Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Contemporary Art

First Advisor

Agnes Berecz

Second Advisor

Matthew Nichols

Abstract

Historically (and presently) riven by sectarianism, struggling with massively degraded infrastructure, and seething with starkly apparent class divisions, Lebanon has long been tied up with bloody postwar politics, paralyzed by innumerable crippling setbacks on its path to recovery. During war, images of conflict have been plastered across media stations, firming the country’s place in the global conversation and imagination; everyone had heard about Lebanon, and people from the art world were attracted to the work being produced in Beirut: a localized body of work that was thematically interesting, formally unique, aesthetically neoconceptual and allegorical in approach. Unresolved conflicts have long marked the country as a land of denial–a refusal to acknowledge the past and the unhealed scars of war, suffering and collective trauma, resulting in Lebanon lingering in a state of purgatory. Many artists examine these wounds, histories and memories. This paper will dive into provocative, theoretically rich conceptual projects, trying to answer how, in an increasingly transnational world, Lebanese artists ask, in their own way: who are we? A question that cuts to the core of much that troubles Lebanon, a pluralistic society that has historically struggled in its own multi-sectarian skin. Moreover, while there may be sentiments towards a unified country, unity of purpose, and a clear national identity, is this realistic and achievable?

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