There is an apocryphal story that stones from Cypriot temples and civic complexes were used to line the banks of the Suez Canal. This story is found in casual conversation and also in archaeological footnotes, and it is as yet unsubstantiated.

Because of the uncertain nature of this story, my work has started with a period of careful research focusing on social constructs around the canal’s existence, both contemporary and historical. I begin with photographs that I took from the superstructure of a containership traversing the length canal and its bypasses in 2007: high-resolution photos that show that the canal is indeed lined with stone. Without attempting to establish veridicality I look through archives and make personal interviews in order to explore the social, historical and physical region of the canal including Port Said and its breakwater. The research is taking place in Egypt, Cyprus and elsewhere in Europe. I gave a progress report on the project at the 2010 PRIO Conference on Cultural Heritage in Nicosia, and a paper is forthcoming in a special edition of the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies in 2011.

I am now working on a theoretical approach to the project, using materials found during the primary exploration, to map spatiotemporal links between regional actors and powers. While the historical piece becomes a publication, the theoretical piece will become a collaborative multimedia installation adapted to performance/exhibition in Cyprus, Egypt and France in 2012.

Along the way, the project seeks to create intellectual and artistic links between Cyprus and Egypt. Primary research has received partial funding from the University of Nicosia, Cyprus.