« Drinkin’ with the Druzes »... it’s the title that includes a first month of research in the mountains of Mount Lebanon. Through interviews, exclusive documents and meetings, the project is built around the arrival of mate in this community renowned for its many mysteries. By retracing the history of inter-continental migration between Lebanon and Argentina since 1860, you can immerse yourself in the community life of the Druze in the Shouff Mountains through the soul of maté.
BATLOUN, JANVIER 2019
BATLOUN, JANVIER 2019
BEIRUT, JANVIER 2019
Maybe mate doesn’t mean much to you, but it holds a fundamental place in my life. When I was 17, I left my country, Belgium, for Argentina. The drinking of mate, and the ritual associated with it, are intimately linked to the Argentinian way of life. When first invited, its bitter taste is surprising. You quickly get used to it, because you appreciate the exchange it provokes. Time stands still and we look at each other, right in the heart. The mate obliges you to say a thank you at least once during the day, which will end the round. Drunk alone, it takes on a meditative and relaxing dimension, slowing down the clock of time.
But what is the connection between an Argentinean herb and a mountain people from the Middle East? When I begin my journey in Lebanon, ten years later, in January 2019, I still don’t know. Due to a mistake of location, I got lost with my group on the steep roads of the Shouf, the Druze domain. It is there that I meet Fadhi, who invites me and my companions into his living room: a bare room except for a wood stove and the seats that surround it. The only object in the room sits on a small table. I know this object well. It is a mate. I am amazed and ask Fadhi in a clumsy French-English, mixed with a total misunderstanding, how did mate get here? Would an Argentinean friend have brought it back to him? Has he travelled to Argentina? Is he Argentinian? Fadhi answers me astonished: « All Druze drink mate. Every day. »
That’s where my investigation started, with a simple aim: to understand when, how and why mate arrived among the Druze. By asking myself about mate, it was the Druze themselves that I discovered. They are a religious community spread over four countries – Syria, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon – and organised into family clans. The Druze operate with their own laws and their own militia. Reputed to be welcoming but mysterious, opening up to others in times of peace and closing in on themselves in times of conflict, they practise « taqîya »: a culture of secrecy and prudence, where beliefs and rites are hidden in order to better protect themselves.
The key: mate quickly becomes the pass that allows me to share intimate moments. For a month, I am the one who comes from « over there »: Argentina. I discover Spanish-speaking people with an Argentinean accent, 30 kilometres from Beirut. I meet Druze people who are convinced that maté is an ancestral practice, originating from the Middle East. Hassan explains to me seriously: « Maté came to us because an Argentinean was reincarnated as a Druze ». People invite me to their homes to show me how they prepare mate and I observe variations in the ritual. I meet families returning directly from Argentina. Some of them have asked me to pass on messages to their relatives, to seal things or to find family members. Mate is magic.
BEIRUT, JANVIER 2019
BATLEEN, JANVIER 2019
BAROUK, JANVIER 2019
My project is taking shape: it is spread over two geographical areas 12,000km apart, runs for more than a century and a half, and is played simply in a living room, with the family, in a farm or around a stove. The maté is an opportunity to work on questions of identity, under an intimate prism. By following a packet of grass, I address questions of tradition, community and family, trade, ancestors.
But there is a missing piece to this puzzle: what is happening in Argentina?
I have to discover the plantations and the maté industry on the one hand, and meet the Syrio-Lebanese communities on the other: have the Druze preserved their mysterious singularity far from home? How can such a strong identity component be shared by two peoples so far apart? Is there a chain, from production to distribution, of Syrio-Lebanese maté? In the « Blood of the Druze », each cliché is accompanied by a legend describing the first facets of my investigation. I look forward to the continuation of my journey.
BAROUK, JANVIER 2019
BAROUK, JANVIER 2019
KFAR HIM, JANVIER 2019
BAROUK, JANVIER 2019
BATLEEN, JANVIER 2019
BATLEEN, JANVIER 2019
BATLEEN, JANVIER 2019
KFAR HIM, JANVIER 2019
I’m looking to go further on this topic. Argentina, Syria, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil must be taken in account when talking about maté. Nevertheless, maté unties already, people just don’t realize it ! Interested ? Take contact with me.
AU COEUR DES GENS 