A FACILITY OF THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SCHOOL OF PLANETARY SCIENCES

Our way of saying Thank You to the Afar people

The Afar people have lived in the area for more than 800 years . The salt of Dallol is a source of life for the Afars. They mine it and transport it to the markets on caravans of camels. Salt mining, this hard and grueling work, has supported the Danakil population as far back as the 6th century AD.

The salt sculptures have been inspired by the salt desert and its people. The yellow luminescence that emanates from the sculptures at night is reminiscent of the colors of Dallol.

We have shared many nights under the stars with Afar people of Hamed Ela as they have hosted us during our sin scientific expeditions. In 2019 we built this World First Open Air Salt Sculpture Museum to say Thank you!

The project was developed in partnership between the Afar Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Mekelle University, the University of Samara and the International Research School of Planetary Sciences (IRSPS) in Pescara, Italy. IRSPS and the Università D’Annunzio (Chieti-Pescara, Italy) jointly founded this project.