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L’Agenda Culturel and the Beirut Art Days committee are partnering to launch the very first edition of Beirut Art Days, a national cultural and artistic festival to be held from July 3 to 6, 2024, in Lebanon. This free event, open to everyone, will bring together a plethora of Lebanese artists and intellectuals for around 130 events covering all artistic disciplines, spread over the four days of the festival and across the country. In an interview with This is Beirut, Myriam Nasr Shuman, director of L’Agenda Culturel, presents this unprecedented cultural initiative aimed at a people who refuse to abdicate or sacrifice their identity.
Myriam Nasr Shuman, a lover of discovery and travel, obtained a DESS in tourism economics in France at the age of twenty-two. She then decided to travel through India alone with her backpack. This initiatory journey marked the beginning of a series of trips she would undertake with her companion and alter ego Sana Tawil. For thirty years, the two friends organized guided tours in this spiritual land with hundreds of spoken languages, “where colors, flavors, and smells respond to each other.” After the death of her father Emile Nasr, founder of L’Agenda Culturel, Myriam took over in 2018, becoming director and editor. In the offices of L’Agenda Culturel, love is the key word. Myriam Nasr Shuman seems to have adopted Camus’s philosophy as her motto: “I know only one duty, and that is to love.” With her team, which she likes to compare to a beehive, consisting of Linda Nahed, Amanda Moktar, Nadine Fardon and herself, Myriam demonstrates a lot of wisdom to overcome the storms shaking the country since 2019. Like sailors on a ship braving a stormy sea, they learned never to capitulate, staying true to their home port.
Once again, L’Agenda Culturel is contributing to the launch of free cultural activities, this time with the Beirut Art Days committee.
Beirut Art Days is an art and culture festival that spans four days. The organizing committee called on L’Agenda Culturel, and we contacted cultural figures to jointly organize a free cultural event, each in their workplace, gallery, theater, library or bookstore, screening venue, studio, or workshop between July 3 and 6. All details of the Beirut Art Days program can be found on L’Agenda Culturel’s website.
Which areas of Lebanon will host Beirut Art Days?
Mainly, the capital Beirut, which has many galleries and cultural venues, but also all over Lebanon. For example, the Gibran Museum in Bsharreh, the Soap Museum, the Debbane Palace and the Khan Sacy in Sidon. In Batroun, Villa Paradiso and the Henri BB Museum, designed in tribute to old Beirut architecture. People will see artists open their studios and hearts to visitors, taking them into the world of their inspiration and the stages of their creation. More than 70 art and culture figures have rushed to design over 130 unique cultural programs to celebrate this event. Beirut will always be a city of beauty and creativity, and art will always be our greatest asset.
How do you convince a disillusioned, exhausted or intimidated Lebanese public to participate in Beirut Art Days?
It is important to note that in Lebanon, there are 90 galleries and art foundations, 110 cultural venues, and, with the recent opening of a new museum, 103 museums. During these four days of Beirut Art Days, I encourage everyone to step into a museum, gallery or theater, and for some, to embark on a new experience. It is time to move beyond Instagram! This festival aims to contribute to the democratization of culture and the arts, with a varied offering, not necessarily limited to the classics. The Macam in Jbeil, for example, located in the heights of Kartaba, is a fabulous modern art museum. At L’Agenda Culturel, we organize free guided tours. We are on our 193rd visit, and I can assure you that non-initiates often linger at the visited site, even exceeding the planned duration. For the Mim Museum, we welcome at least 50 people per visit. As for the guided tour to admire Philippe Jabre’s private collection in Beit Chabab, places were taken even before the official announcement.
To check out the full program, click on the PDF below.
DIGITAL BROSHURE-BEIRUT ART DAYS
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Indeed, every Thursday, it is sent to 14,000 targeted readers and is eagerly awaited! It publishes articles from the last 7 days and highlights must-see events. It also highlights cultural events in the Middle East. It is free and you just need to register in the “Newsletter” section on the homepage of the website. Registered people receive invitations, and I receive them at the visited site before the gallerist or museum director makes their presentation or the artist recounts the genesis of their work. People leave an hour later, by their own admission, calm, amazed, having embarked on a liberating journey into the world of beauty.
Passionate about India, Hindu spirituality and Vedic philosophy, what drove you to make Francophonie your cause? Moreover, how do you explain the choice of English for the title “Beirut Art Days” and the festival program, while you ardently defend the French language?
In my book on India, I declare that “I die in Lebanon and in French.” The French language is part of our disappearing Levantine culture that must be protected. It is part of our DNA, our specificity. Besides, my mother is of French descent, and the values conveyed by the Francophonie defend culture in its diversity. Unfortunately, an event as global as Beirut Art Days, which touches the whole country, should be offered in English. Otherwise, it becomes elitist and creates barriers.
https://www.agendaculturel.com/beirut-art-days
