New Sculpture Museum Opens in Lebanon's Rachana Village

The Mohtaraf Anachar Basbous (MAB), a new museum dedicated to Lebanese sculptor Anachar Basbous, has opened in Rachana, his hometown, after two years of construction. Surrounded by an olive grove, the brutalist concrete building designed by architect Jawdat Arnouk is set into a mountainous landscape overlooking the sea. The museum houses around 50 works spanning Basbous's career, from his first sculpture at age 10 to recent pieces in corten steel, stainless steel, marble, wood, aluminum, basalt, and concrete. Basbous describes the museum as a "time machine," inviting visitors to explore contemporary art and memory through sensory experiences. His artistic roots trace to his father, sculptor Michel Basbous, and mother, writer and poet Thérèse Aouad. Basbous studied architecture before turning to sculpture, and his works—geometric, assembled forms—engage with light and space, questioning gravity, magnetism, and the body-soul relationship. His pieces are in public and private collections in Lebanon, Canada, France, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Kuwait, and elsewhere. Recently, his sculpture "Meteorite" was exhibited at Artcurial Monaco alongside works by 20th- and 21st-century masters.