Curating an Artist's (and Parent's) Biography
One episode of Moving Biographies Podcast, entitled “Curating an artist’s (and parent’s) biography”, features Mahita El Bacha Urieta, Manuella Guiragossian and Hala Schoukair - the daughters of Amine El Bacha, Paul Guiragossian and Saloua Raouda Choucair – three leading artists of Lebanon’s art world – discussing their experience honoring and enshrining their parents’ legacy. They share what it feels like to bear the responsibility of curating a biography that is so intrinsically linked to their own and the challenges they’ve faced along the way. As a little taster, this article gives a short introduction to each artist.
Amine El Bacha (1932 - 2019)
Born in Ras al-Nabaa in Beirut, Amine El Bacha pursued his artistic studies at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, trained under César Gemayel, Jean-Paul Khoury, and Fernando Manetti. He then won a scholarship to study at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.
During his studies in France, El Bacha “began to experiment with abstraction” and later expressionism. He was an artist of many mediums: producing ceramics, tapestry, and photographic prints as well as his paintings in oils, watercolor, pastels and gouache.
Paul Guiragossian (1926 - 1993)
Armenian-Lebanese painter Paul Guiragossian was born in Jerusalem to Armenian parents who were survivors of the Armenian genocide. In the early 1940s, his family relocated to Jaffa. There he studied painting at Studio Yarkon. On the eve of the Arab-Israeli war, the family were forced to move again to Beirut.
After winning a painting competition in 1956, Guiragossian got a scholarship to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze. He won the first prize at the Paris Biennial in 1958 and at the Florence Biennale in 1961. That same year, he received another scholarship to study and paint in Paris at Les Atelier Des Maîtres De L’Ecole de Paris.
It was his creative and inventive approach to his work that earned him a reputation across Lebanon and in Europe. Much of his work explores the human condition featuring “human figure[s] through varying degrees of abstraction.” According to the Barjeel Art Foundation, themes of motherhood, spirituality, exile and labor are prominent in Guiragossian’s paintings.
Saloua Raouda Choucair (1916 - 1917)
Saloua Raouda Choucair. Via Artnet (Photo courtesy Agial Art Gallery / Saloua Raouda Choucair Foundation)
A pioneer of Arab abstract art Saloua Raouda Choucair is “one of the most respected living artists in Lebanon.” She was born in Ain El Mreisseh, Beirut in 1916 and received artistic training from Omar Onsi and Moustafa Farroukh – both of whom were prominent impressionist and realist artists.
Choucair became interested in abstract art after visiting Cairo in 1943, where she was exposed to Islamic designs and architecture. In the late 40s, she spent some time in Paris encountering the Atelier d’Art Abstrait, a group of abstract and non-objective artists.
By the late 1950s, Choucair had begun producing clay and wooden sculptures. In the 60s, she produced a series called “interforms” that featured simplistic blocks or cubes in which intricate internal forms were carved. This was followed by “poems” which were modular sculptures that could be dismantled and restructured in a variety of ways. It wasn’t until 2013 when her work was showcased at the Tate Modern in London that she became well-known around the world.
The moving biographies podcast
If you missed the Moving Biographies podcast — a collaboration between LAWHA at the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB), the American University of Beirut (AUB), and the Global (De)Centre, generously funded by the Volkswagen Foundation — you can watch all the episodes here.