Beirut Art Center

Beirut Art Center Beirut Art Center is a non-profit association, space, and platform dedicated to contemporary art.

Stayha on the Rooftop | Music performance Thursday, May 14 • 8 PM, doors open at 7 PMYaba & Moussa with Inger HannisdalK...
08/05/2026

Stayha on the Rooftop | Music performance

Thursday, May 14 • 8 PM, doors open at 7 PM

Yaba & Moussa with Inger Hannisdal
Kays
Jaafar

Kays aka “Ibn al-Mulawwah” is a music producer from south Lebanon who grew up surrounded by the Arabic rhythms and percussions of his father’s folkloric dance group/zaffeh, Layali Al Ouns, since he was five years old. He began in 2019 creating hip-hop beats and techno music, and now blends Arabic rhythms and deep electronic textures, pads, synth and 808s to create his unique sound.

Jaafar Touffar is a Lebanese rapper and song writer, blending Lebanese musical folklore with contemporary rap, creating powerful and unique sounds. He is today a prominent voice in the alternative music scene across Lebanon and the Arab region, spreading his talent as ongoing innovative art but also as platform for social and political protest and expression.

Yaba is a composer, producer, and saxophone player. Moussa is a singer who explores vocal textures and sound expression through Mawawil, Fraqiyat, and Aataba. Friends since childhood, they started a project to blend their musical worlds. Their work combines the toughness imposed on them in order to survive with the gentleness their ancestors preserved in the way they treated their land.
Born in Norway and based in Oslo with Beirut as a second home, Inger Hannisdal is perhaps still best known for being the violinist of Syrian folk band Assa’aleek. She is influenced by both Arabic maqam and Norwegian folk music, often working from the similarities between them - resulting in a musical language that is distinctive and personal.

Tickets:
$15 regular
$25 support
$5 reduced

As part of BAC’s solidarity program, we are hosting Stayha on our rooftop. Stayha is a family-run cultural space from Kf...
07/05/2026

As part of BAC’s solidarity program, we are hosting Stayha on our rooftop. Stayha is a family-run cultural space from Kfar Rumman that was forced to close and lost its ability to sustain itself. They will be with us every week from May 14 till June 13, running their herbal bar rooted in the plants and knowledge of the south. They will be programming the space with artists from the south who have been displaced or who lost their practice spaces and means of sustaining themselves over the past months. All proceeds will go directly to support Stayha and their community of artists.
‫‬
‫‎ضمن برنامج باك التضامني، نستضيف 'سطيحة' على سطح المركز.‬
‫‎'سطيحة' مساحة ثقافية عائلية من كفررمان، اضطرت إلى إغلاق أبوابها وفقدت قدرتها على الاستمرار وتأمين موردها.‬
‫‎من 14 أيار حتى 13 حزيران، ستكون سطيحة معنا أسبوعيًا، حيث ستدير بارًا للأعشاب مستوحى من نباتات الجنوب ومعارفه وتقاليده. كما ستتولى برمجة المساحة بالتعاون مع فنانين وفنانات من الجنوب، ممن اضطروا للنزوح أو فقدوا مساحات عملهم وسبل عيشهم خلال الأشهر الماضية.‬
‫‎جميع العائدات ستذهب مباشرة لدعم 'سطيحة' ومجتمع الفنانين المحيط بها.‬

Quarter BAC is a dispatch from inside the practice. It appears four times a year, in the present tense, without retrospe...
06/05/2026

Quarter BAC is a dispatch from inside the practice. It appears four times a year, in the present tense, without retrospective comfort. It is the public face of BAC 20: Twenty Moves Toward the Future, our three-year plan for what Beirut Art Center is becoming as it moves toward its twentieth year. Subscribe to our newsletter, linked in the bio, to receive future dispatches and upcoming activations.

20/03/2026

Thursday and Friday, March 19 and 20 | 12pm to 7pm
Orange Blossom Distillation

Join us for two days of distillation: blossoms harvested from farmers in Darb El Sim and Jadra, filling the space with the scent of orange blossom, the waters distributed to those unable to do their own this season.

This is a ritual many families of the South, forcefully displaced from their land, can no longer practice. Our culture is held by the yearly rhythm of these traditions: the ones that orient how we gather, how we care, how we feed each other. That form, scent by scent, the anatomy of who we are. This is an act of solidarity with the farmers and keepers of this ritual, and with all who have been working to keep each other fed and warm.

On Friday, 4 to 6pm: storytelling and facilitated arts practice, coinciding with Eid el Fitr.

