Beirut Art Center Exhibition Examines Violence Through 14 Artists

Beirut Art Center's exhibition 'A Return of the Sun', curated by Reem Shadid, features 14 artists exploring violence in its physical, environmental, and hidden forms. The title references Samih Al-Qasim's poem 'Enemy of the Sun'. Works include Christian Sleiman's 'A Stretch of Land' (2023) examining the dual nature of the plant Inula viscosa as both poison and remedy, with soil tests for heavy metals. Alia Farid presents audio documentation of Iraq's marshlands amid invasion. Nadia Bseiso's 'Infertile Crescent' (2015–ongoing) documents the Red Sea to Dead Sea water pipeline route. Lamia Abukhadra's 'The hammer seizes its actuality' (2022) questions normalized violence in social media images of Palestine. Kıymet Daştan's 'Oblivion Stones' from 'I Am Afraid to (Not) Forget' (2019) uses melted optical discs to explore memory and obsolescence. The exhibition runs until 16 September 2023.