As the political and economic crisis continues in Lebanon, the country’s artists and designers are struggling to make sense of the worsening conditions. Designers Tara and Tessa Sakhi, sisters who collaborate as T Sakhi, have created an installation at the Venice Architecture Biennale that works as a pretext for communication.
In the weeks after the explosion at the Port of Beirut, the Sakhis put out a call on their website for messages about how people were feeling after the blast. The responses were angry and anguished.
“Help, we are prisoners,” reads one. “This country is hostage of its warlord government.”
“Yes to the resistance,” reads another.
The two sisters transcribed the responses on to rough, recycled paper, and placed the notes in small felt patches that had been woven by a craft collective in Sharjah. They then hung the more than 2,000 notes on wire mesh in the Giardini della Marinaressa in Venice, creating the effect of a tiled wall in the waterside garden.
Visitors are encouraged to pick up notes, read them and even take them away when they leave. By the end of the exhibition, in November, the sisters hope nothing will be left of Letters from Beirut, only open latticework where there once was a six-meter-high wall.
“The theme of the Architecture Biennale is ‘how will we live together today’? That's precisely what we wanted to elaborate, by showing how design and architecture can be an interface for dialogue and communication, if we allow it,” says Tara, the elder sister.
“Lebanon got a lot of attention in the two weeks after the explosion, but now the news has shifted towards other places,” adds Tessa. “We do not have any means anymore to communicate and to voice all the horrific things that are happening, which are now a huge humanitarian crisis. So we wanted to give these voices a chance – to give people a platform.”
Many of the notes were written by those who had experienced the blast directly, when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated and destroyed most of the port area. But others were written by Lebanese expatriates, in places such as India, Spain and Germany.
The number of Lebanese who left the country in 2019 increased by 89 per cent on the previous year. In 2020, the percentage increase on 2019 was 47 per cent – despite the travel restrictions of the pandemic. The project acknowledges this steady brain drain, and the complexities of emotions among those who have entered the diaspora.
The wall was the embodiment of all the political and social barriers that we encountered in Lebanon, but again we tried to transform it into a means of communication
Tara Sakhi,
designer
“There were a lot of expats who wanted to add something because they felt badly that they were not there, ” says Tara. “They feel like they are not entitled to suffer, or that they're not victims. But their lives have also shifted. No one wants to leave their country – even us. We never wanted to leave.”
The sisters are now based between Beirut and Venice, where they settled after having worked for several years with glass blowers in Murano. They look like twins but are two years apart, and both studied architecture in Beirut, where they grew up in a Lebanese-Polish family. After graduation they took on interior design projects, gravitating to large-scale commercial work that allowed them to try more ambitious and creative ideas. They now balance their design work with exhibited and commissioned projects for design biennales and exhibitions, such as this one that was organised by the Cultural European Centre.
Their projects help support practices that are on the verge on being lost, which often translates into their working with tactile, natural material. For a recent collection of coffee tables, they used fragments of stone that were left as wastage in Lebanese quarries. In another recent project they are looking into wicker weaving, which is traditional in rural Lebanon.
For Letters from Beirut, they worked with the Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council in Sharjah, a collective that supports traditional crafts in the Mena region. They had met members of the collective at Dubai Design Week in 2019, when they represented Lebanon with a work that likewise used the metaphor of a wall that turns into a mode of connection.
The revolution had just begun and they were taking stock of what it had revealed about Lebanese society and the prospects for changing it. They created WAL(L)TZ out of mottled green recycled foam, cutting various shapes into it. It resembled a thick fence, overgrown with mossy plants, with nods to the kind of Memphis postmodernism that embraced playfulness within high design.
“The wall was the embodiment of all the political and social barriers that we encountered in Lebanon, but again we tried to transform it into a means of communication,” says Tara. They invited visitors to symbolically overcome the work, by peeking or even climbing through to the other side.
The project was more successful than they bargained for. In part because of the number of children who began playing on it, the recycled foam began coming apart towards the end of the project.
“It was really nice,” says Tessa. “We saw the wall almost completely disintegrate and the holes open up even larger, to break through even more boundaries and obstacles.”
WIth Letters from Beirut, too, the public take-up of the exhibition has been surprising. Some of the messages were left anonymously, but others included their writers’ email addresses. Many of the visitors to the Giardini have struck up correspondences with the notes’ authors.
“Writing is therapeutic,” says Tessa. “And receiving letters from strangers has been a form of compassion and empathy, like therapy for both.”
“People can relate to each other, whatever the situation is because feelings are feelings,” says Tara. “They cross borders. And it was really important to archive all these feelings because there are no reforms being done. We have not gotten any acknowledgement for what has happened. The government is pretending nothing happened, and they're just waiting and expecting the Lebanese people to move on and to be resilient as they have been after the Civil War. This is a way for us to resist against forgetfulness.”
Currently, the wire mesh is beginning to show in parts, opening up sight-lines across the garden – and the work's sentiments, generously given away, are travelling across the globe.
'Letters from Beirut' is at the Giardini della Marinaressa, Venice, open daily from 10am – 6pm until 21 November 2021. Entry is free
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
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Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Brief scores:
Toss: Rajputs, elected to field first
Sindhis 94-6 (10 ov)
Watson 42; Munaf 3-20
Rajputs 96-0 (4 ov)
Shahzad 74 not out
Under 19 World Cup
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
Monday's results
- UAE beat Bahrain by 51 runs
- Qatar beat Maldives by 44 runs
- Saudi Arabia beat Kuwait by seven wickets
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
