Broken Kiddush cup, Baghdad, Iraq, ca. 19th century.
The preservationist struggles with what is to be remembered or saved and what is to be discarded or laid to rest. At the invitation of Arte In Memoria, buried my archive on the grounds of the Ostia synagogue. The site is marked simply by the planting of an Iraqi barhi date palm, which draws its nutrients from the soil of the decaying parchment and papers interred below. It is a way of saying farewell to the things that need to rest, which is the hardest thing to do when trying to stay alive.
