What better challenge could there be than to organize, as a response to the country’s social and economic stagnation, an exhibition entitled “Faces and Landscapes”?
The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) has taken up this challenge highlighting the beauty of Lebanese artistic creations and its underlying powerful History.
The exhibition set at the Archeological Museum on the university’s main campus, showcases a unique collection of Lebanese painters’ artworks from the end of the 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century. The paintings from the collection of Emile Hannouche are fully owned by USEK since 2019.
This event was initiated and carried out by students of the School of Architecture and Design, under the supervision of Dr. Elsie Deek Abou Jaoudé, and within the framework of the course devoted to the History of Contemporary Art.
Visitors wander through the museum where the paintings are enhanced by delicate lighting, to the tone of Egyptian, Ottoman and Western music. In this atmosphere of sense stimulation, they witness the first steps of modern art in Lebanon and its development over the years. They get to know the Lebanese painters who had the courage to give a completely different kick-off to painting, by emancipating it from the solely classical religious character such as icons and portraits of prelates.
The paintings were done under the Ottoman Empire at a time the Ottomans sought to draw closer to the West and European neighbors. This couldn’t but strongly influence people under Ottoman rule and, consequently, the artistic production of the time. The artistic output then underwent a real break from the classical tradition of portraiture and took a deep dive into the themes of diversified landscapes and academic nudes. Definitely a daring act.
These modern art pioneers in Lebanon, most of whom studied in Rome and France, are many: Visitors get acquainted with Daoud Corm, Habib Srour, Georges Sabbagh, Georges Corm, César Gémayel, Moustafa Farroukh, Omar Ounsi, Marie Haddad and Saadi Sinévi.
The exhibition offers the Lebanese a rare opportunity to disconnect from the hassles and daily life difficulties that they have been experiencing for more than three years. It shows that even though the world of today is in bad shape, art remains incorruptible and must be a focus of university teaching in order to build future generations.