lebanon and the imaginary

A collage of three images. The top image shows a colorful mural with the text 'Wonder Beirut' and an urban landscape with buildings along a river. The middle image displays a wooden tray filled with small black bottles, possibly paint or ink, with some white and yellow bottles mixed in. The bottom image depicts a modern exhibition space with white walls and display panels, some with screens or images, and a light wood floor.

The aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War - The imaginary, counter-institutional narrative and the production of space

This essay highlights the importance of the art forum as a counter-governmental space to examine and digest the damage of the reductionist and erasure-driven treatment of the Lebanese Civil War 1975-1990 by the Lebanese government.

As part of that methodology, the imaginary is used as a form of knowledge production because, due to the sectarian divide in Beirut, first-generation citizens are afraid open up as a national collective to relive and move past those experiences. This essay proceeds to draw a link between this and the 2019 protests that saw the first large scale cross-sectarian dynamic forum since before the Civil War.

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Images courtesy Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige