 - 9:12and that's what I would like
us all to try together, -
9:12 - 9:14each time we tell each other
a true story, -
9:14 - 9:16I don't know if you've done it
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9:16 - 9:19when I told you this story
about the poplars in bloom, -
9:19 - 9:24but we'll end by reflecting
on ourselves in the mirror, -
9:24 - 9:26on our own true stories.
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9:26 - 9:28And so in this book,
"The Moon in the Well", -
9:28 - 9:32I am also telling my own true stories,
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9:32 - 9:34from birth up until now.
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9:35 - 9:36I did it,
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9:36 - 9:39I made sound creations for ARTE Radio,
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9:39 - 9:41and then a few months ago,
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9:41 - 9:46with a group of people
who all have different competences, -
9:46 - 9:50we created an association that is called
The Mediterranean's True Story, -
9:50 - 9:53and I initiated that,
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9:53 - 9:55so far, there are 1,500 true stories
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9:55 - 9:59that are in this library,
in this database, -
9:59 - 10:03and the idea is to have thousands and
thousands of them, and to move forward, -
10:03 - 10:05and so we will send
authors, artists of all kinds, -
10:05 - 10:11researchers to the four
corners of the Mediterranean, -
10:11 - 10:14so that they can get closer
to the inhabitants in their homes, -
10:14 - 10:15to listen to people,
-
10:15 - 10:18because this is what is really
necessary today. -
10:18 - 10:19It starts from the individual.
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10:20 - 10:24I think the Mediterranean
is a good scale, -
10:24 - 10:26from the moment we don't consider it
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10:26 - 10:29on the Nation-State level,
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10:29 - 10:33or consider it apart from,
or beyond its borders. -
10:34 - 10:37And it's on the individual level
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10:37 - 10:39where it seems like
we can rebuild something, -
10:39 - 10:43that's why it's very important to me
to make this gesture, -
10:43 - 10:47to go and listen to people,
whoever they may be, -
10:47 - 10:52to initiate this conversation, these
narratives, these true stories together, -
10:52 - 10:56and then perhaps, the Mediterranean
can finally be made. -
10:56 - 10:57(Applause)
- Title:
- True stories from the Mediterranean | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon
- Description:
-
This presentation was done during a TEDx local event, produced independently from TED conferences.
In this talk, François reminds us of the importance of collecting stories the way people have lived them in order to construct and enrich our collective memoire. These stories must then be circulated, which is made possible thanks to digital technology.
- Video Language:
- French
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 11:04
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon | ||
TED Translators admin approved English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon | ||
Elisabeth Buffard accepted English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon | ||
Denise RQ rejected English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon | ||
Elisabeth Buffard accepted English subtitles for Histoires Vraies de Méditerranée | Francois Beaune | TEDxLyon |