The Sursock Museum in Beirut is currently hosting Shams, an evocative photographic exhibition by Italian photojournalist Marco Palombi. This exhibition offers a compelling visual narrative of Lebanese schools benefiting from Italian Cooperation initiatives, shedding light on the transformative impact of these interventions.
The Sursock Museum in Beirut is currently hosting the photographic exhibition Shams (Sun), a journey through images created by the Italian photojournalist Marco Palombi. Through his shots, the viewer will be taken into the classrooms and schoolyards of Lebanese institutions that benefit from Italian Cooperation interventions.
The exhibition is organized by the Beirut office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in Lebanon. Since 2017, Italy has invested in Lebanon’s education sector with the aim of ensuring quality education, rehabilitating school buildings, promoting vocational training and improving access to healthy food in schools. This commitment has never wavered, even during the most critical moments, adapting flexibly to the challenges of the Lebanese situation.
Incisiveness, sustainability and inclusiveness are the three key principles guiding Italy’s action in Lebanon’s education sector, with a total contribution of 60 million euros from 2017 to the present.
For an entire year, Marco Palombi followed Italian project monitoring missions, visiting schools and basic literacy and numeracy centers across Lebanon. Through his photography, he documented the real impact of these interventions on the lives of children, presenting a powerful visual portrait of a crucial period in history.
The title Shams (Sun) symbolizes the hope for the future represented by Lebanese youth, a future that all involved hope will be as bright as possible.
The striking and powerful images in this exhibition create a visual dialogue between subject and viewer, breaking down barriers and distances. The faces captured by Palombi’s lens are more than individual portraits — they form a collective representation of a generation and a people who, despite adversity, continue to embody resilience and hope.
The exhibition runs until March 20, 2025.
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