Fashioning new futures: Belgium exhibition chronicles Beirut's historic design scene

Positioned at the crossroads of East and West, Lebanon’s creative scene has long been informed by a multitude of cultures and practices, and Beirut’s design sector is no different.

Beirut. The Eras of Design - a recently opened exhibition staged at Belgium’s Center of Innovation and Design space Grand-Hornu – seeks to unpack how Beirut’s design scene has responded to the country’s shifting political, economic and social stimuli from the 1920s to the present day.

Beirut architecture duo Ghaith Abi Ghanem and Jad Melki are responsible for the show’s scenography, incorporating the design pieces into the former coal factory- turned-art-complex’s industrial aesthetic. 

"Like many things in Lebanon, the civil war between 1975 and 1990 halted the creative industries and it wasn’t until the 2000s that the design scene started recovering and adapting to the country’s new reality"

Co-produced with Switzerland’s Cantonal Museum of Design and Contemporary Applied Arts (MUDAC) and Plateforme 10, the exhibition is a long-term project curated by Marco Costantini, based on research, interviews, archival material and design pieces by over 50 Lebanese designers.

“In 2016, I saw an exhibition of Karen Chekerdjian’s work in Paris and I started wondering what the design scene was like in Lebanon because I always saw Lebanese designers abroad,” Costantini told The New Arab.

“I decided to come to Beirut, to visit each designer, to do interviews and to try to explain why design is so dynamic in Lebanon, not like in Iran or Syria or Jordan.

“I began to understand contemporary design, which was booming after the 2000s, and step by step I started looking back, to try to understand what happened before the civil war,” he added.

“In Lebanon, it was totally different from Europe because there is no industry here. So they work a lot with craftsmen, even before the war. It's why all the furniture and objects are very well made, in very small collections, because it's all handmade, it's not industrial design.”

The exhibition is divided into three chapters, starting with the beginning of the design scene before the civil war, spanning from 1950 to 1970. Many attribute the genesis of the design scene to French designer Jean Royere, but Costantini’s research has found otherwise.

Founded in 1910 by César Debbas, Le Grand Magasin d’Électricité specialized in lighting powered by gas, gasoline and electricity. In 1934, Debbas opened Lebanon’s first chandelier workshop marking Lebanon’s first entrance into industrial design.

“The French decorator [Royere] came to Beirut to make a shop for all the projects in the Middle East in 1947. But when I was searching for articles in Beirut, I found another factory by César Debbas, which already existed,” Costantini said.

“It was a big industry for lighting and was a big success. And I think we can imagine that this is the beginning of design in Lebanon, before the coming of Jean Royere.” 

In the 40s, many new hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues were being built, leading to an uptick in demand for furniture, decoration and interior design. Architects/designers like Serge Sassouni, Khalil Khoury and Michel Harmouche flourished during this period.

Like many things in Lebanon, the civil war between 1975 and 1990 halted the creative industries and it wasn’t until the 2000s that the design scene started recovering and adapting to the country’s new reality. The second section of the exhibition explores the era after the ‘90s.

After the civil war, reconstruction was a priority, leading to another demand for design pieces and furniture. Many who had fled the fighting returned home and other countries saw investment opportunities in the country as it rebuilt, attracting clients from the UAE.

“People like Karim Chaya, Karen Chekerdjian, and Nada Debs came back to work in Beirut, but they found nothing to help them in design, no factories, no clients, so they begin step by step to try something,” Costantini said.

“I call them The Three Musketeers, the first three designers to come back. And after them, some other people began to create a design, because they opened the way.

“Marc Baroud then created the design department at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) and now people can study design here, whereas before you had to go to another place to study, in Paris, Milan or the United States,” he added. “Now the new generation of designers is formed here.”

Pieces by designers in this section lean towards modernizing traditional techniques and crafts. Organic materials like stone, wood and marble are prevalent because these materials are readily available domestically.

The pieces tend to pay homage to heritage design practices and subjects, whilst updating them for modern homes.

One such piece is a pure silver jewellery box in the shape of some heritage buildings in Mar Mikhael, created by Carlo Massoud. It is now part of the MUDAC’s permanent collection.  

The Oslo Icecream shop, the Mar Mikhael Church and an unfinished building that would have been the Banque Libano-Francaise headquarters, make up the architecture.

Adorning the structures are jewelled objects like a silver King Kong, an emerald-leafed tree and a row of birds on a power line. Each object is designed to be detachable and can be worn as a piece of jewellery.

“Carwan Gallery asked me to develop some products with artisans from the region Valencia in Italy, so I worked with a jeweller,” Massoud said.

“I wanted to create this jewellery box and because I was living in Mar Mikhael before [the blast on] August 4, I was very familiar with the neighbourhood. After the explosion, I had to [leave], so it’s kind of like a memory of Mar Mikhael.”

"The exhibition is very important for them [Lebanese designers], because we know that there is a scene here for design, and designers who try to make something here in Beirut. Even if they live outside, they continue to produce here in Lebanon"

The exhibition’s final section looks at the Minjara project, a platform dedicated to reviving the traditional woodcraft sector of Tripoli.

Launched with the help of the European Union, the project aims to bring creative minds together under the umbrella of a label - a guarantee of quality - in order to be recognized both locally and internationally.

Designers are paired with Tripolitan craftsmen to realize a project, showcasing the craftsmen’s skills to a wider audience and offering unique techniques for designers to utilize.

“I like it because compared to a lot of the design synchronicity that's happening in Beirut, it's a fresh and new perspective bringing values to something that's craft-based, supporting craftsmen that are locally based, to be able to give them work,” Minjara designer Etienne Bastormagi told The New Arab, “and at the same time, to be able to create a market for crafts that has a more contemporary take on it.

“We designed one rocking chair, one valet for jackets and clothing and one step, which were inspired by elements everyone usually sees in their grandparent’s houses,” he added.

“We worked with a craftsman from the Korek family in Tripoli. They’re known craftsmen who have been working there for three generations. We changed the vibe of what they know how to do, for a more contemporary upgrade.”

The exhibition will run until mid-August and will be accompanied by a book. Costantini hopes to recreate the exhibition in Beirut when the objects are returned home after a few more shows in Europe.

“When I decide to create this project, I decided to choose only designers who live and produce in Lebanon, but now some of them left and moved because it's impossible to work and live here. And it's a pity,” Costantini said.

"The exhibition is very important for them because we know that there is a scene here for design, and designers who try to make something here in Beirut. Even if they live outside, they continue to produce here in Lebanon.

“If designers produced outside, all the links are destroyed, and for the craftsmen it's catastrophic,” he added. “Design is not just a subject for rich people - between the rich people who order pieces, we can give works to some craftsmen's families, which is really important. For me, it's not only an exhibition, after six years, but it's also a life project.”

Maghie Ghali is a British-Lebanese journalist based in Beirut. She worked for The Daily Star Lebanon and writes as a freelancer for a number of publications, including The National, Al Arabiya English, Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye, on arts and culture/design, environment and humanitarian topics.

Follow her on Twitter: @mghali6