Mandy – BeMA

Nour Mobarak’s Dafne Phono installation at the MoMA

Mandy — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 12:44:13 +0000

Last December, BeMA-USA organized a private tour of Nour Mobarak’s Dafne Phono installation at the MoMA in NYC, led by Mobarak.

Art Basel Miami 2024

Mandy — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 06:52:25 +0000

BeMA-USA organized a private tour of the Miami Art Basel fair, followed by an intimate cocktail and presentation by Taline Boladian at Cash Tua, engaging new friends of BeMA.

The Beirut Museum of Art: Safeguarding Art in a Time of War

Mandy — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 12:49:38 +0000

The Middle East Institute in Washington D.C. hosted a conversation on BeMA’s efforts to protect Lebanon’s artistic heritage during the war and economic crisis, featuring BeMA Co-director Taline Boladian and Lyne Sneige, MEI’s Director of the Arts & Culture Center. Artist Rania Matar donated 11 photographic prints to fundraise for the BeMA Art Therapy program. The evening concluded with a reception and a guided tour of Louder Than Hearts, led by Matar, the curator of the exhibit hosted at MEI.

Conceived in response to the need for a national showcase for Lebanese modern and contemporary art, BeMA has been serving as an important community arts resource and platform while construction of its permanent site is underway. In the face of attacks on Lebanon’s infrastructure, how is BeMA working to safeguard Lebanon’s national collection of rare Lebanese art dating back to the 1920s? And what is it doing through its art therapy program to address the trauma, fear, and pain felt by so many in Lebanon today?

BeMA co-director Taline Boladian spoke about the institution’s current work, its commitment to preserving and showcasing Lebanon’s rich artistic legacy, and the national role it plays as a symbol of hope and regeneration. The conversation was moderated by MEI’s Arts and Culture Director, Lyne Sneige, and was followed by a reception and a gallery tour led by Rania Matar, curator of MEI’s current show Louder Than Hearts.

Speakers
Taline Boladian
Co-Director, Beruit Museum of Art

Lyne Sneige (Moderator)
Director of Arts and Culture Center, Middle East Institute

Extended Speaker Biographies

Taline Aynilian Boladian is currently the Co-Director of the Beirut Museum of Art in Lebanon. Along with her Co-Director Juliana Khalaf, together their pursuit to preserve and promote Lebanon’s cultural art heritage has become even more relevant in these times of crisis. As the inaugural Directors of BeMA, they created a variety of relevant and effective programming, targeting different demographics and filling in the gaps in Lebanon’s cultural ecosystem. Prior to this, as an auctioneer and Vice President, Taline held international roles at Christie’s New York and Bonhams Dubai, specializing in 19th Century European, Orientalist and Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern works of art. Coupled with her experience at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Uffizi in Florence, she co-founded BAKS Art Advisory, a regional arts consulting firm specializing in institutional management, appraisals and development of collections, and curation.

Lyne Sneige is the director of the Arts & Culture Center at the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington, D.C., where she directs and manages the MEI Art Gallery and its related programming. Sneige has over 20 years of experience in international and cultural development in the Middle East. Before joining MEI, Sneige had a long career at the British Council, the UK’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. During her time with the organization, Sneige held the senior position of Deputy Director Lebanon and Regional Manager for Arts and Culture for the Middle East and North Africa region, growing and supporting local and regional work in the arts and establishing key partnerships. Sneige is a Salzburg Global Seminar fellow, a nominator to the Agha Khan Music Awards and is president of the board of Action for Hope a regional NGO that provides cultural relief and cultural development programs to meet the social, cultural, and psychological needs of distressed and displaced communities.

Read MEI’s article about BeMA’s latest exhibition here

Memory Box Film Screening – Fundraising Event

Mandy — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 11:01:51 +0000

Join us in New York for the screening of Memory Box a film by award-winning Lebanese artists and filmmakers Khalil Joreige and Joana Hadjithomas.

Cocktail Hour FIAF Tinker Auditorium | 6:30 pm

Film Screening & Discussion FIAF Florence Gould Hall Theater | 7:30 pm

Address: 55 E 59th St. New York, NY 10022

This event will support the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut and its collaborative partnership with the Beirut Museum of Art (BeMA) to train Lebanese AUB students in the field of art conservation science to empower restoration and preservation of Lebanon’s cultural and artistic heritage, bridging science and art.

Link for tickets

BeMA USA at James Cohan

Mandy — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:00:09 +0000

BeMA USA at James Cohan

A Solo Exhibition by Jordan Nassar

BeMA:Beacon of Hope at MoMA

Mandy — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 12:25:43 +0000

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and BeMA USA hosted a special conversation with the MoMA director Glenn Lowry featuring Award-winning architects Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, the President of BeMA USA Lili Chopra, and the interim co-directors of the Beirut Museum of Art -BeMA Juliana Khalaf and Taline Boladian.

The guests joined Glenn Lowry to speak about the establishment of the Beirut Museum of Art and the vision that drives the Museum project forward in a country assailed by compounded economic and financial crises, exemplifying how BeMA is a beacon of hope.

When

Monday, November 7th, 2022 at 6:30 PM

Where

MoMA Bartos Theatre

11 West 53rd Street, New York

BeMA’s Groundbreaking ceremony – 25th of February 2022

Mandy — Mon, 02 May 2022 17:31:56 +0000

Embarking on a historic Journey

BeMA broke ground on February 25, 2022, signaling a new era for modern and contemporary art in Lebanon. The launch took place in a ceremony attended by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati as well as political and cultural figures.