The space is open for whoever it may serve. To be part of the distillation. To harvest stories in writing, on canvas, in clay, between each other. This is the first of several gatherings at BAC centering the land traditions quietly suffering in these very loud, destructive moments. A refuge for those who need it.

We hope to see you here.

With the support of of Nathalie Abi Khalil, and the Temporary Hearths in Essential Times crowdfund by Azul Tohme.

Due to the recent escalation of Zionist attacks across Lebanon and the evacuation orders affecting the South, villages a...
07/03/2026

Due to the recent escalation of Zionist attacks across Lebanon and the evacuation orders affecting the South, villages across the Beqaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, Beirut Art Center is placing all scheduled programming on an indefinite pause.

Our doors, however, remain open.

In moments like these, the center returns to its most essential role: a place to gather, to support one another, and to remain present.

• Room for Practice remains open to all, to gather, rest, share tea, coordinate, charge devices, or simply be. Art materials remain available for anyone who wishes to use them.

• Pillows of Hope — have reactivated their sewing station at our Central Hall, producing pillows for displaced communities.
To volunteer, donate, or request pillows for distribution: +961 81 409 881

• Beit Aam — are using the front of the Central Hall as a donation distribution point.
To volunteer or contribute, please contact them directly: +961 76 137 223

Opening hours:
Tuesday–Saturday, 12–7pm

For any questions, please reach out to us directly.

Take care of yourselves and of each other.

Three months of Slow Burn: a steady flame shaped by Danielle Makhoul’s vision, the generosity and depth of the artists, ...
01/03/2026

Three months of Slow Burn: a steady flame shaped by Danielle Makhoul’s vision, the generosity and depth of the artists, the dedication of our team, and the presence of every visitor who chose to spend time with the works. Thank you to everyone who built, supported, and experienced this exhibition with us. Together, we allowed something to unfold at its own pace, and in doing so, we found each other inside it.

ثلاثة أشهر من «على وشك»: شعلةٌ متّقدة بثبات، صاغتها رؤية دانييل مخّول، وكرم الفنانين وعمق تجاربهم، والتزام فريقنا، وحضور كل زائر اختار أن يمنح الأعمال من وقته.
شكرًا لكل من ساهم في بناء هذا المعرض ودعمه واختباره معنا. معًا، أتحنا لشيءٍ ما أن يتكشف على مهل، وعلى إيقاعه الخاص، وفي ذلك وجد كلٌّ منّا الآخر في داخله.

28/02/2026

As we close Slow Burn, we end where it truly began, with Danielle Makhoul’s vision. In this final reel, Danielle speaks about conceiving the exhibition as a space of quiet intensity, where works unfold gradually and conversations are allowed to simmer rather than spark and disappear. For her, Slow Burn was about creating a rhythm between artists, gestures, and materials that rewards patience and attention. Thank you Danielle for the care, clarity, and conviction you brought to this exhibition, and for reminding us that some fires are meant to glow slowly, deeply, and together.

مع اقترابنا من ختام “على وشك”، ننهي من حيث بدأ كلّ شيء حقًا، مع رؤية دانييل مخّول. في هذا المقطع الأخير، تتحدّث دانييل عن تصوّرها للمعرض كمساحة ذات كثافة هادئة، حيث تتكشّف الأعمال تدريجيًا وتُمنح الحوارات الوقت لتغلي على مهل بدل أن تشتعل وتختفي سريعًا. بالنسبة لها، كان “على وشك” يدور حول خلق إيقاع بين الفنانين والإيماءات والمواد، إيقاع يكافئ الصبر والانتباه. شكرًا لكِ دانييل على العناية والوضوح والقناعة التي جلبتِها إلى هذا المعرض، ولتذكيرنا بأن بعض النيران خُلِقت لتتوهّج ببطء، بعمق، ومعًا.

Exhibition | 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 | Younes Ben SlimaneWe knew how beautiful they were, these islands, 2022Film, color, sound, 20’Co...
28/02/2026

Exhibition | 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 | Younes Ben Slimane
We knew how beautiful they were, these islands, 2022
Film, color, sound, 20’
Courtesy of the artist and Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains.

