The Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon after
the explosion. Photo by Patrick P/AFP via Getty Images.
Beirut suffered massive explosions on Tuesday,
leaving the Lebanese capital in disarray with at least 137 dead and over 5,000
injured, according to CNN. Included in the destruction were several galleries
and museums in Beirut’s celebrated art scene, which experienced severe damage.
Marfa Gallery and Galerie Tanit, both located
close to the Port of Beirut, where the explosions occurred, have been
destroyed. The evening before the eruption, Galerie Tanit had hosted a private
viewing for Lebanese artist Abed Al Kadiri’s solo show “Remains of the Last Red
Rose,” which was slated to be up through September 25th. Opera Gallery’s Beirut
outpost has also suffered from the blasts.
The Sursock Museum, which reopened to the
public in 2015 after an expensive renovation, was critically damaged, along
with several artworks at the museum. None of the museum staff were injured. In
the 1960s, the institution served as the center of cultural life in Beirut.
Zeina Arida, the museum’s director, was at the museum when the explosion
happened. She told The Art Newspaper:
This is the strongest explosion I have ever
witnessed. The museum is devastated. A lot of damage has been done to the
structure of the building at a time when the dollar in Lebanon is so high that
I don’t know how we will afford to buy new glass for the skylights, the
windows, and the exit doors. We don’t have the means to buy new materials. It’s
horrible to see five years of work in utter destruction—even during the civil
war it wasn’t this bad.
The Lebanese state-run National News Agency
reported that the explosions were caused by a fire near the Port of Beirut.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, said an investigation would take place
regarding an estimated 2,750 tons of an explosive ammonium nitrate that had
been stored at the site for years. The explosions come after months of protests, which began in
October 2019, over political corruption and stalled reforms.
Daria Harper
https://www.artsy.net/news/artsy-editorial-massive-explosions-beirut-devastated-citys-art-community
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