Beirut Art Center is a space for exhibiting contemporary art in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

History

Beirut Art Center opened to public in January 2009. It is managed as a non-profit organization whose founders and executive board members were Sandra Dagher,

Lamia Joreige Lamia Joreige (born in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese visual artist and filmmaker. She received a BFA (Painting, Filmmaking) from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island. Since the late 1990s, her works have been widely displaye ...

, Nathalie Khoury,

Rabih Mroué Rabih Mroué ( ar, ربيع مروة, born 1967) is a Lebanese stage and film actor, playwright, and visual artist. Rooted in theater, his work includes videos and installation art; the latter sometimes incorporates photography, text and sculptur ...

and Maria Ousseimi The project roots in the growing interest to local contemporary art. It was an initiative of Sandra Dagher, who previously curated a private art space, Espace SD, and Lamia Joreige, visual artist. In 2007, Sandra Dagher curated with

Saleh Barakat Saleh Barakat (born in 1969 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese art expert, gallery owner and curator. He studied at the American University of Beirut and was nominated as a Yale World Fellow in 2006. He runs Agial Art Gallery and Saleh Barakat Gall ...

, owner of Agial Art Gallery in Beirut, the first Lebanese Pavilion at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. In 2011,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...

hosted “Museum as Hub: Beirut Art Center” a project that includes an exhibition, the presentation of Beirut Art Center’s Médiathèque, and a series of events. After co-founders Sandra Dagher and Lamia Joreige have been in charge of the BAC for five years,

Marie Muracciole Marie Muracciole is a writer and curator based in Paris and Beirut. Early life Marie Muracciole studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. She shifted her visual art practice to writing in 1991. Career Muracciole ...

was appointed in February 2014 to take its direction for a five-years mandate. In 2019, Rana Nasser-Eddin was named administrative director and two artists, Haig Aivazian and Ahmad Ghossein were appointed artistic directors.

Building

The BAC opened in Jisr el Wati, an industrial area on the banks of

Beirut River Beirut River ( ar, نهر بيروت, ''Nahr Bayrūt'') is a river in Lebanon. The river runs east to west, then curves north, separating the city of Beirut from its eastern suburbs, primarily Bourj Hammoud and Sin el Fil. According to popular le ...

. The building was refurbished by architect Raed Abillama from a factory into a white cube space. The 1500 sq m space occupied 2 floors. The ground floor included the main exhibition space, a book store and an auditorium. The first floor included a secondary exhibition space, a médiathèque, a cafe with a terrasse, and the administrative offices. In 2019, Beirut Art Center moved into a new location, in the same neighborhood, occupying two floors in a warehouse building.

Exhibitions

2019 * Home Works 8: I will return, and I will be millions * Home Works 8: The distance between your eyes and the Sun (Charbel-joseph H. Boutros) * Touché! (Gesture, Movement, Action) with Basel Abbas and Ruanne About Rahme, Majd Abdel Hamid, Francis Alÿs, George Awde, Yto Barrada, Mathilde Besson, Ismail Bahri, Manon de Boer, Tacita Dean, Ali Eyal, Omar Fakhoury, Hiba Farhat, Ghida Hachicho, Mona Hatoum, Ana Jotta, Hassan Khan, Nesrine Khodr, Joachim Koester, Arthur Ligeon, Pierre Leguillon, Mathilde Lequenne, Dala Nasser, Roman Signer, Rania Stephan (curated by Marie Muracciole and C Wavelet) * How to Reappear: through the Quivering Leaves of Independent Publishing 2018 * Of Words and Stones. Zineb Sedira, (curated by Marie Muracciole) * Things That Shine and Things That Are Dark.

Joachim Koester Joachim Koester (born 1962) is a conceptual artist. He works principally in still photography and video. Hal Foster, writing in Artforum, has characterized his work as being "along the borders between documentary and fiction." Over the last fifte ...