ʹHarragas′ translates to ʺburnersʺ from Algerian Arabic and refers to North African migrants who illegally immigrate to Europe by sea. The term is not only used in reference to burning through borders by undertaking a dangerous journey, but also alludes to the migrants› practice of burning their personal documents in order to prevent identification by authorities once they reach Europe.
With no dialogue – and no sound other than the wind, the crackling of a fire and the scrape of a shovel against dry earth – Younes Ben Slimane’s film confronts us with the melancholic reality of Harragas’ choices. A lone figure digs a grave in the middle of night in a desert burial ground on the Tunisian coast, where every object seems haunted by a meaning we barely sense but which seems to confirm our anxieties. The head of an old doll, a comb, a lipstick. Relics whose silent language speaks of the dead of their former owners.
—
Younes Ben Slimane (b. 1992, Tunisia) is a Tunisian artist and filmmaker. His practice lies at the intersection of cinema, architecture, and visual arts. By returning to specific sites, his work reactivates what remains unresolved—favoring gestures of reappearance and reassembly.

Exhibition | 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 | Nesrine SalemWhat is the residue left from setting a black puddle on fire?, 2023Film, 26’37”Act...
28/02/2026

Exhibition | 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 | Nesrine Salem
What is the residue left from setting a black puddle on fire?, 2023
Film, 26’37”
Actress: Chaïma Boumaaz
Sound design: Zoé Leber
VFX 3D: Igor Dubreucq
Graphic design: Louise Dib - Chimbo

“ I was the puddle, the dormant Algerian oil...” Nesrine Salem’s video begins from the premise that she, or someone like her from the Algerian diaspora in France, could be set ablaze. Fire in this case is a metaphor for both the rage and the trauma carried by those who live with the double inheritance of racism and loss. The video comprises eleven monologues written and directed by Salem and acted by Chaima Boumaaz. The script was conceived and acted in English to distance the narrative from both of the artist’s first languages, French and Arabic. Through its play on language and interlacing metaphors, Salem’s work articulates the impossibility of living in the breach between Algeria and France. “How funny to be scared of materializing your loss / But I also never had a place, or a plaque to mourn, your loss” Salem writes, without giving a referent for whom she has lost, or where. “I got a seat at the table but I cannot bite, I cannot bark,” Boumaaz says, in another scene. There is no place to mourn, but there is no agency in the substitute for that kind of belonging, either. The tension revealed in Salem’s work tension is structural, part of colonization’s long inheritance.»
Natasha Marie Llorens, curator
—
Nesrine Salem (b. 1995, ?) is a visual artist and author. Through her written and visual polyglossia, she celebrates the plurality of her identity and conducts research on intergenerational trauma, tokenism, and mourning practices. She creates short films, performances, and installations.

Exhibition | 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 | Ghida Anouti, Hajar Alrifai,and Juan M. ChávezTraveling Laundry Line, 2024Film, 14’12”Our garme...
28/02/2026

Exhibition | 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 | Ghida Anouti, Hajar Alrifai,
and Juan M. Chávez
Traveling Laundry Line, 2024
Film, 14’12”

Our garments live an endless cycle of renewal, washing away, healing and mending, masking and forgetting. However, the laundromat is not only a site of economic exchange; to many immigrant communities, it is a means of survival and placemaking. The act of washing clothes is steeped in distant memories of home, of our mothers, of the riverbank, where the act of laundering clothes was a collective gathering of hands and voices. Perhaps the laundry machine: both witness to and accomplice in the act of forgetting, also yearns to be elsewhere, to remember. In Traveling Laundry Line, a lonely immigrant embarks on a melancholic journey home through a time-traveling laundry machine.
Special thanks to: Nida Sinnokrot
Voices: Hajar Alrifai, Ghida Anouti, Maríía Gabriela Carucci, María Teresa Fernández del Busto, Ilham Almahamid, Randa Matar Anouti, Carmen Rosa Álvarez
Faces: Sara Ghandour
Poems: Clothesline by Mohamad Nasserddine, River by Shuntaro Tanikawa
Songs: Mexican Dream by Piero Piccioni, Sanarjiou Yawman by Fairuz
—
Ghida Anouti (b. 1998, Lebanon ) is an artist, writer, and architect. Her work lies at the intersection of design, semiotics, and audiovisual culture. She investigates violent acoustic ecologies and experimental cinema as indices of urban transformation, particularly in postwar Lebanon.
Hajar Alrifai (b. 1995, USA) is an interdisciplinary designer whose research investigates the intersections between historic preservation, oral history, and film.
Juan M. Chávez (b. 1995, Mexico) is an artist and architect. His work explores traces as agents of cultural potential, continually shifting under tensions that retransform, and reinterpret them.

Address

Location: Jisr El Wati, Building SAFE (Just In Front Of Souk El Ahad/Sunday Market), Street 93, Zone 66 Adlieh
Beirut

Opening Hours

Tuesday 12:00 - 19:00
Wednesday 12:00 - 19:00
Thursday 12:00 - 19:00
Friday 12:00 - 19:00
Saturday 12:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+9611397018

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