Beirut re-brushed

In an Al-Monitor article in 2013, I suggested that partly because of the civil strife, traditional core cities in the Arab world such as Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad are facing, as well as increased cultural investments by Gulf states, the center of gravity for art and culture in the Arab world was shifting eastward to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha. The article created controversy both within the Gulf states and the wider Arab world.

Sadly, these “core” Arab cities have only faced more setbacks since 2013. Terror attacks have escalated and museums have been looted. But there is reason to celebrate. For instance, prompted by the grotesque destruction of the Mosul Museum by the Islamic State thugs, Baghdad brought forward the opening of its national museum 12 years after it closed; Egypt finally reopened the National Museum of Modern Art in Cairo as well as the Mahmoud Said Museum in Alexandria, which also houses the Wanly brothers collection. Elsewhere in the Arab world, Morocco inaugurated a brand-new museum dedicated to art in Rabat, Amman’s Darat Al Funun continues to present a world-class series of exhibitions and Algeria is celebrating the naming of the northeastern city of Constantine as “capital city of Arabic culture in 2015” by UNESCO as part of its mega investments in cultural projects.

However, some of the most interesting developments in culture anywhere in the Middle East have been quietly taking place in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. The once culturally buzzing city, whose name became synonymous with civil war, terror attacks and assassinations over the last four decades, seems to be steadily reclaiming the crown of Arab culture. But what is more impressive is the organic growth of the cultural scene in Beirut that is flourishing despite the dysfunctional Lebanese government, or perhaps because of it.

Unlike in its sister cities in the Gulf, very little of this cultural blossoming is driven by the state whose efforts concentrated on preserving and reopening the war-damaged National Museum of Beirut. An exception would be the partly government-backed Sursock Museum, which is slated to reopen in the coming weeks after a $13 million renovation that lasted several years and an expansion of its exhibition space to 8,500 square meters (2.10 acres). The funds were raised through various donations as well as government municipal taxes. Across Lebanon, a number of other museums continue to operate including one dedicated to the renowned poet and artist Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) in the picturesque mountainous town of Bcharre that includes 440 paintings.