Current Exhibition
the Ten Artists
June 29, 2024 - September 29, 2024
This exhibition serves as a tribute and an attempt to shed light on selected achievements of the Ten Artists, including deceased artists, and to show the ascending trajectory of some of their experiences with their transformations and directions. The chosen pieces highlight the connection to one’s native language (as seen in calligraphic painting), the intricate designs of Eastern geometric patterns (found in Islamic decorative arts), the sense of belonging to a particular location (both land and city), and how color identities intertwine with changes in climate (such as variations in light across urban areas, beaches, plains, and mountains). These artworks embody color rhythms that flow, shift, and oscillate between the presence and absence of defined shapes.
Mohammad Al-Haffar, Rest, 1978
Walnut wood, 15x36x8 cm
May Al-Haffar collection
Fayçal Sultan, The Storm, 2014
Acrylic on canvas, 90x110 cm
Fayçal Sultan collection
Mohammad Aziza, My City Tripoli, 2006
Acrylic on canvas, 150x100 cm
Mohammad Aziza collection
Current Exhibition
Tripoli Ash-Sham
A Photographic Tour with Postcards
June 29, 2024 - September 29, 2024
Tripoli, also known in Arabic as Tarablus Ash-Sham or Tripoli of the Levant, was the first city I ever set my eyes upon. It lies about a half-hour drive away from my hometown, and I first visited it with my father, who went there daily to work in the olive oil and soap-making business at Saeed Saifan’s shop in the Zahriyeh neighborhood. That was in the early 1950s. My father had promised to take me to the city and watch a movie if I got good grades in school. For me, it was a dream come true.
General view with the clock tower in the center, National Library, Abboud Brothers, 1910.
Al-Tell Square, Photo Sport, 1930.
Wheat Market near Mahmoud Bey Al-Sanjak Mosque, Photo Sport, 1930.
Death Boats & Floating Cemeteries
October 1, 2023 - January 20, 2024
From the icy Arctic to the sunny deserts and seas, humans have ventured forth, perished, left indelible marks in every corner of the world, shaping today’s nations and politics into a multi-ethnic mosaic. In the timeline of human migration, we will embark on a journey to retrace the footsteps of our species.
A Tribute to Halim Jurdak
Visual Poetry - Lines and Colours
October 1, 2023 - January 20, 2024
Nabu Museum is paying tribute to Halim Jurdak (1927-2020) on the third anniversary of his passing by exhibiting a diverse 70 piece collection that depicts various milestones throughout the great artist's journey.
The Magic Sparrow, 1968 - Return to Beirut Phase
Unique Artist's Proof
Exhibited at Center D'Art Gallery in 1973
Etching – engraving / 53x48 _ 79x74 cm
Flame Color, 1978
Exhibited at Damo Gallery in 1982
Watercolors, ink and various materials
47x66 _ 71x91 cm
Eternal Femininity, 1984
Exhibited at Damo Gallery in Antelias, 1986
Caran d'Ache and various materials
35x25 _ 65x55 cm
The Early Arab Press
June 10, 2023 - September 16, 2023
In the 19th century, many attempts were made to determine the number of magazines and newspapers published in Arabic around the world. However, those attempts failed to produce an accurate figure because some of the publications were printed in remote areas, had poor circulation and a very limited number of publications.
In 1892, Jirji Zaydan conducted the first census of Arabic-language newspapers and magazines, which was published in the first issue of the Al-Hilāl magazine and indicated that 147 newspapers and magazines were in publication. The survey documented the names of newspapers that would eventually be lost to history. Although incomplete, this survey was important in tracing the history of the early Arab press.
Hadiqat al-Akhbār, Beirut, 1859
The first Arabic newspaper in Beirut, founded by Khalil al-Khūrī in January 1858.
Al-Quds, Jerusalem, 1910
A newspaper that specialized in sciences, literature and current affairs, published twice a week; it was founded by Jirjī Hanānīa in 1909.
Al-Sā’ih, New York, 1912.
A newspaper founded by Abd al-Masīh Haddād on 22 April 1912.
Mediterranea
Visions of an ancient and complex sea
June 23 – July 23, 2023
Mediterranea is an exhibition held at Nabu Museum in El-Heri, Batroun and organized by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Beirut. This exhibition recounts the history, beauty and myths of the Mediterranean Sea and its people, offering visitors an interactive journey through the complexity of this liquid continent.
The Mediterranean is one of the most fragile and vulnerable regions in the world. Mediterranae reminds us to work together to protect the common good and surmount our challenges.
Mediterranea is an innovative exhibition based on satellite imagery from Italian Space Agency, the European Space Agency and Telespazio/e-Geos acquired solely for the purposes of this project.
Mediterranea makes its debut in Lebanon at Nabu Museum. In partnership with Med-Or Foundation, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs this exhibition will be making its way to many other countries.
