Beirut Art Center (BAC) açıldı !

Beirut Art Center (BAC) is a non-profit association, space and platform dedicated to contemporary art in Lebanon.

The aim of the center is to produce, present and promote local and international contemporary art and cultural practice in a structure that is open and active throughout the year.

An unprecedented initiative in Beirut, the center constitutes a public space that makes art accessible to a large and growing audience of residents and visitors alike, who will be able to engage with rich and diverse range of contemporary art and cultural practice.

Along with its main exhibition space, BAC includes a screening and performance room, a mediatheque and a bookshop. BAC will also organize regular activities such as lectures, concerts, performances, video projections and workshops.

The purpose of BAC is to serve as a catalyst for the realization of contemporary art projects and for the interaction of local and international cultural players. In particular, the center supports local and regional contemporary artists, who face great difficulties due to the lack of financial and institutional support in this field.

The center is located in an industrial zone that visitors can easily access from all over the city. It is an independent, stand-alone building with 1,500 square meters of space divided across two floors, designed by architect Raed Abillama.


and the opening exhibition CLOSER:

Jananne Al-Ani A loving Man . Tony Chakar 4 cotton underwear for Tony. Antoine D’Agata Selfportraits 1991-2008. Mona Hatoum So much I want to say. Emily Jacir Crossing Surda (a record of going to and from work). Jill Magid Composite. Anri Sala Intervista. Lina Saneh Body parts. Lisa Steele Birthday Suits - with scars and defects. Akram Zaatari Saida June 6, 1982. Cynthia Zaven Missing Links

How does one define "the intimate"?
When is a story worthy of becoming public?
What marks the border between a personal experience and an artistic one?

Beirut Art Center’s opening exhibition Closer, features art works drawn from personal and intimate stories, which create a space to reflect on experiences both common and unique, familiar and without precedent, public and intensely private.

All of the works included in this exhibition have in common a defined starting point from which narratives can take on various lives of their own. In initiating a process—whether it is switching
on a camera before a relative without knowing where it may lead, or recording the passage of time through self-portraits taken over years—these art works create a field in which actions, ideas, and emotions can materialize unexpectedly, and even, accidentally.

Often, these works shake our notions of reality by fictionalizing intimate stories and/or situating
the artist as the subject/object of the work itself.