Guardians of the Island – Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal, Botanical Garden, Montréal, Québec

Easter Island is the world's most isolated inhabited island. It is also one of the most mysterious. Easter Island is roughly midway between Chile and Tahiti. The triangular shaped island is made mostly of volcanic rock. The Island has a tragic history. Around 400 CE, the first inhabitants arrived on the island, coming from an island more than 2000 km to the west. By the time the first Europeans arrived in 1722, the Island was still inhabited but its inhabitants had wreaked havoc on each other. Underlying this conflict was the depletion of resources, including wood. Was this caused by over-exploitation? Or were the palm forests of Easter Island destroyed by Polynesian rats who devoured the nuts from these tress? If only the Moai could tell us what really happened!

Easter Island is home to 838 megaliths called Moai. These statues are said to represent the gods and ancestors of the island’s inhabitants. It is not known how these blocks of stone – each of which can weigh up to 80 tons – was moved. Although most of the Moai face inland, seven of them face the open sea. Folklore holds that these seven statues represent the seven young explorers that the Polynesian King Hotu Matu'a dispatched from across the seas, probably from the Marquesas Islands, to find this new homeland for him and his people.

For a description of the art of Mosaiculture and of the Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal competition, please turn to the first photo in this series at:

www.ipernity.com/doc/jonathan.cohen/33872015