Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility

“Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility” revisits a turbulent chapter in global modernism in Beirut from the 1958 Lebanon crisis to 1975, the year that witnessed the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War.

The exhibition showcases a heterogeneous mix of artists whose drive for formal innovation was matched only by the tenacity of their political convictions. The exhibition traces the antagonism between Beirut’s politicised cosmopolitanism and its surrounding trans-regional conflicts.

With around 220 artworks by 35 artists, and more than 200 archival documents, it is the most comprehensive presentation to date of a pivotal period in the history of Beirut.

Artists involved: Shafic Abboud, Etel Adnan, Farid Aouad, Dia al-Azzawi, Alfred Basbous, Joseph Basbous, Michel Basbous, Assadour Bezdikian, Huguette Caland, Rafic Charaf, Saloua Raouda Choucair, Georges Doche, Simone Fattal, Laure Ghorayeb, Paul Guiragossian, Farid Haddad, John Hadidian, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Jumana Bayazid El-Husseini, Dorothy Salhab Kazemi, Helen El-Khal, Simone Baltaxé Martayan, Jamil Molaeb, Fateh al-Moudarres, Nicolas Moufarrege, Mehdi Moutashar, Aref El Rayess, Adel al-Saghir, Mahmoud Said, Nadia Saikali, Hashim Samarchi, Mona Saudi, Juliana Seraphim, Cici Sursock and Khalil Zgaib.