Who are these memory keepers? These trackers of the past? These tracers of time? What
drives them to do so? Colorful portraits of these black and white lovers.
Our tale tells the story of Imad Kozem who was born in June 1966 in Ras Beyrouth where life was sweet back then in this marvelous high-spirited part of town. As a lonely child, he was cherished and was very attached to his neighborhood. Faced with the unhappy events that Beirut has experienced since the beginning of the war, he will cling to this Peter Pan spirit by gathering around him these small fragments of the town’s first memories keeping everything as during its golden years.
And that’s how Imad Kozem stored every toy and object from those happy 60s and 70s in his cupboards, closets, drawers and every corner of his house. He adds that it was his late mother who helped him save his game boxes, his costumes, his school bags, his figurines and his books. This was probably a way to preserve those sweet moments between the three members of his family. Concerning his beloved father, he relates his passion for cinema, and more specifically James Bond films. In fact, he and his son never failed to enjoy the screenings in Hamra’s cinemas. Hamra, Ras Beirut… Imad mentions the restaurants, the toy shops, the cafes, the movie theaters as well as the beaches, the sand, the sea. He describes it as a simple and happy life.
Then, once the perspectives changed and the landscapes began to change, when the familiar places faded, he felt the need to hang around his childhood years. Like a fantasy of holding on to things before they disappear, that’s how he became passionate about collecting objects from the 1960s and 1970s. Needless to say that he will never mention the war. Denial is the word!
Today, Imad Kozem uses his computer skills to buy online these two-decade-old objects that are now more and more numerous in his preserved universe.
Apart from these objects, there are also all the photographs of his neighborhood, the histories of the places, the postcards, the books, the films, the television programs of the time and even the school supplies and the home accessories, plus the legendary sweets that take us back to Proust’s madeleines. Imad’s memory of his childhood remained untouched and the desire to share his treasures became stronger. That’s when he decided of compiling these items in a book in 2009, and in 2012, Pure Nostalgia, an iconic and mythical book, was finally born. Each page is a reminder of this close past through products like Toyland, Toyfair, Donald Duck, Bomba Adams, Bazooka, Flash, Action Man, Matchbox, Lego, Wimpy, Popeye, Edison Cinema, Coliseum, Akhwat Chanay, and…
420 pages about Beirut in the deepest sense of the word. A phenomenal book that sold 10,000 copies and is out of print. However, its tremendous impact proves two things: first, that nostalgia has become a powerful way to escape from a difficult reality by rejecting a destructive present, and second, that keeping one’ s childhood in Beirut within reach keeps it going on!
Today, Pure Nostalgia has become a label, a concept and Imad Kozem has still many ideas in his closet. Postcards, t-shirts, books, but his ultimate dream is to create a toy and object museum from the 60’s and 70’s, a showcase to house his countless collections that he continues to enrich. This determined and prodigious journey confirms what Jean Genet so beautifully said: “To create is always to speak of childhood”.
More than a book, a real concept.
A whole childhood in one glance…
My tractor is my friend; A symbol of loyalty and innocence. The simple pleasures of life that have become rare with time.
My car collection, my pride and joy. Stories to tell to the new generations.
My Lego collection: Educating and learning through generations, the formation of architectural engineers. It all starts here!
Acapulco 1970. Not only was the Acapulco born from Grandpa’s imagination, but it was also his image, right down to the tree trunks. Acapulco was like Lebanon, redesigned by a lover of Mexico.