TITLE
The Narrative
“The Narrative”
In the heart of Glasgow, the City Chambers stood as a majestic testament to Victorian
grandeur. Its opulence surpassed even the famed Vatican, with a facade adorned in more
marble than the eye could fathom. As sunlight danced on the intricately carved columns,
the edifice echoed a tale of wealth and history.
The city’s enigmatic coat of arms. Among the emblems, an exquisite bird, a tree, a bell, and
a fish held a peculiar place. Legends whispered of their mystical origins, each linked to a
promise unfulfilled.
People regarded the bird that never flew as a symbol of unexplored dreams. Its wings,
frozen in stone, represented dreams tethered to the ground. A tale spoke of a visionary who
longed to soar into the realms of innovation but never found the courage to take flight.
Beside it, the tree that never grew stood tall yet barren. Its eternally dormant branches
spoke of unmet aspirations, an arboreal metaphor for potential stunted before reaching its
zenith. Life’s demands overshadowed the dreams of an arboreal enthusiast.
The bell that never rang chimed only in echoes of silence, embodying unfulfilled promises.
It was a poignant reminder of an unspoken vow that reverberated through generations—a
pledge lost to the winds of time.
Finally, the fish that never swam sat frozen in stone waters. Its scales glistened, forever
denying the embrace of currents. It embodied untapped potential drifting in still waters, a
metaphor for unexplored talents.
Together, the symbols in the city’s coat of arms painted a tapestry of ambitions unfulfilled,
a narrative whispered within the hallowed halls of Glasgow’s marble-clad City Chambers.
The building’s grandeur concealed not just marble but a colonial tapestry of stories,
dreams, and promises engraved in the stone heart of the city, echoing between the walls
and the land of Nova Scotia.
The Project:
This virtual tour immerses the audience in a 3D photogrammetric journey, following the
same path of daily tourist tours that have been conducted for many years. However, our
tour will reveal hidden narratives that the official tours never reveal.
There will be a voiceover for a poem in English that explores the secrets of another world.
The British poet John Keats’ “Ode on Grecian Urn” served as the inspiration for this poem.
Voice over: Judith Williams
Composer: Ahmed El Habback
Project by: Ahmed El Shaer
Thou silent keeper of what could have been,
A world of stillness, where no motion gleams;
The fish that never swam in waters clear,
And trees that never felt the sun’s warm beams.
Unmoved, unchanging, frozen in a dream,
Their silence echoes what life cannot scream.
Ah, silent fish, thy fins ne’er cleaved the wave,
Thy scales ne’er glistened in the morning light;
No current ever tugged, no depths to brave,
Their journey halted ere it could take flight.
Yet in thy stillness, is there not a grace,
A peace untouched by time’s relentless chase?
O steadfast tree, thou never felt the breeze,
No roots did sink beneath the fertile earth;
No leaves did whisper secrets to the seas,
No springtime saplings sprang to sudden mirth.
Yet, unspoiled by the seasons’ fickle turn,
In thee, the promise of life does forever burn.
Thou silent bell, no hands to bid thee chime,
Thy voice unheard, thy echoes never spread;
No joyous tolls, nor mournful peals of time,
In there, all sound and silence, safely wed.
Yet in thy stillness, can we not discern,
A deeper music that in silence yearns?
When age shall pass, and all that lives decay,
Thou shalt remain, a symbol of the vast,
A fish that never swam, a tree that never flourished
A bell unrings holding fast.
When all is gone, and time itself is spent,
Their silent form will whisper what was meant.
O quiet keeper of the unborn past,
A truth unspoken, yet forever true,
In thee, we find the dreams that could not last,
And in thy stillness, dreams are born anew.
Ahmed El Shaer, AI