2019 Talks and Roundtable Discussions
Don McCullin
In English
Photographer Sir Don McCullin
What "makes" artists and their works?
In French & English
From the studio to cultural institutions, what shapes an artist’s career? Is the support of experts and cultural institutions necessary to promote undiscovered artists on the contemporary art scene ? How do theoretical approaches and visions inform the understanding of artists’ production? How can artists’ freedom and singularity be protected despite external pressures to fit a certain mold? How can the imposition of certain western criteria on artistic production be avoided, and how can different approaches be better integrated in non-western scenes?
Moderated by Joanna Abou-Sleiman Chevalier, BEIRUT ART FAIR Artistic director
with
Valérie Arcache-Aouad, auctioneer, Beirut
Richard Haykel, art collector
Elena Micheletti, Associate director, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan
Hady Sy, photographer and visual artist
Marie-Ann Yemsi, independent art consultant
and curator
The importance of the arts in telling an alternative story of the MENA region.
In English
As artists are witnesses to their times, do they have the duty to testify to the history-in-the-making they are experiencing ? Should artists take upon the task of writing History in the absence of an “official” version of it in MENA countries? How do modern and contemporary MENA artists contribute to writing the History of their countries and their region? What are the repercussions of artworks touching upon MENA History?
Moderated by Dr. Marie Tomb, art historian of the Middle East
with
Rachel Dedman, independent curator
Rose Issa publisher, writer and curator
Lyne Sneige, Director of the Arts & Culture Program at the Middle East Institute (MEI), Washington D.C
The impact of an artistic scene on its environment
In English
What is the role of institutions in the development of an artistic scene? Between emulation and competition, what is the role of belonging to a group of artists or a movement in fashioning artists’ production ? Who participates in the selection of artists and the development of an artistic scene? How can an artistic scene contribute to a society’s transformation?
Moderated by Olivia Bourrat, Scientific Director at Agence France-Muséums, Louvre Abu Dhabi (UAE)
with
Faisal Al Hassan, General Manager at Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi
Saleh Barakat, founder and director of Agial Art Gallery and Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut
Jean-François Charnier, Scientific Director, French Agency for AlUla Development
Nada Ghandour, independent curator
Museums' economic stakes: financing, philanthropy and more
In English
Moderated by Olivia Bourrat, Scientific Director at Agence France-Muséums, Louvre Abu Dhabi (UAE)
with
Ainhoa Grandes, President of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona
Dr. Khalid Khreis, Director of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman
Véronique Rieffel, Curator, former Director of the Institut des Cultures de l’Islam, Paris
An Orientalist Voyage
In French
Who are the European artists who painted or produced artworks responding to Lebanon and the Levant? What were their motivations to depict Lebanon and the Levant? What were their perspectives on Lebanon and the Levant?
Moderated by Dr. Ray Jabre Mouawad, Professor of History at the Lebanese American University (LAU), Beirut
with
Gaby Daher, arts and decorative arts expert
Philippe Jabre, collector
Jean-Louis Mainguy, scenographer and interior designer