فِي قَرْيَةِ إِهْمِجَ، فِي قَضَاءِ جُبَيْلَ فِي لُبْنَانَ، يَعْمَلُ فَنَّانٌ اسْمُهُ إِلْيَاسُ خَلِيفَةُ. وَهُوَ يَعْمَلُ فِي الْفَنِّ مُنْذُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ عِشْرِينَ سَنَةً. وَهُوَ يُحِبُّ الزُّجَاجَ، لِأَنَّهُ يَلْمَعُ فِي الضَّوْءِ. وَلَهُ مَشْرُوعٌ يُحَوِّلُ الزُّجَاجَ الْقَدِيمَ إِلَى فُسَيْفِسَاءَ. وَالْفُسَيْفِسَاءُ صُورَةٌ مَصْنُوعَةٌ مِنْ قِطَعٍ صَغِيرَةٍ مُلَوَّنَةٍ مِنَ الزُّجَاجِ أَوِ الْحَجَرِ. الْفِكْرَةُ بَسِيطَةٌ: الزُّجَاجُ الَّذِي يَرْمِيهِ النَّاسُ يَصِيرُ فَنًّا. فِي الْبِدَايَةِ كَانَ هَذَا الزُّجَاجُ نُفَايَاتٍ. وَبَعْدَ الْعَمَلِ صَارَ لَوْحَاتٍ فَنِّيَّةً جَمِيلَةً. فِي الْفُسَيْفِسَاءِ الْعَادِيَّةِ، يَسْتَعْمِلُ الْفَنَّانُونَ غَالِبًا مَوَادَّ مِنْ خَارِجِ الْبَلَدِ، أَوْ مَوَادَّ لَا يُمْكِنُ تَدْوِيرُهَا. لَكِنَّ هَذَا الْمَشْرُوعَ يَسْتَعْمِلُ زُجَاجًا مِنْ لُبْنَانَ، وَرَمْلًا طَبِيعِيًّا، وَجِبْسًا. وَهَكَذَا صَارَتْ هَذِهِ الْفُسَيْفِسَاءُ صَدِيقَةً لِلْبِيئَةِ، وَقَرِيبَةً مِنْ ثَقَافَةِ لُبْنَانَ. يَقُولُ إِلْيَاسُ: «أَرَدْتُ فَنًّا سَهْلًا يَدْعُو نَاسًا أَكْثَرَ إِلَيْهِ». وَفِي وَرَشَاتِ الْعَمَلِ، يَتَعَلَّمُ النَّاسُ كَيْفَ يُحَوِّلُونَ النُّفَايَاتِ إِلَى فَنٍّ. يَأْتِي إِلَيْهَا طُلَّابٌ، وَعَائِلَاتٌ، وَأَنْدِيَةٌ لِلْبِيئَةِ. وَالْوَرْشَةُ أَحْيَانًا فِي مَدْرَسَةٍ، وَأَحْيَانًا هِيَ نَشَاطٌ لِلسُّيَّاحِ. وَكُلُّ قِطْعَةِ فُسَيْفِسَاءَ تَعْنِي نُفَايَاتٍ أَقَلَّ. وَالزُّجَاجُ قَدْ يَجْرَحُ الْيَدَ، لِذَلِكَ يَعْمَلُ النَّاسُ مَعَ الْفَنَّانِ، وَهُوَ يُعَلِّمُهُمْ وَيُسَاعِدُهُمْ. وَيَضَعُ النَّاسُ الْقِطَعَ الصَّغِيرَةَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ، قِطْعَةً بَعْدَ قِطْعَةٍ، حَتَّى تَصِيرَ صُورَةً. فَيَلْمَعُ الزُّجَاجُ الْقَدِيمُ مِنْ جَدِيدٍ، فِي صُورَةٍ جَمِيلَةٍ.
In the village of Ehmej, in the Byblos district of Lebanon, works an artist called Elias Khalife. And he has worked in art for more than twenty years. He loves glass, because it shines in the light. And he has a project that turns old glass into mosaics. A mosaic is a picture made of small coloured pieces of glass or stone. The idea is simple: glass that people throw away becomes art. At the start this glass was rubbish. And after the work it became beautiful works of art. In ordinary mosaics, artists often use materials from abroad, or materials that cannot be recycled. But this project uses glass from Lebanon, natural sand and gypsum. And so this mosaic became friendly to the environment, and close to Lebanon’s culture. Elias says: “I wanted an easy art that invites more people to it.” And in the workshops, people learn how to turn rubbish into art. Students, families and environment clubs come to them. The workshop is sometimes in a school, and sometimes it is an activity for tou