(curated by Marie Muracciole) * International Tourism (Staging Real Life). Marie Voignier (curated by Marie Muracciole) * Slow Light. Daniele Genadry (curated by Marie Muracciole) * Space Edits (The Trouble with Language), with

Vito Acconci Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an influential American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His foundational p ...

Richard Artschwager Richard Ernst Artschwager (December 26, 1923 – February 9, 2013) was an American painter, illustrator and sculptor. His work has associations with Pop Art, Conceptual art and Minimalism. Early life and art Richard Artschwager was born to Europe ...

Nairy Baghramian Nairy Baghramian (born 1971) is an Iranian-born German visual artist. Since 1984, she has lived and worked in Berlin. When the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum selected Baghramian as a finalist for the 2020 Hugo Boss Prize, they described Baghram ...

, Janette Laverrière,

Marcel Broodthaers Marcel Broodthaers (28 January 1924 – 28 January 1976) was a Belgian poet, filmmaker, and visual artist with a highly literate and often witty approach to creating art works. In 1943-1951 he was a member of a Communist party. Life and career ...

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

, Guy de Cointet, Robert Wilhite,

Claude Closky Claude Closky (born 22 May 1963) is a French Contemporary Artist who lives and works in Paris, France. Reception Closky won the "Grand prix des Arts plastiques" (1999) and the Marcel Duchamp Prize (2005) awarded by the ADIAF. Dike Blair wro ...

, Baris Dogrusöz, Gheith Al Amine, Jean-Pascal Flavien,

David Hammons David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of ten ...

Iman Issa Iman Issa (born 1979) is an Egyptian multi-disciplinary artist whose work looks at the power of display in relation to academic and cultural institutions at large. Issa has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Her most notable sh ...

, Nesrine Khodr, Ali Meer, Pallavi Paul, Ieva Saudargaité Douaihi,

Natascha Sadr Haghighian Natascha Sadr Haghighian is an artist known for assuming multiple identities. Her official press releases and gallery biographies conflict on country of origin, date of birth, and place of residence. Her work is primarily concerned with investigat ...

Nicholas Bussmann Nicholas Bussmann is a composer and performer. He is a founder of the Love Song Competition which takes place every year in Berlin. Nicholas Bussmann has collaborated with Toshimaru Nakamura Toshimaru Nakamura is a Japanese musician, active in ...

Roy Samaha Roy Nicolas Samaha (born 12 September 1984 in Zahlé) is a retired (from the 1st division) Lebanese professional basketball player. He was a key player in the Lebanon national basketball team and participated lately in the 2006 FIBA World Champ ...

(curated Marie Muracciole ) * Two Meetings and a Funeral.

Naeem Mohaiemen Naeem Mohaiemen (born 1969) uses film, photography, installation, and essays to research South Asia's postcolonial markers (the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 and the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971). His projects on the 1970s revolutionary l ...

* Knots'n Dust.

Francis Alÿs Francis Alÿs (born 1959, Antwerp) is a Belgian-born, Mexico-based artist. His work emerges in the interdisciplinary space of art, architecture, and social practice. In 1986, Alÿs left behind his profession as an architect and relocated to Me ...

(curated by Marie Muracciole) 2017 * Sharjah Biennial 13. Tamawuj: an unpredictable expression of human potential * Photography at Work.

Allan Sekula Allan Sekula (January 15, 1951 – August 10, 2013) was an American photographer, writer, filmmaker, theorist and critic. From 1985 until his death in 2013, he taught at California Institute of the Arts. His work frequently focused on large economi ...

