Giovanni Rozo Rodriguez on his inspiration
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS CONCEPT?
To think about a country as a brand and conceptualize it in a creative way is not easy. You only have one blank paper to tell people what’s there in Lebanon. I only knew that Beirut is the capital city and my bosses are from there, that’s all i knew at first. So I had to research a lot. I wanted something simple and no cliché; I wanted to show the beauty of Lebanon also but, over all, I wanted something that makes me confident of my entry. I decided to play with the flag in a smart way and present a new perspective of Lebanon where every single thing is welcomed. starting with the cedar tree as the emblem of the country, moving to one of the most photogenic landscape in Beirut- the Pigeons’ Rock- or the simple and traditional old house in the middle of nowhere, hence highlighting the uniqueness of this country, which should be known by everyone.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION IN CREATING YOUR ENTRY?
The real and simple beauty of Lebanon. I watched a documentary about the country before i start reflecting on it. I saw and understood a bit the importance of that country. One of my hobbies is to travel and as a traveller I didn’t know so much about Lebanon. I didn’t know that Lebanon is the only Arabic country that produces wine or that the first alphabet of mankind was
born in Byblos and that the best pistachio ice cream in the world is made in a corner of a traditional neighborhood in Beirut.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN CREATING YOUR ENTRY?
Basically everything! Since I didn’t have so much information about the culture and I was afraid to fall into cliché .
HOW, AS A COLOMBIAN NATIONAL, WERE YOU ABLE TO RELATE TO LEBANON IN SUCH A DISTINCT WAY, IDENTIFYING ELEMENTS LIKE THE OLD HOUSE, PIGEON ROCK AND THE CEDARS, SPECIALLY YOU SAID YOU NEVER VISITED THE COUNTRY?
I’m from a country full of tradition and grace. If you ask me, what would I rather be in a cabin in the mountains or a penthouse in a skyscraper? Surely I would choose the first one. So, when I watched the documentary I felt the hidden beauty within the small things of Lebanon and I also found popular places on Instagram as the Pigeons Rock, which showed me that those kind of places are tat I would like to highlight to reflect the new perspective of Lebanon I wanted to pass on via my posters.