In July 1982, the Israeli army besieged Beirut. Four days earlier, Jocelyne Saab sees her house burn and 150 years of family existence go up in smoke.
EN
“Among the pieces of this fresco, the “Beirut Trilogy” stands out, comprised of Beirut, Never Again, Letter from Beirut and Beirut, My City. Caught in the heat of war, Jocelyne Saab creates new relationships between political analysis, subjective position, and visual expression, which document at one and the same time the eventfulness of combat, the collective reflections on the situation, and the multiple ways that war affects the psyche. Such an alliance is demonstrated in the opening to Beirut, My City: standing in the smoking ruins of her house just after it has been bombed by the Israeli air force, Jocelyne Saab, microphone in hand, describes the situation, then explores the ruins, evoking 150 years of family life destroyed before her eyes. Rarely has the expression ‘presence of mind’ been so embodied.”
Nicole Brenez1
- 1Nicole Brenez, “Jocelyne Saab, the Stars of War,” translated by Jonathan Mackris, Sabzian, 9 November 2022.