“BeMA is envisioned to boost cross-cultural encounters and is an act of resistance and courage for an open Lebanon, daring defiance in the face of violence, pessimism, and frustration”

Joe Saddi, President of BeMA Board of Trustees

A conversation between Glenn Lowry, Director of The MoMA and Lebanese artist Marwan Rechmaoui

Mandy — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 21:34:38 +0000

The webinar, held on June 30, featured a conversation between Glenn Lowry, Director of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Lebanese artist Marwan Rechmaoui, discussing the changing topography of Beirut and the Lebanese complex cultural mosaic of places and identities.

Speakers
Glenn Lowry

Glenn D. Lowry is the sixth director of The Museum of Modern Art. He leads a staff of over 800 people and directs an active program of exhibitions, acquisitions, and publications. A strong advocate of contemporary art, he has lectured and written extensively in support of contemporary art and artists and the role of museums in society, among other topics. He is a member of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Board of Trustees, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a resident member of the American Philosophical Society. He also is a Trustee of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) and is an Officier dans L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France (2004) and a member of the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan (2020). Born in 1954 in New York City and raised in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Mr. Lowry received a B.A. degree (1976) magna cum laude from Williams College, and an M.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1982) degrees in history of art from Harvard University.

Marwan Rechmaoui

Created from industrial materials such as concrete, metal, rubber, tar, textile, and glass, Marwan Rechmaoui’s work reflects his methodical study of cartography, demographics and urbanization. Focusing on sociodemographic, architecture and cultural histories of cities and mirroring the sociopolitical structure and complex multi-cultural history of the Arab world; he has produced a variety of works, some of which incorporate maps of city streets, objects with references to urban domestic life and landmarks and histories of Beirut.

Rechmaoui’s work has been presented in a number of solo and group exhibitions, including Slanted Squares, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, the Netherlands (2019); Truth is black, write over it with a mirage’s light, Darat al Funun, Amman (2018); Cycles of Collapsing Progress, Oscar Niemeyer’s Trade Fair, Tripoli, Lebanon (2018); Sharjah Biennial 13 (2017); Home Works 7, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut (2015); Istanbul Biennial 13 (2015); Here & Elsewhere, New Museum, New York (2014); Cadavre Exquis, Suite Méditerranéenne, Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence, France (2013); Sharjah Biennial 11 (2013); On the Edgware Road, Serpentine Gallery, London (2012) and Sharjah Biennial 7 (2005). His work can be found in the collections of the Tate Modern, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi; Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah and Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid. Rechmaoui is the recipient of the Bonnefantenmuseum Award for Contemporary Art, Maastricht, the Netherlands (2019).

He was born in Beirut, where he continues to live and work.

Lebanon, Then and Now 2006-2020

Mandy — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 11:30:10 +0000

BeMA USA is partnering with the Middle East Institute, APEAL and the Arab World Institute (IMA) to present Lebanon, Then and Now 2006-2020, a virtual photography exhibition by Lebanese artists.

Lebanon Then and Now: Photography from 2006-2020

Lebanon Then and Now: Photography from 2006-2020 is a unique collaboration between cultural institutions spanning from Washington DC to Paris to Beirut with a shared goal: to bring into focus some of the dizzying social, political and economic developments that have marked Lebanon over the last decade and a half. Produced by the Middle East Institute (MEI), with its partners, the Paris-based Arab World Institute, BeMA USA (the Beirut Museum of Art, USA), APEAL (The Association for the Promotion and Exhibition of the Arts in Lebanon) and the Beirut Center for Photography, Lebanon Then and Now: Photography from 2006-2020 presents, under one virtual roof, selections from two seminal shows: Lebanon: Between Reality and Fiction, organized by the Arab World Institute and Revolt, organized by APEAL and the Beirut Center for Photography. Together they tell a very cohesive and contemporary story about the country, while highlighting the critical role that Lebanon’s artists and creatives play as the interpreters and archivists of the country’s unfolding narrative.

Originally planned for the summer of 2020 in the newly launched MEI Art Gallery, dedicated to showcasing contemporary and modern art from the Middle East and the diaspora in Washington DC, Lebanon Then and Now has been reimagined as a virtual exhibit in light of the corona virus pandemic. The show, featuring 17 Lebanese photographers and 50 images, presents two very different perspectives on Lebanon. One offers a view into a country exploring the aftermath of its long civil war (1975-1990); while the other takes audiences inside the raw emotion of the street protests that erupted on October 17, 2019 – and continue to this day – in response to the corruption and political mismanagement that triggered Lebanon’s recent financial collapse.

Virtual Gallery Tour

Panel Discussion

Panel discussion: Lebanon Through the Lens of Photography

Mandy — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 11:26:27 +0000

The webinar, held on July 16, featured speakers from the exhibit’s lead participating partners, the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, and the Beirut Museum of Art, USA, as well as the exhibit’s curator and artists. They reflected on the significance and the power of the show during this difficult moment in Lebanon’s history as it faces near financial collapse. They also explored the role of photography as a medium to represent, reflect upon and amplify a country’s economic and social condition, as well as the power it has to capture the raw emotion and immediacy of an uprising and to inspire solidarity and a sense of unity.