Jeff Merrifield Talks about his book, Damanhur: The Story of the Extraordinary Italian Artistic Community

Jeff Merrifield

Writing this book has been brilliant. When my friends and I stumbled across Damanhur in synchronistic circumstances, as we were researching something else at the time, I was immediately intrigued, not just by the truly amazing underground temples and their beautiful artworks, but also by the people who had created these wonders. Over the next eighteen months I spent maybe seven or eight months at Damanhur, in four or five week stays, living alongside families in nucleo units, experiencing their work patterns, sharing some of their dreams (sometimes quite literally).

When the book came out, in an imprint of Harper Collins, there was some criticism in England that it was too uncritical. In fact one magazine, noted for its investigation of the unconventional and unusual, commissioned an article from a writer who had not been to Damanhur, who used lots of my material without credit, and who made gratuitous assumptions – obviously. When I questioned the editors on the choice of writers for this article, they implied that they had overlooked me, because I had maybe ‘gone native’, implying that I had the wool pulled over my eyes and had been cajoled into writing a favorable book. As well as being shocked about the closed minded attitude behind this view from a magazine I had previously admired for its openness, I was also hurt by the implication.

I set out to write a book that captured the character of the Damanhurians, reflected their determination and accomplishments, uncovered some of the exceptional drive behind their endeavours. I wrote honestly and openly of the things I had found. If that appeared too positive and uncritical, it was because what I found there was positive, what I experienced was optimistic, encouraging, and upbeat. In other words, I wrote as objectively as I could, wide-eyed but firmly grounded.

Interestingly enough, there was a much more ready acceptance of the book in the USA than in the UK, less scepticism and suspicion. The feedback I have had from people all over the world, who have read my book, and who then often shared the experience of Damanhur, has been truly warming. But most warming of all was the description of the book from Anthony Judge, prolific observer of communities and international affairs, as ‘a tale beautifully recounted and documented by Jeff Merrifield in the best tradition of appreciative inquiry’.

I do hope you enjoy reading the book on Damanhur as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Jeff Merrifield
Great Totham

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