With a hammer, flour and water .. Witness - a Palestinian creates mosaic paintings and participates in the restoration of Al-Aqsa and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Fadi Al-Asa-Bethlehem

Between only two fingers of Khaldoun's hand, the bulbul can hold a small piece of stone, paving it next to another, after applying its adhesive material from the water and flour, then the pieces continue to form its mosaic plate.

Using a small hammer and pieces of stones of different colors - bobbing them on the edge of an iron piece through which he produces the pieces of the mosaic he wants - he uses the roughest and shiny side of it, to work out the details.

Khaldoun is known today as an expert in the production and restoration of mosaic art pieces, developed from his work preserving the old and traditional way and with simple tools and materials that preserve this delicate art, where Bulbul believes in his talk to Al Jazeera Net that this craft is close to extinction.

Khaldoun was able to create a Bethlehem mosaic center in the heart of the old town of the city in the south of the occupied West Bank, in a house that was built hundreds of years ago, to simulate the place doing the restoration and preservation of mosaic art.

Bulbul does not see that technology benefits this art. Rather, the traditional method that may take time to months in its production should be preserved, but it will stand up more than others, in addition to showing the preservation of this type of Palestinian art after tens or hundreds of years, and to deliver the message to generations. The Palestinians, despite the existence of technology, were able to preserve it to show the historical chronology of this art.

Reverse method
Khaldoun says that 90% of those working in the field of mosaics use the direct method, using modern equipment that paves the mosaic pieces to be equal to each other, and produces the painting directly, but the old method is inverse, meaning that the face is laid down on a specific drawing.

Initially it is used to adhere flour and water to a temporary stage to stabilize the shape, and then bonding is done with sand and construction (a substance to which it is coated) which are tools that cannot harm the mosaic pieces even after hundreds of years, and then flip them to reveal their final face, before cleaning and grinding (itch to get Quality and accuracy).

Bulbul believes that the use of technology may put materials that affect the mosaic stone pieces and create deposits on them that may destroy the artwork and change its shape later, adding that it must be taken into account the uses of the mosaic plate, whether inside or outside or on the walls or on the ground, because each has special characteristics .

Al-Aqsa Restoration and Resurrection
Khaldoun participated in the restoration of many Palestinian archaeological sites, the most important of which is the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in addition to archaeological sites in Jordan, such as Umm Al-Rasas, the shrine of the Prophet Moses, and Syria in the Al-Shahba area, in addition to participating in international conferences on this art.

Khaldoun's work was not limited to making this art, and he was keen to train others and the focus was on people with disabilities and women, by working with community institutions and different ministries, and the work was not limited to mosaic artists only, but the center today became an incubator for various artworks from recycling Stone, wood, iron, and even oil paintings.

Khaldoun strives to preserve his art and position in the traditional way that should be transferred to future generations, as it is Palestinian art made with pure Palestinian hands.