Poster of the exhibition
Interactive map of the Mediterranean: History of Lands and Seas, Peoples and Cultures
Satellite images of the Mediterranean region
ExhibitionS
Beirut 1840 – 1918
Photographs & Maps
November 26, 2022 – May 26, 2023
This photographic exhibition on Beirut covers the period between 1840 when the first photograph of the city was taken and 1918, the date of the withdrawal of the Turkish forces which marked the beginning of the European occupation. It includes a collection of photographs, plans and maps, some of which are published here for the first time, together with two exquisite panoramic watercolours of the city dated 1845.
In 2021, the Nabu Museum acquired a unique set of photographs taken in the early 1860s by the French naval officer and photographer Louis Vignes (1831-1896) when he was resident in Beirut. The photographs include Vignes’ rare panoramic scenes of the city, previously not taken in such quantity and precision, not to mention the portraits of notables from the feudal families of Mount Lebanon in their traditional costumes.
Jean-Baptiste Charlier, ca. 1880s
A view from the Grand Serail, the minarets of the Emir Assaf Mosque, the Great Mosque (on the left) and the al-Ashrafiya quarter to the right
Jean-Baptiste Charlier, ca. 1880s
A panoramic view of the so-called Egyptian harbour, probably taken from the roof of the Khan Antun Bey
Anonymous, ca. 1900
A stall selling oranges in the Old Town
Batroun
Photo & Memory
February 5, 2022 - November 13, 2022
The 1975 civil war came to destroy what remained of photographic glass slides and archive in the studios located in Downtown Beirut, thereby the photographic memory of Beirut and other regions vanished.
The significance of Emile Boulos’ works lies in the fact that they are images that reflect the social life of Batroun during the first half of the twentieth century. Batroun changed dramatically throughout the years, what’s left are merely these photographs portraying the city’s joys, sorrows, the fishermen and villagers of the surrounding area.
It remains obvious to state that the photos taken by the local photographers outside Beirut are of particular significance. This is because they are not intended for mass consumption compared to Beirut’s professional photographers who used to rely on tourism and pilgrims to market their work.
The photographs taken by Emile Boulos and his ilk are quite literally an authentic depiction of reality, they lack the Orientalist features that most professional photographers of Beirut counted on to market their work to the fascinated westerners by what they call “the exotic Orient.”
We must thank Alfred Moussa for the discovery and preservation of Boulos’ photographic archives, and for this excellently executed exhibition.
Emil Boulos (1923-2013)
A view of Batroun from outside, c. 1950
Emil Boulos (1923-2013)
Batroun old souk, c. 1960
Emil Boulos (1923-2013)
L’École du foyer Libanais, c. 1950
The Art Scene
in Lebanon 1920-1948
February 5, 2022 - November 13, 2022
The exhibition journey starts in the ground floor with the entry of French troops to Middle East, and the declaration of the State of Greater Lebanon (1920). During the French Mandate period, the cedar, an emblem of Lebanese patriotism, began to emerge as a symbol of Lebanon, along with manifestations of an identity divided between a “Phoenician past” and an “Arabist heritage.”
On the first floor, the exhibition showcases the changes in the salons or diwans’ structure, the social customs and the tolerance of nudity in art and exhibitions. It brings together a selection of paintings from “Salon 1938” and “Salon 1939” that were held by the Friends of Art Society in the Parliament Hall in Beirut, in addition to paintings from the International Exhibition of New York (1939).
Philippe Mourani (1875-1970)
Lebanon Cedar, c. 1931
Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)
Meditating
Saliba Douaihy (1913-1994)
Self-portrait, 1934
Hope & Despair
When art reflects on war and history
June 20, 2020 – September 20, 2020
Hope and Despair exhibition reflects the core mission of NABU Museum, which is not only to preserve and enhance the region’s heritage and culture through exhibitions, educational and training programs and public lectures, but also to raise people voice and awareness on societies’ struggle.
The exhibition is reflecting conditions and ways of expressions in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Palestine about war and history. It encourages through the full examination of the upheaval of the Lebanese civil war and its terrible consequences that surrounded Lebanon through the absence of the state and the ubiquitous corruption. The repercussions of Sykes-Picot Agreement and Balfour Declaration ‘legacy’ in the region cannot be overlooked.
The exhibition features artworks about war and history from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Palestine. Sculptures, paintings, posters and photos focusing on representing the epic displacement and asylum of nations in their forced migration and the horrifying face of humanity in war times. The posters and photographs illustrate through very different approaches the political parties and the militias’ propaganda during Lebanon’s civil war, the act of revolt and the duty of remembrance.