(curated by Marie Muracciole) * Falling is not extending, Falling is collapsing, Marwa Arsianos, (curated by Marie Muracciole) * On Becoming Two, Tony Chakar, (curated by Marie Muracciole). * A Chapter of Synonyms, Rana ElNemr, (curated by Marie Muracciole). 2016 * Exposure 8 - Metabolism with Monica Basbous Moukarzel, Mohamed Berro, Mochu, Bahar Noorizadeh, Núria Güell & Levi Orta, Anna Ogden-Smith, Rivers Plasketes, (curated by Marie Muracciole) * The Portrait is an Address, Hassan Khan, exposition solo, (curated by Marie Muracciole) * Unravelled, (curated by Marie Muracciole and Rachel Dedman) with Majd Abdel Hamid, Mounira Al Solh, Yto Barrada, Taysir Batniji, Alighiero e Boetti, Michele Cohen, Janna Dyk, Mona Hatoum, Sheila Hicks, Annette Messager, Khalil Rabah, Karen Reimer, Nasri Sayegh, Laure Tixier, Raed Yassin, septembre-novembre. * Esma’/Listen, with Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Francis Alÿs, Vartan Avakian, Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, Moyra Davey, Melissa Dubbin and Aaron Davidson, Pierre Huyghe, Alvin Lucier, Christian Marclay, Olaf Nicolai, Sharif Sehnaoui, Jessica Warboys, Cynthia Zaven (curated Marie Muracciole and Marcella Lista) . * Landversation Beirut, Otobong Nkanga, (curated by Marie Muracciole). 2015 * Exposure 7 – Mobility, with Yasmin Hage-Meany, Sandra Iché, Eshan Rafi, Mahmoud Safadi, Merve Unsal, (curated by Marie Muracciole). * Aftercinema, with Kamal Aljafari, La Ribot, Jumana Manna, (curated by Marie Muracciole). * Unfinished Conversation, around Stuart Hall with John Akomfrah, Penny Siopis, Zineb Sedira, (curated by Marie Muracciole). 2014 * Breath is a Sculpture.

Giuseppe Penone Giuseppe Penone (born 3 April 1947, Garessio) is an Italian artist and sculptor, known for his large-scale sculptures of trees that are interested in the link between man and the natural world.

* Contre Nature. Kader Attia * Meeting Points 7. Beirut: Ten Thousand Wiles and a Hundred Thousand Tricks * Afteratlas 2013 * Video Vintage 1963 - 1983, from

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

′s New Media Collection * Groundwork.

Jananne Al-Ani Jananne Al-Ani (born 1966) is an Irish-Iraqi artist. Personal life Al-Ani was born in Kirkuk, Iraq in 1966 to an Iraqi father and Irish mother. She studied Fine Art at the Byam Shaw School of Art and graduated with an MA in Photography from th ...

* Now Here Then Elsewhere, Eric Baudelaire 2012 * Exposure 2012 * White Wall * Khalil Rabah, review *

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, and also photographs and glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary German ...

- Beirut * ''Revolution vs. Revolution'' with Abbas,

Vyacheslav Akhunov Vyacheslav Akhunov (; ; born 1948), is a Kyrgyz-born Uzbeks, Uzbek visual artist, and author. He is known for performance art, video art, and painting. Akhunov lives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Biography Vyacheslav Akhunov was born in 1948 in Osh ...

, Hai Bo, Steven Cohen,

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

Tacita Dean Tacita Charlotte Dean CBE, RA (born 1965) is a British / German visual artist who works primarily in film. She was a nominee for the Turner Prize in 1998, won the Hugo Boss Prize in 2006, and was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2008. ...

, Fadi El Abdallah,

David Goldblatt David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid.Weinberg, Paul.David Goldblatt: Photographer Who Found the Human in an Inhuman ...

Alfredo Jaar Alfredo Jaar (; ; born 1956) is a Chilean-born artist, architect, photographer and filmmaker who lives in New York City. He is mostly known as an installation artist, often incorporating photography and covering socio-political issues and war—t ...

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films, especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s. The latter are constructed by ...

, Marysia Lewandowska & Neil Cummings,

Susan Meiselas Susan Meiselas (born June 21, 1948) is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and been a full member since 1980. Currently she is the President of the Magnum Foundation. She is best known for h ...

