Beirut, Saturday September 20, 2014 - The inauguration of the 5th edition of BEIRUT ART FAIR was held at BIEL, under the patronage and in the presence of Mrs. Lama Tammam Salam; Mrs. Anne Marie Afeiche, the representative of the minister of culture; Mrs. Laure d'Hauteville, founder and director of the fair; the organizing committee of the fair, officials, ambassadors, and representatives of sponsors, partner institutions, galleries and the media.
More than 8000 visitors attended the first day to discover 47 galleries from 14 countries where the artists represented all the trends of modern and contemporary art and expressed themselves through painting, drawing, sculpture, video, design or performance.
Lama Tammam Salam viewed this fair as an added value to Lebanon, with the impressive works displayed and designed by highly talented artists.
She believed that through the wonderful creativity on show, this fair embodies a dialogue of cultures, with all the perspectives it has in Lebanon, in the Arab region and Internationally.
Underlining its broad vision of art and of its current challenges, BEIRUT ART FAIR 2014 renewed itself via new poles in line with the evolutions of the art market, and it included this year: The Indian pavilion "Small Art is Beautiful - Dharma", curated by Fabrice Bousteau, that puts in the forefront small format works, the BLC Bank Design platform, with the selection of Philippe Trétiack, which is dedicated to Lebanese and international designers, the Byblos Bank Award for Photography that has become a unique platform for Lebanese photographers, an engraving workshop by Fadi Mogabgab and with the support of BankMed, in addition to the "video projects" with the "Body Politics" program curated by Silke Schmickl that allows the discovery of various ME.NA.SA. trends of the video art.
According to Laure d'Hauteville "The enthusiasm created since the launching of the BEIRUT ART FAIR reveals the artistic and economic development within the ME.NA.SA region. It is a fair where emerging artists experience new discoveries and where modern art pioneers in the region have the chance to make rediscoveries. We are proud to provide a platform for these art creations. Our motivation is to build bridges between cultures, between the Middle East, Europe and Asia, and our passion is to promote an interplanetary dialogue which is mainly based on art."
BEIRUT ART FAIR is open until Sunday September 21, 2014 from 3:30 pm till 9:30 pm.
