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Bachar Bzeih

Sursock Museum To Re-Open This Week!

Lebanon’s beloved Sursock Museum is set to re-open its doors to visitors at 7:30 PM this Friday, May 26. The historic site was significantly damaged by the August 4 explosion and was subsequently forced to close for the past three years. After re-opening, the site will return as a premiere cultural hub in Beirut, with new and returning exhibitions unfurling at the museum every week.

The Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum is a modern and contemporary art museum that first opened in 1961. It considers its mission to be the collection, preservation, and exhibition of local and international art. The historic museum also strives “to provide a platform for encounter and experimentation with art and ideas, and to inform and challenge different audiences and communities in new and unexpected ways.

According to the museum’s website, here are some of the collections, events, and exhibitions that will welcome visitors after re-opening:

– Earthly Praxis, curated by Marie-Nour Hechaime, from May 26, 2023 until November 12, 2023.
– Je suis inclute! The Salon d’Automne and the National Canon, curated by Natasha Gasparian and Ziad Kiblawi, from May 26, 2023 until May 19, 2024.
– Beyond Ruptures, a Tentative Chronology, curated by Karina el Helou, from May 26, 2023 until February 11, 2024.
– Ejecta, by Zad Moultaka, from May 26, 2023 until September 24, 2023.
– Beirut Recollections, from May 26, 2023 to February 11, 2024.


The Sursock museum’s re-opening was facilitated by a coalition of international organizations, including the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH), the French Ministry of Culture, Agenzia Italiana Per la Cooperazione Allo Sviluppo (AICS) with UNESCO-Li Beirut.

The re-opening of the Sursock Museum will be a boon for Lebanon’s cultural scene, with longstanding veterans and upstarting enthusiasts surely to enjoy the museum’s many offerings. For those too excited to wait for May 26, Beirut’s many other remarkable museums will be open and ready to welcome you till then.