Cultural Briefings

Lebanon, Plundered, Blasted, Burning, ‘Celebrates’ in Irony the Centennial of Its Foundation

By

Elie Chalala

The Lebanese political scene has a melancholy and desperate mood. The country suffered shock after shock, from the economic-financial meltdown to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the way to the explosion at its main port, a significant economic lifeline disabled when most needed. Most heartbreaking is watching and listening, even from afar, as Lebanon celebrates its centennial birthday while lacking the resources to extricate itself from its present predicament and being left to plead with foreign countries and economic institutions for humanitarian and economic assistance. Aside from the legitimate requests needed to address the consequences of the port explosion, Lebanon lacks the essential prerequisites of a functioning and legitimate state.

Beirut Port Explosion Could Trigger Existential Crisis of Mass Emigration

Elie Chalala

Beirut’s Chernobyl Moment: A Message of Love to a Suffering City, Its Unforgettable Memories, and Undying Heart

Perhaps the August 4th explosion is the most catastrophic in Lebanon’s modern history, but let us not forget that it follows other recent explosions – financial, social, economic, and even imminent starvation.

The latest explosion is disastrous by all accounts, leaving 350,000 homeless, more than 137 dead, 5000 injured, and a large number of people still unaccounted for. Office buildings and apartments across the capital are destroyed, as well as the country’s largest port, with reconstruction estimates ranging between 12 and 15 billion dollars at a time the government cannot even secure a two-billion-dollar emergency loan.

Cultural Briefings

A NEW ISSUE OF AL JADID IS JUST OUT

VOL. 23, NO. 77, 2019

Al Jadid is a Review & Record of Arab Culture and Arts (www.aljadid.com). As usual, the new issue is rich with essays and features, books, art reviews, films, interviews, fiction, and poetry.

ESSAYS & FEATURES

Al Jadid Digital 76 is Out, Featuring Essays, Reviews, Fiction and Poetry!

Al Jadid Staff

May Menassa (1939-2019): Journalist, Novelist Wrote in the Black Ink of War and Tragedy

By

Al Jadid Staff

The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) spurred the production of a vast literature. Yet only a small fraction of these books, novelsand memoirs are available in English. An even smaller portion received wide attention through reviews or publicity campaigns. This leaves a void in the English language about the literature of this war. This essay highlights one novelist’s contributions in the Arabic literature of the war as well as a brief glimpse into her life.

Marie Colvin: The Real 'Rose in the Desert'

Iconic, Storied Reporter Faithfully Depicted the Human Cost of War

As a war reporter, Marie Colvin chased death to expose the reality of war and violence to civilians. She was well-known for her ‘outrageous’ bravery, diving headfirst into killing zones and dangerous situations at the risk of her own life – a streak of daring that, while a common expectation for those in the field, Colvin pushed to the extremes. In the seven years since her death in February 2012 – when the home she was staying in came under mortar attack by Assad forces – several books and films have come forth to honor and give a portrait of her life. Colvin passed away at the age of 56, with the final moments leading to her death a culmination of all she had fought against in her career.

Cultural Briefings

Jocelyne Saab: A Just Life

Filmmaker, Journalist, Photographer, Fighter for Justice Dies at 70

By

Al Jadid Staff

Jocelyne Saab belonged to a generation of Lebanese filmmakers and artists, often described as progressive and leftist, that emerged before, during, and after the Lebanese Civil War.

Killing of Famed Iraqi Author of ‘The Jewish Baths’ and ‘The Aging of Baghdad’ Sparks Growing Outrage

By Al Jadid Staff

The assassination of a leading Iraqi novelist and poet in the middle of a street in the holy Shiite city of Karbala on February 2 has sparked outrage inside and outside Iraq, raising speculation that he was the latest victim in the targeted killings of prominent figures that started last summer.

Alaa Mashzoub was fatally shot 13 times by two assailants on motorcycles outside his home in the neighborhood of Bab Al Khan. According to Amar Al Massodi, head of Karbala’s Literature Group, a branch of the Iraqi Literature Association of which Mashzoub had been a member, the writer was returning home from a weekly meeting when he was ambushed. On February 3, intellectuals and artists from Karbala staged a sit-in in protest. News media throughout the world continue to report and comment on the writer’s death.

Cultural Briefings

Native Daughter — Now Columbia University Dean — Returns to Lebanon to Design Beirut’s Museum of Arts

By Al Jadid Staff

Lebanese-born architect Amale Andraos and her company, WORKac, have been selected to design the future Beirut Museum of Art. The art museum, whose project had previously been awarded to Paris-based Lebanese architect Hala Wardé in a 2016 competition, will now be built under Andraos, featuring an open-view walkway that transforms the museum’s interior rooms into an “indoor-outdoor” space. The site, owned by Université Saint-Joseph, had marked the Green Line separating Muslim areas from Christian ones during the Lebanese civil war. The design is intended to “break down the barriers of the museum and allow members of the community open views and access,” in the words of Ali Oriaku from The Architect’s Newspaper. Oriaku emphasizes that the ‘“open museum” idea is especially significant when considering the building’s location on a site known for its history of religious segregation and conflict.”

Cultural Briefings

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