After a prolonged closure of nearly three years, the Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum in Beirut has recently made an exciting announcement — its doors are set to reopen. The museum was forced to close following the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut, which wreaked havoc throughout the city. But the wait is finally over as the museum prepares to welcome the public again on May 26, 2023.
After being heavily damaged by the explosions at the port of Beirut in August 2020, extensive rehabilitation work was carried out at the Sursock Museum to restore its functionality. The repair efforts encompassed various aspects, such as the replacement of all windows, including the iconic stained glass windows, all doors, elevators, false ceilings and skylights. Additionally, the electromechanical system underwent restoration and cleaning, along with the traditional wooden panels on historic ground.
The museum’s collection, consisting of 50 paintings that had suffered damage, underwent restoration. Two paintings, “Consolation, 1970″ by Paul Guiragossian and “Portrait of Nicolas Sursock, 1939” by Kees Van Dongen, were notably restored by the Centre Pompidou team in Paris and have now returned to the Museum.
The museum’s rehabilitation was made possible through the collaboration of many individual donors and supporters, with the total cost of more than two million dollars. In April 2023, solar panels were installed on the roof of the Sursock Museum as part of the Unesco and AICS grant, contributing to the institution’s sustainability efforts. Restoration partners also included: Biladi, the National Heritage Foundation, the Beirut Museum of Art (BeMa) and students from Balamand University.
The Museum is currently recovering from the economic crisis and working on securing future funding. It aims to diversify its audience in order to reach a broader local public through varied public programming and collaborations with local partners, solidifying its position as a crucial platform for art and culture not only in Beirut but also on a national scale. Furthermore, all future programs will include trilingual information.
The restoration of the museum and the resumption of its activities owe a great deal to the contributions of the museum’s previous director, Zeina Arida, as well as team members Elsa Hokayem, Deputy Director and Muriel Khawaji, Communications Manager. The current teams have also played a significant role in restoring the museum, and as a result, the Sursock Museum is set to reopen its doors with five exhibitions in the pipeline.
