Nora Lebbos: Art as Inner Landscape
For Nora Lebbos, art is not confined to a single medium or discipline; it is a continuous dialogue between words, images, and inner states. Moving from a background in law and humanitarian work into full-time artistic practice, she brings with her a layered sensitivity to storytelling, one that unfolds across painting, writing, drawing, and multimedia forms.
At the heart of her work lies a search, an attempt to reconnect with an inner, almost intangible world. Her pieces often oscillate between chaos and beauty, not as opposites, but as forces that coexist and shape one another. Through characters, fragments of text, and evolving visual compositions, she constructs what she describes as “inner landscapes,” giving form to emotions and questions that resist direct expression.
During her Spring 2026 residency at Kulturnest, Nora’s practice took a more immediate and responsive turn. Surrounded by the garden's calm while living through a period marked by violence and uncertainty, she began creating a series of posters that capture this tension, where beauty, fragility, and unrest collide. These works became both a reflection of the moment and a space of refuge, transforming repetition into variation and expression into presence.
Alongside her visual work, Nora continues to expand her artistic universe through writing and publishing, notably with the launch of Baalüla, a zine dedicated to collective creation and regional voices.
In this conversation, she reflects on her evolving practice, the role of art in times of crisis, and the necessity of creating spaces - both personal and shared - where expression can remain free, urgent, and deeply human.
Kulturnest: Briefly introduce yourself and your artistic background
Nora Lebbos: Since 2021, I have been working as a freelance artist after a previous career as a lawyer and humanitarian project manager. Painting, literature, and poetry have been part of my life since childhood. I have written and published three books, alongside four additional manuscripts and a TV series pilot that remain unpublished. From the beginning, I have combined storytelling with visual art, and I have exhibited in Lebanon and abroad. I have also been part of the London No Name Collective virtual gallery since 2020.
At the beginning of 2026, I launched Baalüla, an art and literature zine that aims to give a platform to artists in our region and to build a community through collective co-creation.
Kulturnest: How would you describe your artistic practice and main medium(s)?
Nora Lebbos: My work brings together as many mediums as needed to express what I feel, but my preferred medium remains the pen. Words are intertwined with paintings, stories, black-and-white drawings, and multimedia collages, including textile art.
Each medium becomes a way to express an inner landscape—something invisible to the eye, but deeply present.
Kulturnest: What themes or questions currently drive your work?
Nora Lebbos: My visual art expresses a longing for my roots, which I understand as an inner world. It feels as though I have been cut off from something essential, something almost divine, which I try to rediscover through characters, landscapes, and fragments of meaning.
Beauty is central to my work. I am drawn to both chaos and beauty, not as opposites but as interconnected forces. Chaos breaks boundaries, while beauty—understood as a form of energy—grounds and sustains life.
Kulturnest: What have you been developing during your Spring 2026 residency?
Nora Lebbos: Initially, I intended to continue developing the collage work I had previously exhibited. However, the recent events we lived through shifted my approach.
I began creating a series of posters that reflect both my internal state and the reality around us. Working in the garden, I was confronted with a coexistence of beauty and violence—calm and monstrosity at once. Each piece starts from a similar base drawing, but evolves differently through transformation and layering.
These posters became a space of refuge—an attempt to make an inner flame visible.
Kulturnest: What does this residency mean to you personally and professionally?
Nora Lebbos: On a personal level, I needed to step out of my atelier, which is also my home. I needed structure—a commitment to dedicated hours of work.
Professionally, the rhythm of the residency allowed me to produce a body of work I would not have created alone. It also allowed me to connect with other artists and to witness their processes. That exchange has been very meaningful.
Kulturnest: What are some of the challenges you face as an artist in Lebanon today?
Nora Lebbos: Access to affordable, high-quality printing and international delivery is a major challenge for me. It directly impacts how my work can circulate.
At the same time, living and creating in a context marked by war intensifies the role of the artist. It becomes harder to sustain a practice financially, yet the need to express, to witness, becomes more urgent.
Lebanon is challenging in many ways, but it is also what makes artists here so distinct.
Kulturnest: What are your next steps or plans?
Nora Lebbos: I want to continue developing my practice with more visible communication around my work and process. Structuring my artistic output more efficiently is also a priority.
I am increasingly interested in performance—combining dance, spoken word, and music with my visual work.
By mid-year, I aim to launch the first issue of Baalüla and open a space where artists can express themselves freely.
Above all, I will continue to create, and I hope to encourage others to embrace their own unique creativity.
