Beirut’s art fair opens with events

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The fair is asserting its role and its influence on international art scenes.

The third edition of the Beirut Art Fair, an international fair of modern and contemporary art, opened yesterday at the Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center (BIEL), with 43 galleries from the Middle East, Europe and North Africa, showcasing their flagship artists.

The fair is asserting its role and its influence on established and emerging international art scenes and wishes to define its status as a hybrid fair. Alongside the galleries, numerous exhibitions will enrich the cultural program in the fields of street art, VJing, comic strips, video, sculpture and installation. In addition to these events, a series of lectures and roundtables will take place, reaffirming the role of Beirut as the cultural capital of the region. Professionals from the world of art as well as collectors and critics will exchange ideas pertaining to different subjects in order to understand contemporary art coming from the Middle East, North Africa, southern Africa and Asia.

The 43 participating galleries represent all facets of plastic contemporary art. This year the fair has expanded its scope to include design, with several international design galleries exhibiting work in Beirut in July. The fair has accentuated its exceptional artistic initiative with the support of cultural institutions.