Saloua Raouda Choucair Museum Opens in Lebanon

The Saloua Raouda Choucair Museum has opened in Ras El Metn, less than an hour from Beirut, dedicated to the pioneering Lebanese modernist artist (1916–2017). Designed by Lebanese architect Karim Bekdache, the building integrates with the natural pine forest, reflecting Choucair's philosophy that art should be part of daily life. The museum houses around 600 pieces, with 500 on display, including sculptures in terracotta, wood, stone, fiberglass, sheet metal, brass, bronze, aluminum, plexiglass, and stainless steel, as well as furniture, carpets, tableware, and jewelry. Choucair studied in Paris in 1948 under Fernand Léger and co-founded the Atelier de l'Art Abstrait with Edgard Pillet and Jean Dewasne. She was among the first Arab artists to exhibit at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in 1951. Her work blends Western abstraction with Islamic aesthetics, influenced by science, architecture, mathematics, and Arabic poetry, as well as Sufi philosophy. Her daughter Hala Schoukair, president of the foundation that runs the museum, hopes the institution will help Lebanon reclaim its role as a hub of innovation. The museum also features a Sculpture Garden.