Expo: “How will it end?” at Villa Empain

The exhibition How will it end? Around Lebanon opened this Thursday 2 December at the Villa Empain in Brussels. It will run until 6th February 2022.

The exhibition, designed in co-production with the Pompidou Centre, offers an unprecedented dialogue between its exceptional collections and pieces by Lebanese artists of all generations. Produced in recent years or following the tragic explosions of 4th August 2020, their works are tracing out possible paths to the future, between despair and gentleness, exiles and new anchorages.

Land of legends and myths, where five thousand years of history have been written, the focal point of relations between the Arab world and the West throughout its history, Lebanon has been going through troubled times since its creation.

Its strategic position, the source of its prestige, is also a source of lust and destruction. In recent years, the country, which had recovered from a long civil war and several successive wars, has experienced an unprecedented economic and social crisis. The protests which have sprung up in mass have met with opposition from the political class.

On August 4, 2020, the blast of the explosion from the port of Beirut completely devastated the city, leaving hundreds of people dead and hundreds of thousands injured and displaced. Faced with the disaster, the Boghossian Foundation immediately came to the aid of the victims. Alongside the artists, greatly affected by the event, the idea was born to present an exhibition at the Villa Empain in 2021, which gives them a voice.

Artists
Etel Adnan, Abed Al Kadiri, Charbel Alkhoury & Monica Basbous, Mounira Al Solh, Vladimir Antaki, Ziad Antar, Caline Aoun, Danielle Arbid, Vartan Avakian, Ayman Baalbaki, Charbel-joseph H. Boutros, Gregory Buchakjian, Ali Cherri, Omar Fakhoury, Simone Fattal, Raymond Gemayel, Daniele Genadry, Chafa Ghaddar, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Gilbert Hage, ICONEM, Jeanne et Moreau, Maria Kassab, Mireille Kassar, Bettina Khoury Badr, Pierre Koukjian, Samar Mogharbel, Marwan Moujaes, Dala Nasser, Ramy Saad, Stéphanie Saadé, Christine Safa, Christian Sleiman, Rayyane Tabet, Paola Yacoub, Maha Yammine, Raed Yassin, Cynthia Zaven, Lamia Ziadé.

Curators
Alicia Knock, Curator for the Contemporary Art and Research department of the National Museum of Modern Art of the Centre Pompidou , and Louma Salamé, Director of the Boghossian Foundation.

On display: From 2 December 2021 to 6 February 2022

More info via Foundation Boghossian website.