Basalton This sculpture garden was started in Kibbutz Merhavia in the Jezreel Valley on June 21 st 1992. All the sculptures are made from local basalt stone. The works were created by a single sculptor, who is dedicated to this project for many years. The subjects are varied and diversified, largely influenced by ancient artifacts created some 5000 years ago. The basic method is working with hammer and chisel, with some drilling at the outset of each work. The sculptor also started using power tools lately. The finished sculptures show no trace of having been worked with power tools, and each completed sculpture is added to the sculpture garden, which increases incrementally over time. Now the sculpture garden is seeking a permanent site from which the sculptor and his family can derive an income and also be able to continue creating more sculptures. Landmarks of the Sculpture Garden 1992 – “The Skull”, the first in the project, was sculpted outside the house in the kibbutz after work. When it was nearly completed, contact was established with the sculptor Mordechai Kafri of Moshav Nahalal, who agreed to become Dagan's mentor. 1993 – Dagan and his brother set up a shed in a corner of the kibbutz, and made a few sculptures there. 1994 – The sculpture garden was moved to Moshav Merhavia as part of a group of works that included 2 other sculptures. End of 1999 – Just before the millennium the Basalton Sculpture Garden of Dagan Shklovsky was set up in Kibbutz Ein Carmel, where it continues to grow as an entity. 2005 – Basalton is looking for a permanent home that will be its ‘terminus' – a site that will be identified with the sculptures for many years to come.