The Blue House: International experts join hands to rebuild a symbol of hope for Beirut 

The Blue House in August 2022 after restoration work. (Justine Chalfoun)
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Updated 23 September 2022
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The Blue House: International experts join hands to rebuild a symbol of hope for Beirut 

  • UK-based Honor Frost Foundation and the Beirut Heritage Initiative have restored an iconic building near the Beirut Port

DUBAI: The explosion that ripped through Beirut Port on August 4, 2020, devastated the Lebanese capital. Two years later, the city has not yet recovered from the damage and deaths caused that day.

The blast wrecked hundreds of heritage buildings located in the city’s historic neighborhoods of Mar Mikhaël and Gemmayzeh, many of which were already in a state of disrepair. The government has shown little interest in repairing them. The buildings that have been restored have relied largely on privately funded initiatives.

One such building is Medawar 479, also known as The Blue House. Situated on Beirut’s waterfront, close to what was the epicenter of the explosion, and previously a restaurant, this charming and significant site was one of the original shoreline’s cluster of more than 25 heritage buildings, many of which were destroyed in the explosion.




The Blue House on August, 7 2020. (Getty)

The Beirut Heritage Initiative was launched in the aftermath of the explosion to act as an independent and inclusive collective for the restoration of the city’s built cultural heritage. The BHI approached The Honor Frost Foundation, a maritime archaeology charity, in 2020 to collaborate on restoring The Blue House. Work began in November 2021.

“We launched BHI a few days after the blast. It was founded by architects, heritage experts, and activists that wanted to fundraise for the heritage buildings, mainly in Beirut, which were affected by the blast,” architect Yasmine Dagher of the BHI told Arab News. “In late 2020 we contacted the Honor Frost Foundation and proposed to them several buildings that used to be on the shoreline to have funding for the renovation of the buildings and HFF selected one out of the two buildings that we proposed.

“The funding for the renovation comes in exchange for the usage of the space for a certain number of years,” she continued.




A shot of Beirut Port in 1890 - The Blue House is on the waterfront, second from the left. (Supplied)

The owner of the building is now returning to the top floor of The Blue House, while the Honor Frost Foundation will occupy the first floor, she explained.

The late Honor Frost was an early pioneer of marine archaeology, and had a special connection with Lebanon, so it is fitting that the charity will now have an office in Beirut. The country was a key site of exploration for Frost from 1957 onwards, after she had completed her training under Jacques Cousteau’s diving partner, Frédéric Dumas.

Her work led her to the ancient harbors of Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, where she researched and documented coastal landscapes, harbor archaeology, site-formation processes, and anchors.

It was at these ancient sites that Frost’s interest in stone anchors began. In Byblos she spotted a series of them built into the Bronze Age temple and discovered similar anchors off the nearby coast, thus improving our knowledge of ancient maritime trade patterns.

Since its launch in 2010, the HFF has invested $3.3m in Lebanese projects, including creating an underwater archaeology course— the first of its kind — at the American University of Beirut, in addition to the granting of scholarships and the Beirut Port Project, a survey of the port area that provides an important overview of the city’s maritime cultural landscape.




Repainting the interiors. (Justine Chalfoun)

“She never thought of herself as a (female pioneer),” chair of HFF trustees, Alison Cathie, told Arab News of Frost. “She simply thought of herself as someone who was doing something for the world.”

And the charity that shares her name is carrying on that work, with the restoration of The Blue House. Once the home of an important merchant, but most recently a restaurant, The Blue House was erected in 1890. It is a fine example of the style of Beirut houses of the late 19th century. Its north façade would once have offered stunning, expansive views out over the Mediterranean Sea.

The restoration work was carried out over the course of a year and included structural consolidation and reconstruction of the pitched roof and the north façade, as well as interior work.  Architect-restorer Joe Kallas, supported by Distruct Solutions, Awaida for Construction and Engineering, and Yasmine El-Majzoub from the BHI team led the restoration process, which has actually revealed numerous previously unknown — or perhaps forgotten — features of the building.

