When We Gather the Pieces: "Fragments of Life" Exhibition
When the doors opened at Kulturnest on July 9, something quietly extraordinary stirred among the chatter, the soft footsteps, the drifting light catching on brushstrokes and salvaged scraps. "Fragments of Life", born from our collaboration with Artists of Beirut, did not set out to console or mend. It offered to hold what remains scattered, and to invite us closer to the raw edges we usually pass by.
There is a quiet philosophy in fragmentarity. Nothing here demands closure. These paintings, upcycled materials, photographs, digital prints, sculptures,... -- by 11 women artists who are part of the Artists of Beirut's platform --; each one is an unfinished thought, a question half-spoken. They do not soothe us with certainty. They ask us to linger with the incomplete, to stand still among what can’t yet be put back together.
Beirut has taught us how to live in pieces, how to stand when the ground shifts, how to keep something soft alive inside us even when the city hardens around it. The works in this space do not deny this brokenness; they gather it. Not to repair it, but to witness it together, to see what it still holds.
On opening night, the margin between observer and participant faded. Visitors scribbled in the zine corner, taped torn sketches, and left behind fragments of their own. What moments do we carry forward? What do we refuse to let go of? The walls were not the only surfaces that spoke; people did too.
This is the quiet power at the heart of "Fragments of Life": it trusts us to sit inside what’s unresolved. It asks nothing more of us than presence; the simple, radical act of standing together amid unfinished stories. It does not pretend to rebuild what has cracked. It lets us hold it, name it, carry it in pieces, and maybe, in doing so, remember that life doesn’t stop at the break.
The exhibition continues until July 18. If you find yourself in Beirut this week, come stand among the fragments. Bring your own. Leave some behind. Take some with you. This is how we gather - not to fix what’s broken, but to keep each other company as we explore the living questions.
** Part of the Beirut Art Days 2025 initiative organised by Agenda Culturel and under the patronage of Lebanon's Ministry of Culture.
** Exhibition Dates & Hours
Opening Night: Wednesday, July 9, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
On view:
- July 10 to 12: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- July 15 to 18: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
At Kulturnest, Sin El Fil.
* Participating Artists:
ARDZIV - Rana Abboud - Zeina Chehab - Aline Sawouk Kallab - Nada Karam - Magda Malkoun - Lama Mansour - Ramona Mansour - Nicole Mezher - Sarah Saba - Aïda Tannoury.
