BEIRUT – “The most important thing is to get rid of the mystique of identity,” Guillaume de Vaulx d'Arcy, researcher and organizer of the “Identity Papers,” an exhibition at Beit Beirut, told al-Monitor. “[We have to] concentrate on the materialistic realities, administrative procedures and papers, because these are the heart of identity [formation].”
Organized by the French Institute of the Middle East, the exhibition presents an array of identity papers, passports and government permits from the last 150 years in Lebanon. The documents are complemented by artworks and installations to illustrate how identities are formed. The exhibition, which opened May 11 and runs through May 31, tackles different types of identity formation, focusing on the role of state administration in the process.