Restoration work included the reinstation of a set of previously capped triple arches that formed the principal bay window overlooking the harbor. During the work, it was discovered that the central span had been vaulted and made into a rectangular shape during the 20th century.




Reconstructing the arches. (Yasmine El-Majzoub)

The team have now reinstated the original façade design, reusing materials found on site and employing traditional craft techniques to preserve the identity of the building. Among the highlights of the restoration work are the windows, which have been renovated, and rebuilt where necessary, in Lebanese cedar wood, using historic archives to recreate the original design and murals, which had lain hidden for decades, in delicate blue stenciling. These were uncovered and restored in the central halls on the first and second floors.

The restoration work is now fully complete. The next phase, the BHI team say, involves furnishing the home for occupation in spring 2023.

The Blue House was chosen as a focus for the HFF’s work chiefly for its commanding position on the former shoreline. But it will also provide a fitting office for the charity in Lebanon on completion, an office that will double as both a workspace and occasional exhibition space.   

“We have also done a complete assessment of the maritime archaeology at the port of Beirut for Lebanon’s director of antiquities,” Cathie said. “When it comes to rebuilding, they will know what goes where.”

“We hope this restoration project will encourage more people to visit the house and appreciate its heritage,” Dagher added. “Before the blast, heritage buildings were very private; not a lot of people had access to these kinds of buildings. The owner of The Blue House wants people to have awareness of it, and for Lebanon’s heritage to be accessible to citizens and to visitors.”


Photographs in Doha’s Tasweer photo festival explore belonging, identity and home in the Arab world

Updated 11 May 2025
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Photographs in Doha’s Tasweer photo festival explore belonging, identity and home in the Arab world

DOHA: A young Sudanese man sits in a chair dressed in an elegant off-white three-piece suit. He holds a small shotgun in one hand which he eyes solemnly while resting against the wall behind him on a crimson red tapestry is a rifle. The photograph is titled “Life Won’t Stop” and is one of several images by Sudanese photographer Mosab Abushama documenting his friend’s wedding in Omdurman, Sudan, a city constantly targeted by airstrikes.

The photograph is on view as part of the show “Tadween,” referring to the concept of recording of news and emotions through writing, photography, audio or video, and is one of several exhibitions in the third edition of Doha’s Tasweer Photo Festival, which runs until June 20.

“Life Won’t Stop” is one of several images by Sudanese photographer Mosab Abushama documenting his friend’s wedding in Omdurman, Sudan. (Supplied)

“Despite the clashes and random shelling in the city, the wedding was a simple but joyous occasion with family and friends,” wrote in the caption for the work. “The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023, brought horrors and displacement, forcing me to leave my childhood home and move to another part of the city. It was a time none of us ever expected to live through. Yet, this wedding was a reminder of the joy of everyday life still possible amidst the tragedy and despair.”

Abushama’s photograph earned recognition at the 2025 World Press Photo Awards in the Singles Africa category.

Abushama’s poignant image is one of many on show this year in the Tasweer Photo Festival that prompt deep reflection and compassion.

One of the numerous exhibitions on view is “Obliteration — Surviving The Inferno: Gaza’s Battle for Existence.” The images are displayed outside in Doha’s Katara Cultural Village unfolding in five stages to capture each chapter thus far of the war on Gaza. Each image, such as Abdulrahman Zaqout’s “When Food and Water Become Weapons,” has been shot by a Gazan photographer on the ground to witness and experience the catastrophe. From children extending bowls for food to mothers comforting terrified children, each image recounts the tales of horror that continue to unfold as the war in Gaza continues.

One of the numerous exhibitions on view is “Obliteration — Surviving The Inferno: Gaza’s Battle for Existence.” (Supplied)

“As I Lay Between Two Seas,” another exhibition in the festival, is at the Doha Fire Station. Curated by Meriem Berrada, an independent curator and artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary African Art Al Maaden in Marrakech, the exhibition is a poignant and poetic display of 25 photographers from the Arab world and its diasporas grappling and coming to terms with ideas of identity, belonging and home.

