2016 BEIRUT ART FAIR (15 - 18 September)

In addition to uncovering the brightest young artistic talents from the ME.NA.SA region (Middle East - North Africa – South Asia), the 2016 BEIRUT ART FAIR (15 - 18 September) will also explore the unique historical trajectory of modernism in the Middle East, all while offering a program rich in visits, encounters and exchanges.

With 30% more exhibition space compared to 2015, a reconfigured selection committee, a new section — Revealing — dedicated to bringing to light region’s most promising young talents, and a curated exhibition — Lebanon Modern! — exploring the specific history of modern art in Lebanon and the Middle East, the 7th edition of the BEIRUT ART FAIR consolidates the event’s role as the leading platform for showcasing the artistic dynamism of the Levant.

The selection committee for the 2016 BEIRUT ART FAIR is comprised of a prestigious group of internationally renowned specialists and experts. These include Mr Jean-Hubert Martin - art historian, exhibition curator (including for the legendary 1989 exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, Magiciens de la Terre) and former director of the Musée national d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris (1987-1990) and of the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf (1999-2006); Mr Hou Hanru, former Director of Exhibitions and Public Program and Chair of Exhibition and Museum Studies at the San Francisco Art Institute (2006-2012) and current Artistic Director of MAXXI - National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome (since 2013); Mr Basel Dalloul and Mr Tarek Nahas, whose collections (respectively of painting and photography) figure among the most important in the region. 

Revealing will represent an entirely new dimension of the fair, established with the goal of highlighting promising young artists in order to promote their discovery by the broader art world. Each selected gallery will showcase an artist of especially promising talent, offering privileged access for collectors and fairgoers and promoting the formation of professional contacts with the various actors present at the fair.

At the same time, Lebanon Modern! will provide the context and vocabulary necessary to a historical understanding of modernism in the Middle East between 1945 and 1970. It will present an in-depth look at the artists who defined these pivotal decades, much of whose history remains yet to be uncovered and written.

Beginning in the spring of 2016, a series of conferences and presentations organized in Beirut and in Paris will continue to develop and to contextualize these themes. And in keeping with its tradition of hospitality, the BEIRUT ART FAIR’s VIP program will be very…VIP, creating unique opportunities to discover new places (foundations, museums, etc.), along with some of the most exclusive private collections in the Lebanese capital.