Dia Azzawi (1939)
We are not seen, but, corpses, 1983
Mahmoud Obaidi (1966)
The bubble, make war not love, 2019
Alfred Tarazi (1980)
“A gentlemen’s agreement 1943”, 2018
Modern & Contemporary Sculptures from Lebanon
September 14, 2019 – September 6, 2020
This exhibition showcases a selection of works by ten sculptors: Zaven Hadichian, Hussein Madi, Naim Doumit, Antoine Berberi, Raffi Tokatlian, Pierre Karam, Rudy Rahme, Anachar Basbous, Nabil Helou and Bassam Kyrillos. Together, they provide an overview of Beirut’s modern and contemporary sculpture scene from 1969-2019. Ten sculptors, whose work reveals the relentless thirst for conversing with the spaces of gardens, squares, and the intimate space of homes; sculptures that can be touched in their true and natural environments, through the way they capture motion, melody, energy, and stillness in their designs. During the modern and contemporary eras, the art of sculpture in Lebanon has witnessed numerous transformations in the types of material used (wood, stone, marble, iron, aluminum, bronze)
Hussein Madi (1938)
Abduction of Europa, 2010
Nabil Helou (1969)
Infinity, 2018
Antoine Berberi (1944)
Cellist, 2017
Traces of Drawings
A selection of Lebanese artwork
June 15, 2019 – September 12, 2019
Traces of Drawings exhibition covers the works of 35 Lebanese artists, starting with Daoud Corm and ending with Greta Naufal.
We start from the ground floor with the early drawings that were executed by artists who, in the European Art Academy tradition, spent much time of their time in the museum copying the facial expressions and hand gestures of renaissance human anatomy. Their major preoccupation, as seen in the drawings of Corm, Howayek, Srour, and their counterparts, was to realistically render the beauty of the human body following renaissance aesthetics in terms of proportion and form. The viewer is taken on a journey to follow the development of this practice from the “preparatory” drawing or sketching practices -a generally prescribed part of the classical academic training of art students- to a more “finished” work of art. However, from the Ottoman Empire to the French mandate, independence, and the establishment of the first fine arts institutions in Lebanon, the historical trajectory of drawing as a practice is more complex. The evolution of drawing unfolds with artist experiments starting in the mid-1940’s in the search for their distinctive styles.
The first floor includes a selection of drawings produced from the rise of art galleries in Beirut in the 1960’s, through the Civil War, and beyond.
Daoud Corm (1852-1930)
Untitled, pencil and ink on paper
Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)
Portrait of a woman, 1916
Philippe Mourani (1875-1970)
Laundry day in the Middle East
Millennia of Creativity
September 22, 2018 – June 7, 2019
“Millennia of Creativity” is an exhibition presenting pieces of the archeological collection of the “NABU” Museum, while at the same time emphasizing parallels and comparisons between the stylistic productions of ancient Mediterranean civilizations with those of contemporary artistic production and practices.
There is an important group of works by Saliba Douaihy in the “NABU” Museum collection, such as his early academic drawings, experimentation with expressionism and abstraction, arriving at hard edge abstraction, all inspired by the nature of Lebanon and Syria.
Terracotta Statue
Eastern Mediterranean Iron Age II – 7th-6th Century BC
Saliba Douaihy (1915-1994)
Bay of Jounieh and Ghosta, 1960
Dia Azzawi (1939)
Handala, good morning Beirut, 2015
about us
Situated on the coast of the Mediterranean, at the village of El-Heri, in Ras Al Shaqa’, in the North of Lebanon stands the Nabu Museum. Named after the Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the museum offers an exceptional permanent collection of Bronze and Iron Age artifacts representing Roman, Greek, Byzantine, Phoenician and Mesopotamian, and contemporary Lebanese cultures, in addition to rare manuscripts and ethnographic material. The museum’s collections also include examples of local, regional, modern and contemporary art by Lebanese artists such as Shafic Abboud, Amin al -Bacha, Helen Khal, Dia Azzawi, Shakir al - Said, Omar Onsi, Mustapha Farroukh, Ismail Fattah, Adam Henein, Khalil Gibran, Paul Guiragossian and Mahmoud Obaidi along with a unique collection of works by Saliba Douaihy. Notable in Nabu Museum’s collections is a unique selection of cuneiform tablets dating from 2330 to 540 B.C.E that includes literary works and extensive social and economic records, that together provide detailed and often new, information on the history and culture of the Sumerians and Babylonians of Mesopotamia.
The Nabu Museum building was designed in collaboration with Iraqi-Canadian artist Mahmoud Obaidi and Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi. The enveloping façade of the museum was fashioned of weathering-steel representing a monumental scripted relief based on a visual lexicon developed over their respective long careers in painting, drawing, sculpture, and print. The interior space of the museum is boldly conceived by Obaidi as a simple cube with a capacious open interior, easily adaptable for changing exhibitions. The museum also houses a library with an extensive collection of books on art, archaeology, history, and geography, along with a collection of rare manuscripts.
Whereas the Nabu Museum’s permanent collection provides a view of the extended history of the Levant and Mesopotamia, it also provides a comfortable working space for practicing artists. It fosters creative dialogue, enables a sense of social and political community, and promotes a creative atmosphere for regional artists, grounded firmly in local or more remote traditions, whose shared and contrasting influences would be reflected in their respective creations.
In a region of seemingly constant turmoil and strife, the Nabu Museum provides a tranquil space for the preservation and creative pursuit of art and culture. It is designed to act as an institution for preserving and promoting Lebanese culture, reaching out to local and wider communities through educational programs, organized tours, public lectures, and guided permanent and visiting exhibitions.
