Beirut [Lebanon], December 11: In Beirut, the Lebanese capital scarred by war and battered by economic collapse, a community of artists is turning personal and collective hardship into works that convey creative defiance and persistent belief in the resilience of the city's cultural spirit.
For Syrian painter Lina Deeb, who has returned to Beirut after first exhibiting her work in the city in 2019, the city offers a vital space for connection. Deeb's elongated figures and muted tones translate the friction of life in Syria onto canvas.
"The artist is shaped by their environment," Deeb said. "Through my work, we are affected by what surrounds us, and we, in turn, affect others. Every new painting is a fresh birth."
She said she has found in Beirut an understanding audience that inspires her to keep creating.
Lebanese artist Riwa Ghsoub has been confronting the daily logistical challenges of creating in Beirut, such as power cuts, high costs, and instability, by choosing to stay in the city and practice her meticulous string art.
"I can go showcase my art elsewhere, but staying here is part of the message," she explained, noting that each piece has become an act of resistance.
"It's challenging the misery. People still want to see effort, precision, and color. Art reminds them that life continues," Ghsoub said.
Ara Azad, an Armenian-Lebanese painter, channels Beirut's turbulent history into his abstract works, transforming the tension and instability of growing up during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) into bold strokes and delicate structures. For him, exhibiting locally is an act of cultural continuity.
"Even when the city is going through hardship, there is still diversity, conversation, and curiosity. That is why artists come back," he said.
Meanwhile, Syrian artist Sameer Al Safadi has been focusing on capturing movement and gesture, depicting dancers and musicians to express vitality amidst burdens.
"Through the expressions on their faces and the movements of their hands, you see the hardships people are trying to overcome," he observed.
For Al Safadi, creating art is a necessity. "Art purifies and offers a vision of the future. As long as artists create, continuity exists," he said.
Lebanon is in the middle of a severe, multi-faceted crisis marked by economic collapse, political instability, and increased conflict, leading to widespread poverty, food insecurity, and displacement, particularly after 13 months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah that ended in November last year.
According to a report published in July by the UN Development Program, before the conflict, Lebanon had already been suffering from six years of economic and social crises, and the conflict itself cut private sector employment by 25 percent and average earnings by 15 percent nationwide.
"The Human Development Index rank of Lebanon regressed to 2010 levels, marking a 14-year setback due to the overlapping crises," the report said, adding that the conflict had also "caused catastrophic damage to the country's physical capital, with 90,076 structures affected, including homes, businesses and critical infrastructure."
With a large number of people remaining displaced in Lebanon due to ongoing insecurity and destroyed infrastructure even after the ceasefire reached in November 2024, some 1.6 million people are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity, it noted.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
