Beirut. The Eras of Design

At the cross­roads of the East and the West, Lebanon has been in artistic turmoil since the begin­ning of the 2000s. Design too has enjoyed this dynamic and is even one of its most signi­fic­ant indic­at­ors. The exhib­i­tion Beirut. The Eras of Design seeks to analyse this specific situ­ation which simul­tan­eously combines economic and archi­tec­tural recon­struc­tion with social aware­ness and inter­na­tional devel­op­ment. Design alone crys­tal­lises this desire to take hold of one’s destiny and image by offer­ing objects and forms that are not only steeped in a multi­fa­ceted cultural herit­age but also deeply rooted in a complex real­ity.

Until the elab­or­a­tion of this exhib­i­tion project, no study had been conduc­ted on the history of design in Lebanon, from the coun­try’s inde­pend­ence in 1943 to the present day. This colossal project aims to fill this gap by present­ing an over­view based on rich docu­ment­a­tion, while accept­ing some short­com­ings due in partic­u­lar to the disap­pear­ance of whole sections of archives during and after the civil war.

Under French rule (1918–1943), Beirut – proclaimed capital of Greater Lebanon in 1920 – restruc­tured itself accord­ing to the West­ern model and thus distin­guished itself from most of the cities of the Levant. Despite the signi­fic­ant devel­op­ment of its outskirts – due to major demo­graphic growth – only the city centre benefited from these major works.

The exhib­i­tion starts by putting contem­por­ary design in a histor­ical perspect­ive, from the 1940s to the 1990s. How was design born in Lebanon ? Who were the main actors and what were the most emblem­atic works ?

When the civil war (1975–1990) came to an end, the recon­struc­tion of Beirut and a new start for Lebanon appeared to be an abso­lute prior­ity in order to strengthen its appeal and attract investors. Many Lebanese citizens returned to the coun­try. In this partic­u­lar context, design began reclaim­ing geograph­ical, economic and creat­ive spaces. Beirut became a creat­ive hub where work­shops, galler­ies, schools, archi­tec­ture firms, bars and restaur­ants set up shop.

Minjara, which means “carpentry” in Arabic, was born out of the desire to preserve Leban­on’s wood­work­ing herit­age and to foster dialogue between tradi­tional craftspeople and contem­por­ary design­ers in a spirit of innov­a­tion.

This project, imple­men­ted with the help of the European Union, aims to support the wood industry, which was in danger of disap­pear­ing in Tripoli due to the sectarian clashes that, until 2014, affected this region, which was once known as the basin of tradi­tional Lebanese furniture and crafts.