, Boris Mikhailov 2011 * Exposure 2011 * The Beirut Experience * Be...longing.

Fouad Elkoury Fouad Elkoury ( ar, فؤاد الخوري; born 1952) is a Lebanese photographer and filmmaker. He is known for his photographs of war in Lebanon. Life and work ElKoury was born in Paris, the son of Lebanese architect Pierre el-Khoury. He studi ...

* Image in the Aftermath * Meeting Points 6. Locus Agonistes: Practices and Logics of the Civic * IMAGE WORKS.

Harun Farocki Harun Farocki (9 January 1944 – 30 July 2014) was a German filmmaker, author, and lecturer in film. Early life and education Farocki was born as Harun El Usman FaroqhiMargalit Fox (3 August 2014)''New York Times''. in Neutitschein, which is n ...

* Drawing with the Things Themselves. Paola Yacoub 2010 * Par quatre chemins.

Chris Marker Chris Marker (; 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012) was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and Essay#Film, film essayist. His best known films are ''La Jetée'' (1962), ''A Grin Without a Cat'' (1977) and ''S ...

* Exposure 2010 * Witness

Mona Hatoum Mona Hatoum ( ar, منى حاطوم; born 1952) is a British-Palestinian multimedia and installation artist who lives in London. Biography Mona Hatoum was born in 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Palestinian parents. Although born in Lebanon, Hatoum ...

* Home Works 5 * Place at Last.

Walid Sadek Walid Sadek (born in Beirut, Lebanon, 1966) is a Lebanese artist and writer. He is a professor at the Department of Fine Arts and Art History of the American University of Beirut, and held its chairmanship from 2017 to date. Life and work Walid Sa ...

* affiliations.

Emily Jacir Emily Jacir ( ar, املي جاسر) is a Palestinian artist and filmmaker. Biography Jacir was born in Bethlehem in 1973, Jacir spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia, attending high school in Italy. She attended the University of Dallas, Memph ...

2009 * America * Earth of Endless Secrets. Writing for a Posterior Time.

Akram Zaatari Akram Zaatari (born 1966 in Sidon, Lebanon) is a filmmaker, photographer, archival artist and curator. In 1997, he co-founded the Arab Image Foundation with photographers Fouad Elkoury, and Samer Mohdad. His work is largely based on collecting, stud ...

* Prisoner Of War. Bernard Khoury * The Road to Peace * 4 * Exposure 2009 * Closer

BAC Design

BAC Design was a program dedicated to local industrial and product design. 2013 * Fly Bird Fly by Dar Onboz 2012 * Biomechania by Ranya Sarakbi * Contemporary Perspectives in Middle Eastern Crafts. BAC design Exhibition by Carwan Gallery with Karen Chekerdjian, Khalid Shafar, Lindsey Adelman, Marc Baroud, Studio mischer'traxler, Nada Debs, Oeuffice, Paul Loebach, Philippe Malouin, Tamer Nakisci * Street Art Bag by Sarah's Bag * Pathways by Nada Zeineh * Custom Miles by Azzi & Osta * All that is reminiscent of her name by Krikor Jabotian * The Creative Space 2011 * Beirut Rock Center. By Spockdesign - Karim Chaya * Beirutkon. Anastasia Nysten, Carlo Massoud, Joelle Achkar, Marc Dibeh * Seeds. A BAC design exhibition by Nathalie Khayat * STARCH your summer. An exhibition by STARCH designers 2008-2009-2010 * The Order of Angels. by Hoda and Elias Baroudi * Who's living on the 13th floor?. An Exhibition of Ceramics by Mary-Lynn Massoud and Racha Nawam 2010 * Capturing Culture. by Rana Salam

References

External links

Website of Beirut Art Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beirut Art Center Education in Beirut Museums in Beirut Art museums and galleries in Lebanon Arts organisations based in Lebanon Non-profit organisations based in Lebanon 2009 establishments in Asia