Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LAWHA (Lebanon's Art World at Home and Abroad: Trajectories of artists and artworks in/from Lebanon since 1943)
Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-09-30
LAWHA examines the forces that have shaped the emergence of a professional field of art in Lebanon within its local, regional and global context, against the background that Lebanon is regularly portrayed as a country with weak public institutions but vibrant cultural sector. The project proposes a shift of perspective in approaching Lebanon’s art world by focusing on the multi-dimensionality of artists’ individual trajectories. LAWHA aims to identify new methods on how to interrelate context and artistic production, to serve as a model for revisiting art histories in contexts where institutionalised local art histories have largely been absent. It strives to make a major contribution to the ongoing discussions about decentring the global art canon and history.
LAWHA’s work has focused on setting up the project, building partnerships, establishing the research team, conceptualizing and developing the database and digital platform (DDP), data collection, conducting interviews and identifying and researching archival collections. A project blog was created to introduce the project, announce events and positions, and share research results (https://lawha.hypotheses.org).
One main focus has been to set up the DDP, which forms the spine of the project. The aim is to create a tool and central and open-access repository for future research. This includes the localisation and preservation of artistic records to build up artists’ dossiers that draw on local and international networks. The database is guided by the project’s research questions, which revolve around the professionalization of Lebanon’s art sector, the impact of the social, political and economic environment on the art world and its protagonists, how artists are represented in relation to the nation, and the role of women artists and minorities in Lebanon’s art world. An ontology was developed and the selected open source software (Omeka-S) was adapted to LAWHA’s needs in collaboration with the University of Bologna’s Dh.arc. A partnership has been formed with the VeDPH of Ca’Foscari University of Venice, a direct beneficiary of LAWHA, in order to host the DDP during its initial phase.
LAWHA collaborated with the Sursock Museum and the Arab Image Foundation on a series of workshops on Intellectual Property in spring 2021. The aims of this series were to understand common challenges and best practices of peer institutions in terms of copyright, rights and reproduction policies; to have a grasp on how to deal with risk mitigation in finding a balance between the aspiration to grant wider access to collections and archival material for the public and respect rights; to understand the legal frameworks and laws under which our institutions and projects currently function, and strategies for open knowledge.
In partnership with the American University of Beirut and the Global (De)Centre, LAWHA co-organised a summer school exploring the topic of biography/sīra in June 2022, entitled Moving Biography (funded by the Volkswagen Foundation). As a result of this summer school, two podcast series have been developed in collaboration with afikra. For the first series, entitled "On Women by Women in Art", LAWHA partnered with The Institute of Art in the Arab World (IAAW) at the Lebanese American University, whose director Yasmine Taan conceived and moderated the series. In each of the four episodes, a woman artist reflects on another woman artist who influenced and inspired her practice. The second series, Moving Biographies, is a direct outcome of the discussions held at the summer school. In the first episode, the daughters of three leading artists of Lebanon’s art world talk about the responsibility of taking care of their parent’s legacy, what challenges they face and what it means to curate a biography that is intrinsically linked to their own. The second episode thinks through biography as a material matter, while the final episode discusses the life of Evelyne Bustros (1878-1971) and how it was entwined with the formation of Lebanese heritage and early nation-building in Lebanon.
In September 2023, a workshop was held examining the role of cultural clubs and centres in promoting visual arts in Lebanon. The first workshop day, organised in collaboration with the Lebanese University and taking place in Tripoli, focused on cultural and artistic initiatives in and from Tripoli and Antelias, whereas the second day, organised in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, had a closer look at the role of foreign cultural centres and the Goethe-Institut in particular.
Team members have also participated in international conferences, workshops and other events to introduce the project and preliminary results to the scientific community, stakeholders, and wider public.
One main focus has been to set up the DDP, which forms the spine of the project. The aim is to create a tool and central and open-access repository for future research. This includes the localisation and preservation of artistic records to build up artists’ dossiers that draw on local and international networks. The database is guided by the project’s research questions, which revolve around the professionalization of Lebanon’s art sector, the impact of the social, political and economic environment on the art world and its protagonists, how artists are represented in relation to the nation, and the role of women artists and minorities in Lebanon’s art world. An ontology was developed and the selected open source software (Omeka-S) was adapted to LAWHA’s needs in collaboration with the University of Bologna’s Dh.arc. A partnership has been formed with the VeDPH of Ca’Foscari University of Venice, a direct beneficiary of LAWHA, in order to host the DDP during its initial phase.
LAWHA collaborated with the Sursock Museum and the Arab Image Foundation on a series of workshops on Intellectual Property in spring 2021. The aims of this series were to understand common challenges and best practices of peer institutions in terms of copyright, rights and reproduction policies; to have a grasp on how to deal with risk mitigation in finding a balance between the aspiration to grant wider access to collections and archival material for the public and respect rights; to understand the legal frameworks and laws under which our institutions and projects currently function, and strategies for open knowledge.
In partnership with the American University of Beirut and the Global (De)Centre, LAWHA co-organised a summer school exploring the topic of biography/sīra in June 2022, entitled Moving Biography (funded by the Volkswagen Foundation). As a result of this summer school, two podcast series have been developed in collaboration with afikra. For the first series, entitled "On Women by Women in Art", LAWHA partnered with The Institute of Art in the Arab World (IAAW) at the Lebanese American University, whose director Yasmine Taan conceived and moderated the series. In each of the four episodes, a woman artist reflects on another woman artist who influenced and inspired her practice. The second series, Moving Biographies, is a direct outcome of the discussions held at the summer school. In the first episode, the daughters of three leading artists of Lebanon’s art world talk about the responsibility of taking care of their parent’s legacy, what challenges they face and what it means to curate a biography that is intrinsically linked to their own. The second episode thinks through biography as a material matter, while the final episode discusses the life of Evelyne Bustros (1878-1971) and how it was entwined with the formation of Lebanese heritage and early nation-building in Lebanon.
In September 2023, a workshop was held examining the role of cultural clubs and centres in promoting visual arts in Lebanon. The first workshop day, organised in collaboration with the Lebanese University and taking place in Tripoli, focused on cultural and artistic initiatives in and from Tripoli and Antelias, whereas the second day, organised in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, had a closer look at the role of foreign cultural centres and the Goethe-Institut in particular.
Team members have also participated in international conferences, workshops and other events to introduce the project and preliminary results to the scientific community, stakeholders, and wider public.
One focus of the DDP’s data modelling has been on controlled vocabulary and keywords, in particular exploring the feasibility of developing a contextual vocabulary to be used in addition to the Getty AAT for the description of artworks and supporting archival material. This approach is novel insofar as it links artworks with their intellectual, political, cultural, and artistic contexts and allows for a content-based analysis of art historical developments and trajectories of artists. Thus, a query will not only result in biographical information on an artist and their work, but also in contextual information and documentation, including press reviews, letters, diary entries, photographs, and audio/video interviews, in combination with digital surrogates of artworks. The expected result is that cross-referencing and a more inclusive look on art in its multiple contexts will be possible.