“(The exhibition) approaches belonging not as a fixed state, but as a fluid, evolving condition shaped by memory, distance, rupture, and imagination,” Berrada told Arab News. “The exhibition unfolds through a non-linear narrative that invites diverse temporalities and perspectives to coexist.”

“As I Lay Between Two Seas,” another exhibition in the festival, is at the Doha Fire Station. (Supplied)

The title of the exhibition is drawn from a photographic series by Ali Al-Shehabi that conjures up a metaphor that speaks to the fluid, ever changing idea of understanding the self.

“Guided by the metaphor of the sea — shifting, unstable, and expansive — it draws inspiration from poets of the region whose writings on exile and longing offer a conceptual and emotional foundation,” Berrada said. “The selected works span a wide spectrum from documentary to conceptual and abstract practices. These works examine family and community dynamics, spiritual and philosophical relationships, and the sociopolitical structures that influence selfhood. They explore the symbolic ties to one’s roots, often shaped by personal memory and collective histories.”

From Lebanese artist Ziad Antar’s dreamy and edgy photographs of abandoned and unfinished buildings in Beirut and on the Lebanese coast and Saudi artist Moath Alofi’s series of desolated mosques along the winding road to Madinah, Saudi Arabia, to Palestinian Taysir Batniji’s “Just in Case #2” (2024), portraying images of a series of keys representative of feelings of loss and exile, the photographic works on show oscillate between feelings of pride, belonging, loss and longing.

The "Al Mihrab" exhibition at Doha Fire Station. (Supplied)

A poem by Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish titled “I Belong There,” appears on one wall between the display of several photographs reflecting through words many of the feelings expressed in the images on display. “I belong there. I have many memories. I was born as everyone is born […] I have lived on the land long before swords turned man into prey. I belong there.”

Elsewhere in Tasweer, a solo exhibition at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art on the works of Moroccan photographer and filmmaker Daoud Aoulad-Syad titled “Territories of the Instant” presents the essence of Moroccan popular culture and remote regions in the country. Another exhibition, “Threads of Light: Stories from the Tasweer Single Image Awards,” presents 31 captivating images from 2023 and 2024 awards highlighting the extraordinary in daily life, including sacred traditions in Oman, dynamic street scenes in Yemen and moments of contemporary change in Iraq and picturesque marine views of traditional boats in Doha.

As Berrada said of the festival, which can arguably apply to numerous works and shows in Tasweer this year: “It also reflects on the photographic medium itself — how image-making can question fixed and often deterministic categories of belonging and become a powerful tool for reimagining identity in a deeply interconnected world.”

 


Loli Bahia fronts Chanel’s latest jewelry campaign

Updated 10 May 2025
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Loli Bahia fronts Chanel’s latest jewelry campaign

DUBAI: Chanel cannot get enough of French Algerian model Loli Bahia. The French luxury house has tapped the model once again to front its latest campaign for the Chanel No. 5 jewelry collection.

The new pieces combine gold and diamonds to form the shape of the number five, a symbol closely associated with the brand’s identity. The collection includes rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings, all inspired by the enduring allure of the No. 5 brand.

In the campaign images, Bahia was seen wearing various pieces from the line, including number five-shaped drop earrings, a diamond pendant necklace, a gold bracelet featuring the numeral and matching rings. The designs incorporate both yellow and white gold and are detailed with diamonds.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by CHANEL (@chanelofficial)

Bahia has collaborated with Chanel on several occasions. Most recently, in January, she opened the runway show during Paris Haute Couture Week wearing an ensemble that combined the house’s signature tweed with pastel quilting.

