Rebuilding Beirut: The Artists of Lebanon Come Together to Restore Their Capital to its Former Glory
Two months after Lebanon experienced the massive explosion that took place at Beirut’s port on the 4th of August and killed more than 190 people and wounded thousands more, destroying houses and sources of income for even more people! In addition to that, the explosion ravaged dozens of Beirut’s most cherished heritage buildings.
Several artists in Lebanon are making a huge effort to restore artworks devastated in the disaster. We firmly believe that everyone needs to show appreciation to those artists and invite people to take similar initiatives in order to restore Beirut’s beauty.
One of those artists is the Lebanese stained glass artist Maya Husseini, who hoped to retire after decades spent designing colorful windows, but she has been flooded with work since the blast that ripped through Beirut.
Before the explosion, she had planned to retire after completing glass windows for one last cathedral in Jordan. “But now I won’t allow myself to stop,” she said.
Another artist that making an effort to help is artwork conservation specialist Gaby Maamary, who is offering to restore damaged paintings for free. He was inspired after seeing Lebanese youths sweeping away seas of rubble and glass after the blast and decided to channel his skills towards preserving Beirut’s heritage.
According to the Jordan Times, UNESCO has said it will hold a conference to try to drum up hundreds of millions of dollars for restorations. But until that aid arrives, the Lebanese are doing what they can on their own. Let’s hope that more artists get inspired by role models like Maamary and Husseini.
