{"id":25529,"date":"2013-06-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/25529\/art-and-heritage-reborn-at-villa-paradiso"},"modified":"2013-06-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-06-13T00:00:00","slug":"art-and-heritage-reborn-at-villa-paradiso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/25529\/art-and-heritage-reborn-at-villa-paradiso\/","title":{"rendered":"Art and Heritage Reborn at Villa Paradiso"},"content":{"rendered":"With a strong sense that Lebanon\u2019s heritage is continuously being destroyed through reconstruction efforts that often raze over old buildings in favor of slick, new properties, Beirut-based UK artist Tom Young came upon an abandoned mansion in the Achrafieh neighborhood of Gemmayzeh with an idea: he could try to save the history and memories that surrounded this forgotten home through art and inspiration.

\u201cI hate to complain about stuff; I\u2019d rather act instead, and I see this as my contribution,\u201d Young told Beirut.com. With that in mind, the artist spent the last five months sifting through old photographs and other remnants left behind by Madiros Baloumian, the home’s former owner, who was forced to abandon it during Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.

Drawing on inspiration from the memories left behind by the Baloumian family as well as his own, Young produced more than 50 paintings which are currently on display at the newly renovated and renamed mansion, Villa Paradiso<\/i>. The title of the exhibit, Carousel, is a reference to Baloumian’s old Sanayeh shop by the same name, which no longer exists.

The artist explains why he chose this old deteriorated building – now under renovation by a man named Remy Feghali and his family – to display his work, saying \u201cThe Carousel is about the idea of memory and loss and rebirth; the cycle of joy and pain and construction and destruction is linked to Beirut more than any place on earth.”

Young was first introduced to Lebanon in April 2006, when he was commissioned to do a series of paintings featuring Lebanon’s beautiful landscapes for his mechanic at the time, a Lebanese emigrant he met in London.

\u201cAs soon as I landed I felt this strong affection like I\u2019ve been here before,\u201d enthused Young. Soon after he finished his work and returned to the UK, the July 2006 war broke out. The artist explains his emotional link between Lebanon’s own tragedies (the civil war and ongong conflicts) to the loss of his mother at the age of 10, remarking \u201cI don\u2019t know why, but I made this connection between the country\u2019s suffering and my own… I\u2019ve always been aware of the Lebanese civil war; I practically grew up watching that day and night on TV.”

The 2006 war didn’t stop the artist from coming back another time: \u201cI felt very upset at the time since the place I\u2019d fallen for was being attacked. But I wanted to come back to do what I could do to help.\u201d

That feeling has consummated in the opening of Villa Paradiso<\/i>. For future projects, Young is thinking about starting a series in which he transfers the foundations for the Villa<\/i> to other old beautiful buildings in Beirut in an effort to bring new life to Lebanon’s heritage while still honoring the places\u2019 memory and spirit.

\u201cI know that there\u2019s a lot of selective amnesia in Lebanon and we choose what we want to remember as part of our defense mechanism. And for that I don\u2019t judge people, I just appreciate their sense of optimism and this is what I portray in the Carousel itself\u2014this meaning of amnesia and chaos, yet the amazing idea to keep [everything] working. The painting is also about the double edged nature of amnesia and resilience,” Young says.

“Art is not about dictating your feelings to people, it\u2019s about imagination.\u201d

The Carousel exhibit continues until June 19. In addition, a special event is taking place Thursday, June 13 with a performance by Raffi Wartanian<\/a>, the great-grandson of Madiros Baloumian, in addition to a lecture by Christopher Young<\/a>, Tom’s father, about his research into the extraordinary life of the home’s former owner.
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With a strong sense that Lebanon\u2019s heritage is continuously being destroyed through reconstruction efforts that often raze over old buildings in favor of slick, new properties, Beirut-based UK artist Tom Young came upon an abandoned mansion in the Achrafieh neighborhood of Gemmayzeh with an idea: he could try to save the history and memories that surrounded this forgotten home through art and inspiration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":451245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_preview_accessed":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[341],"media-embed-type":[209],"class_list":["post-25529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-rebelslikeus","media-embed-type-slideshow"],"authorship":[170],"yoast_head":"\nArt and Heritage Reborn at Villa Paradiso<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With a strong sense that Lebanon\u2019s 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