The look featured a jacket with a quilted front panel in soft shades of pink, blue, yellow and green, contrasted with white tweed sleeves. The jacket was detailed with front pockets and Chanel’s signature buttons.

The in-demand model also wore a white tweed mini skirt, paired with a slim black belt featuring a gold buckle. The outfit was completed with two-tone Mary Jane heels in black and white, secured with gold buckle-adorned ankle straps.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by CHANEL (@chanelofficial)

In May 2024, she walked the Chanel Cruise 2024/2025 show in Marseille, France.

Bahia donned a green ensemble, composed of a knee-length pencil skirt paired with a matching top, layered over a white shirt boasting a hoodie collar.

That same year, in June, she walked for the brand during Paris Fashion Week as part of its fall/winter 2024-2025 collection unveiling.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by CHANEL (@chanelofficial)

She graced the runway in a two-piece ensemble comprising a tailored buttoned jacket complemented by a matching knee-length skirt in a delicate tweed fabric. Both garments were adorned with subtle black tassel details.

The model’s first campaign with Chanel was in 2022, when she was just 19 years old. It was Chanel’s Metiers d’Art spring 2022 campaign, shot by fashion photographer Mikael Jansson.

In the campaign, Bahia displayed the savoir faire of artisans via tailored jackets, logo-emblazoned leather gloves, wide-brimmed hats, embellished mini-dresses and ornate bangles, necklaces and earrings.


Where We Are Going Today: Matcha Cloud

Updated 10 May 2025
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Where We Are Going Today: Matcha Cloud

There is something instantly charming about Matcha Cloud — from the soft pink packaging to the handwritten “To the matcha lover only” on the box.

This brand knows its audience, and it delivers an experience that feels like a warm, cozy hug.

I ordered everything separately: the Premium Ceremonial Grade Matcha that came with a cute sleeve, and four flavor syrups — Apple Pie, Gingerbread, Caramel Gingerbread, and Cinnamon Cookie.

Each item came in one box, with themed packaging that made the whole order feel cohesive and thoughtful.

The matcha itself is fresh, smooth and vibrant — exactly what you want from ceremonial grade.

It blended well with oat milk and delivered a balanced, clean taste without bitterness. The sleeve was perfect for holding my cup around.

Now to the flavor syrups, they are playful and creative. Especially the cinnamon cookie one, which gave cozy winter vibes.

But if I am being honest, the taste of the syrups was not as deep or rich as I hoped. They add sweetness and aroma, but I found myself wishing they had more natural flavor and less artificial aftertaste.

Still, for matcha lovers who enjoy a touch of customization or want to try fun new twists, Matcha Cloud offers a refreshing take.

It is not just about quality, it is about joy — and this brand knows how to deliver that.

For more information, check their Instagram @matcha.cloud.ksa.
 


Pakistani artists unite in powerful show of solidarity to raise funds for Gaza

Updated 09 May 2025
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Pakistani artists unite in powerful show of solidarity to raise funds for Gaza

  • The participants reflection on the Palestinian cause through dialogue, paintings, sculptures, theater, music and film
  • Proceeds of the artworks sold at the humanitarian art camp and others up for auction will go to the Palestinian embassy

ISLAMABAD: Around 150 Pakistani artists gathered in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to participate in a eight-day humanitarian art camp to raise funds for people affected by Israeli military offensive in Gaza, the head of Silk Road Culture Center said this week, in a remarkable show of solidarity with the Palestinians.

The camp, “Art for Life – Art for Gaza,” brought together musicians, writers and performers from across Pakistan who presented series of multidisciplinary performances and visual art displays to raise funds for the war-torn people of Gaza.

The event began on April 30 and ended on May 7, amid renewed Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave. Israeli’s 18-month war against Hamas has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, Palestinian officials say.

“The idea [behind the event] was to empathize with the suffering people of Palestine,” Jamal Shah, chairman of the Silk Road Culture Center, told Arab News on Wednesday, without sharing details of the total funds raised.

