NNA - The Beit Beirut Museum is proud to present the highly anticipated art exhibition, "Chronicle of Three Wars," featuring the works of prominent artist Ralph Hage. Curated by Maie El-Hage, the exhibition offers an exploration of Lebanon's modern and contemporary histories, marked by tragedies, catastrophes, and the persistent anticipation of war.
"Chronicle of Three Wars" presents a collection of digital paintings, photographs, and texts that intimately illustrate the artist's personal experiences and reflections on Lebanon's tumultuous past. The exhibition also features a digital artist book, which will be freely shared with the public, allowing viewers to delve deeper into Hage's artistic vision.
At the core of the exhibition is the artist's statement: "The starting point of the exhibition are pictures of my demolished home, taken the day after the August 4 explosion in Beirut. Reconfigured as a personal mind map, the objects within the photographs connect to, and reconstruct episodes leading to this catastrophe." Hage's work encompasses his grandmother's recollections of the man-made genocidal famine in Lebanon during World War I, his own experiences of the Lebanese Civil War, and the recurring violence and constant expectation of violence in contemporary Lebanon.
"The scars of the August 4, 2020 explosion have not healed yet; they may never heal," reflects curator Maie El-Hage. "But in remembrance, we pay tribute to those we lost and to the fabric of the city destroyed. By looking through the artist's eyes, we see evidence of the ruination, but we also witness the will of the artist to fight back; and not through erasing, but through acknowledging, actively documenting, and creating."
The exhibition will be held on the third floor of the Beit Beirut Museum, commencing on Thursday, August 10, 2023, with an opening reception from 5 pm to 9 pm. Both the artist Ralph Hage and curator Maie El-Hage will be in attendance. The exhibition will run until August 30, 2023, and can be visited daily from 12 pm to 6 pm, except on Mondays.
In addition to the exhibition, an Artist Talk will be organized during the month of August, and the dates will be announced soon. Stay updated with the latest announcements by following Ralph Hage (@hage_ralph) and Maie El-Hage (@maie.art) on Instagram.
Ralph Hage has shown his works in various locations, including New York, Montreal, Lebanon, and Portugal, with notable exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in Cartagena, Sursock Museum, Agial Art Gallery, and 392Rmeil393 Gallery in Beirut. Hage's work is featured in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The artist holds a Ph.D. in semiotics from the University of Quebec in Montreal and is Full-Professor at the Lebanese University’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture. For further information about Ralph Hage's art, kindly visit his website at https://ralphhage.godaddysites.com/.
As for Maie El-Hage, she is an architect and art historian bringing her expertise and passion to curate the "Chronicle of Three Wars" exhibition. With a master's degree in art history and theory from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom and a bachelor's degree in architecture from the American University of Beirut, El-Hage has organized numerous art exhibitions in Lebanon and Dubai. To learn more about Maie El-Hage, please visit her website at https://arthistorianmaie.com/.
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