DIVAS Exhibition Honors Female Icons from the Arab World at Sursock Museum

Main image: the DIVAS Exhbition at the Wereldmuseum in Amdsterdam.

The sweeping multimedia exhibition “DIVAS: From Oum Koulthoum to Dalida” opened at the Sursock Museum on October 17. It brings a century of Arab music and cinema stars back to the places that helped shape them.

First launched back in 2021, the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris created an exhibition honoring the legacies of the region's most iconic female figures. Since then it’s toured major cultural centers, including Paris, Amsterdam, and Amman, and now finally lands in Beirut.

What you’ll see

The show mixes objects and media to tell personal and social stories. This includes film clips, vinyl and sheet music, striking stage costumes, rare archival material, and more.

The exhibition maps out significant arcs of each star’s career and the cultural scenes they shaped. Visitors can move from intimate portraits to immersive audiovisual displays.

It centers on monumental figures such as Umm Kulthum, Fairuz, Warda, Asmahan, Laila Mourad, Dalida and more. The curators connect their art to broader histories: women’s shifting roles, nationalism, modern media, and cultural exchange across the Arab world.

Why it matters for Beirut

Beirut’s cultural memory is deeply tied to many of these performers. Opening the show at Sursock feels like a partial homecoming for songs, films, and stories that circulated in Lebanese cafés, radio stations, and cinemas.

DIVAS runs until January 11, 2026. If you love classic Arab song, film history, or simply clever museum storytelling, this exhibition is a rare convergence of scholarship and spectacle.

Excited about the DIVAS exhibition at the Sursock Museum? Check out the #Museums section on our website for more.

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