Jamal Shah, Pakistani artist and chairman of Silk Road Culture Center, records live art performance to express solidarity with Gaza, in Islamabad on May 6, 2025. (AN Photo)

A wide range of artworks, including paintings, sculptures, calligraphy, origami and mixed media, were created, exhibited and sold at the event, according to Shah. Many of the pieces are still up for auction, with proceeds pledged to the Palestinian embassy in Pakistan to support humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza.

The participating artists engaged in dialogue around the Palestinian cause and expressed their reflections through paintings, sculptures, theater, music and film at the event.

“My depiction shows their flag and different elements. The golden color represents pain and the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” said Atif Ayub, a contemprary artist from Lahore, describing his installation that combined symbolic imagery focusing on the year 1988 that marked the establishment of the State of Palestine.

“It’s all about shared humanity and emotion.”

Pakistani artists paint during a live performance in solidarity with the people of Gaza, at the Silk Road Culture Center in Islamabad on May 6, 2025. (AN Photo)

The final two days featured live painting sessions, with artists painting silhouettes of performers in real time. These sessions were accompanied by musical performances, skits and poetry readings.

Pakistani singers and musicians such as Arieb, 360 Degrees, Maddy and Sam performed original pieces dedicated to Palestine, contributing to the emotional tone of the event.

Zeeshan Usman Khattak, a filmmaker from the northwestern city of Peshawar, said their collaborative work was a visual metaphor for the crisis in Gaza.

“There was a live performance behind the canvas and we were capturing the shadows,” Khattak said of their live performance. “Those movements reflected the dance of life and death, the aggression, the loss.”

Visitors attend the eight-day art workshop to express solidarity with the people of Gaza, at the Silk Road Culture Center in Islamabad on May 6, 2025. (AN Photo)

Wednesday’s closing ceremony was attended by ambassadors from Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen, Qatar, Syria and Romania, along with cultural attachés from China and Iran as well as representatives from the French film community.

Summera Jawad, a professor who teaches fine arts at Lahore’s Punjab University, highlighted the community-driven nature of the initiative.

“Artists are not just performing or creating here, they’re also contributing to the exhibition and donating their artworks for the cause,” she said.


Saudi ‘farm for experimentation’ on show in Milan exhibition 

Updated 09 May 2025
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Saudi ‘farm for experimentation’ on show in Milan exhibition 

  • The curators of the Saudi Pavilion at the Triennale Milano discuss their Al-Ahsa-inspired work 

AL-AHSA: Saudi Arabia’s lush oasis of Al-Ahsa will be in full bloom in Italy next week at the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, which runs from May 13 to Nov. 9 at Milan’s Palazzo dell’Arte. 

Al-Ahsa is officially recognized as the world’s largest oasis, and is home to more than 2.5 million date palms.  

The Kingdom’s debut pavilion at the exhibition is “Maghras: A Farm for Experimentation,” which, according to the exhibition’s website, is “structured as a transplanted maghras — a unit of land demarcated by four palm trees” and “symbolically frames the dialogues, material traces, soundscapes of field recordings, and speculative gestures emerging from the space.” 

Date harvest spread across two maghras_Image by Alejandro Stein. (Supplied)

The pavilion, commissioned by the Architecture and Design Commission under the Ministry of Culture, and curated by longtime friends Lulu Almana and Sara Al-Omran, along with US-based creative director Alejandro Stein, is inspired by Al-Ahsa’s Al-Sbakh Farm, established by the late Noura AlMousa. The farm is now managed by the Abdulmonem Alrashed Humanitarian Foundation (named after its founder, AlMousa’s son) and the Noura AlMousa House for Culture and Arts, housed in AlMousa’s former home. 

“We’re really continuing on the lineage of the matriarch,” Al-Omran tells Arab News when we meet the curators at the farm. “Her spirit feels very present because she really cared about craft and culture.” 

