LEBANON ART SCENE WEATHERS WAR
NEWS/BEIRUT
By Maymanah Farhat

On July 12, 2006, Israeli military bombardments afflicted significant damage to Lebanese infrastructure. Like a million Lebanese, many artists were forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge until a ceasefire agreement was reached on August 14. The art scene in Beirut, a center for contemporary art in the Arab world, was abruptly brought to a standstill as it became impossible tom maintain studios, galleries and other institutions during the month-long conflict.

Upon returning to his home and studio in the southern Beirut suburb of Haret Hriek, painter Youssef Ghazzawi discovered his life’s work buried beneath the rubble of his neighborhood. Lebanese sculptor Ezzat Mizher experienced a similar fate with the destruction of several works that once stood in public spaces throughout the country.

Artists have responded to the crisis not only by assisting in humanitarian relief efforts but also by documenting life under siege. Mixed-media artist and curator Zena el-Khalil began publishing reports about the impact of the violence on civilian life in blog entries that were later featured in international newspapers, magazines and journals.

Since the ceasefire, artists and curators have resumed work with determination to initiate new projects. Curator Christine Tohme, director of Ashkal Alwan (The Lebanese Association for Plastics Arts), has resumed plans for an upcoming retrospective for Beirut video artist Mohamed Soueid. Ashkal Alwan, an influential nonprofit arts organization, has also begun commissioning a series of short videos by Lebanese artists responding to the war.

As a continuation of “Objects of War,” a multimedia series in progress since 1999, Lebanese artist Lamia Joreige is calling on fellow citizens to share their experiences of the recent war through documented interviews. Interviewees are asked to provide Joreige with a familiar object that can act as a starting point for their stories. The objects will then be exhibited alongside Joreige’s footage of the interviews.

The series began with testimonials and objects from 11 individuals who shared their accounts of past Lebanese wars. In 2003, “Objects of War” was exhibited in “DisORIENTation,” a group show of contemporary Arab art organized by Palestine-based curated Jack Persekian at the House of World Cultures in Berlin.

Elsewhere, Lebanese artist and writer Mai Ghoussoub organized an impromptu exhibition on Lebanon for the Liverpool Biennial, which opened September 15. Other exhibitions have also been organized to support humanitarian aid. Egyptian artist Mohammed Abla, whose work was included in the British Museum’s celebrated exhibition “Word into Art,” participated in a benefit exhibition of 50 artists organized by the Contemporary Image Collective at Gallery Ebdaa in Cairo in conjunction with “Li-Beirut,” an NGO fundraising campaign held in late August for post-war reconstruction in Lebanon.