Project by Melentie Pandilovski

We will try to construct a parallel history.
The combining of the three below mentioned platforms will assist us in that intention.

Platform 1.
Alexander III of Macedonia had not died on June 13, 323 BC in Babylon after his return from India but recovered from malaria and consolidated his forces. The Empire did not fall apart. He lived on another 20 years firmly ruling and expanding the empire. He undertook a successful expedition in Arabia as planned and conducted a serious reorganisation of the Empire. The monetary policy was based on a uniform currency system.
These will be our starting parallels.
We should concentrate on essential questions. For instance: How will the existence of a strong universal state spreading over 3 continents with the utmost diverse cultures affect the lives of the people ?
How will the cultures interact one with another? Will this politically and otherwise strengthened cultural system known widely as Hellenism move to a higher merging of cultures.
What will this mean on the economical, sociological, religious, educational and all of the other platforms you can imagine?
How will the empire develop? What will the educational system be like?
How will Alexander's teacher Aristotle influence the Empire? Will his teachings in Politics, Ethics, Philosophy and Metaphysics influence so essentially the Empire that combined with the Eastern teachings will be able to produce a new kind of reality or will they become a stiffened doctrine of the society.
How will the storing of books, objects or information in general develop? What will it produce ?
How will the populations mix? Will this happen only by decrees? They were certainly encouraged by Alexander who had married Roxane, a Persian princess, as well as by large economic migrations. Will this lead to a super nation?
What qualifications determine this region ? What makes it essentially different than Rome, China or Carthage ?
How will Babylon develop, being the capital of Europe&Asia&North Africa
New discoveries ?
Perhaps the diversity will lead to new discoveries in Science. I do not mean only Geography but Science in general.
New Inventions? The inventions must lead to a greater development or revolutionising.
The transport system. Which new roads will be promoted ? Which cities will boom as a result of it ?
Religion ? Alexander required his provinces to worship him as a god ! He truly believed that he was the son of God. Zeus - Amon ? Will the Greek religious system be proclaimed as a central doctrine? How will the Asian religious diversity fit into it?
The latter prophets ? Did they appear ? Did they appear on time?
Is their appearance therefore connected to time and space or not?
Monotheism ? Christianity, Islam ? Will they be possible in the given parameters ? If yes how will they affect the Empire ? If not, what will?
Is the empire flexible enough to adjust to new beliefs ?
Will Alexander IV inherit on the throne his father Alexander the Great in 303 BC, continuing the same policy ? Will he be given a sacred object-sign by his father. Will their ancestors carry it through the ages ?
Finally, how far in time can we update this process ?

Platform 2.

The second part of the project will in essence be an archive and will concentrate on collecting images, sounds, various audio and video data from the region. It should represent a virtual Museum of the Empire.
People from the region or wider are invited to submit photographs, audio or video materials.
The sounds of this permanent collection could be of ethno or another origin, although they would have to correspond to the cultural boundaries of the Empire. Should the conscience for the Empire expand we will expand the geographical regions where the sounds and images are collected from.

Platform 3.

A.
Alternative Artists from Macedonia will visit the main knots in the Empire, passing thus from Europe to Asia.
The knots are signified by the main battles fought by Alexander:

1. Issus
2. Tyre
3. Gaza
4. Gaugamela - Arbela
5. Susa
6. Persepolis

- The artists will cover the topography with audio&video footage.
- The artists will also concentrate on investigating the historical conscience of the local population by covering the stories of the villagers regarding these battles.
- The artists will try to investigate how the local communities perceives the past, and how much of the past is still rooted and living in them.
- The artists will meet domestic artists, will try to involve them in the project and will exchange experiences with them.

B.
The artists will in this later phase pursue Alexander's spirituality by visiting and documenting the temple of Zeus - Amon in the Libyan desert, the city of Alexandria as centre of culture and commerce, and Babylon as a capital.

C.
The artists will concentrate on documenting different materials from Pakistan and India, trying to investigate traces of Alexander's presence in the conscience of the local population.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Work on the construction of the "Site of the Empire" is to be performed during the beginning of 2011/12. All of the 3 platforms of the project will be placed on this Internet site.
The ones interested in participating should in the meantime send texts, audio and video materials to:
melentie@gmail.com