Almana and Al-Omran commissioned three Saudi artists to work on the pavilion: Leen Ajlan, a London-based designer from Jeddah; Mohammad Alfaraj, a contemporary artist whose family have been farming in Al-Ahsa for generations; and Tara Aldughaither, founder of Sawtasura, an audio research and learning platform focused primarily on female voices.  

(Supplied)

Through videos, sound installations, and participatory programs, the pavilion will invite visitors to engage with the evolving agricultural ecosystems of Al-Ahsa.  

The maghras concept symbolically ties the exhibition to the land, offering an immersive experience that bridges past traditions with contemporary agricultural practices. 

“Technically, there are three participating artists but it’s more than that — there is a big team,” Almana says. “Then there’s all the research that’s being displayed through illustrations and maps and texts that the team worked on. There’s also all the programs and workshops that have been a big part of it.” The fruits of this collective effort will be published in a book later this year.   

Al-Omran explains that her grandparents are from Al-Ahsa. “I always hear, particularly from my grandfather, these stories of Al-Ahsa. And when he speaks about it, it feels like this mythical place that doesn’t really connect to what I see here (now),” she says. “I grew up in (Alkhobar), but would come here every week. Many of my best memories were here; running around on the farm, seeing the frogs and the rabbits and the sheep and playing around. And also understanding seasons and seeing crops and produce. But through conversations with him, I saw this contrast of the place that he talks about and the place I’m witnessing. And I realize that it’s really within a lifetime that the environment has shifted so much.” 

A workshop in the ancient village of Battaliyah_Image courtesy of Maghras. (Supplied)

Al-Omran’s family, including her grandfather, attended the opening event at Al-Sbakh Farm last autumn, where they saw their hometown celebrated in a new light. 

“They’re proud. They’re really happy to see that Al-Ahsa is spoken about,” Al-Omran says. “They see that it’s not just about the past, but a way of thinking about the future.” 

The unfolding narrative of the project has emphasized community engagement. “It was really nice and natural,” says Almana. “It didn’t feel forced in any way. People were saying, ‘You’re doing something important.’ It felt impactful despite its small gestures.” 

After nearly a decade of living abroad in large, congested cities including London and New York, Almana says the initial intention for this project, for her, “was that I needed to get rooted into a place, build knowledge, and build a community of like-minded people who share similar concerns, questions and values: How do we preserve the identity of a place that’s constantly changing? How do we share our concerns and ideas for regeneration, for reviving certain things? It matters to build a community around these questions. Then everything becomes more meaningful and interesting.” 

Almana had only visited Al-Ahsa briefly up until five years ago, during COVID, when she finally spent a significant amount of time there. She found the place inspirational. “It hit me that there’s this urban-rural tension. The big cities get attention, but the rural, historic agricultural places are overshadowed. I wanted to dive into agriculture and build a community of like-minded people,” she says. 

Almana’s partnership with Al-Omran added an insider’s perspective to the project. In Milan, visitors will experience the “true essence” of Al-Ahsa, the pair say.  

“We really wanted to represent Maghras in the most authentic way,” Almana explains. “It’s a community-based project within a morphing landscape, not just a static thing.” 

And Milan, she hopes, is just the start. “We want this to grow into something longer-term, and we’ve conveyed that to the ministry, which supports this vision,” she says. 

Al-Omran stresses the amount of research that was involved in creating the pavilion. “We’re looking at a display of research material that we assembled for our first event back in October. And at that point we had spent about three or four months looking at archival research and doing a lot of interviews.” 

The first activation was both a presentation and a checkpoint.  

“We wanted to take a moment to sift through the material we’d come across and the conversations we’d listened to. It was important to do that during the opening, where we welcomed the community and spoke about the project, because it was important to hear people’s reflections on the research as it emerges; we felt that would influence the direction,” she says. 

“Sometimes we don’t really realize what’s lost until generations have passed. And it felt like we were in a moment where the shifts are happening,” she continues. “So it felt urgent to talk about it now, while that generation is still around.”