Abraham Karabajakian has high hopes for Lebanon’s art and culture. Together with his partner Roger Akoury, whose museum in Bucharest is also featured in this publication, the Armenian-born insurance broker has assembled a collection over the past twenty years with works by nearly all of Lebanon’s most important artists. But the collectors do not see their collection as art for art’s sake. Instead, they want to use art to help bring people together in a country that has been shaken by civil war and crisis. The art space they founded in 2011 plays a pioneering role: before, hardly anyone was thinking about a museum for modern and contemporary Lebanese art, whereas now planning for a civic institution is in full swing. The Beirut Museum of Art (BeMA) will also showcase permanent loans from their private collection—meanwhile, works by artists such as Etel Adnan, Mona Hatoum, Nabil Nahas, or Akram Zaatari await visitors in the Waterfront City.

Berlin-based journalist Frauke Schlieckau works as Deputy Editorial Director at Kobalt Productions where she oversees the European cultural magazine show Metropolis by Arte. She holds a PhD in literature studies, and as a writer and director she produces documentaries, reportages, and artist portraits for Arte, 3Sat, ZDF, and Deutsche Welle.

Image courtesy KA Art Space, Beirut, Lebanon