During the afternoon of Tuesday, November 31, the Lebanese embassy inaugurated the second edition of the exhibition “Art in the Embassy.” The event brought together the work of ten visual artists working in Chile. Ambassador Joumane Khaddage was in charge of curating the artists and mounting the works.
“We want to make artists known, push them and give them a space, it is not an individual exhibition, it is a collective exhibition. It is an instance to appreciate art, because art does not have to be hidden, it has to be placed under the light, I am a person who loves art is something that moves me, “said the ambassador.
The sample consisted of the paintings of the outstanding artists Mario Gómez, Vicente Irarrázaba, Totoy Zamudio, Marcelo Guerra and Hoda Madi, as well as the sculptures of Sofía Donovan, Carlos Fernández, Bechara Baroudi, Laura Quezada and Said Rumié.
This second version of “Art in the embassy” allowed a greater number of people to attend the event compared to last year due to sanitary restrictions.
A different space
The ambassador wanted to offer the artists a space different from that of the galleries where they decided together the works to be presented.
“Here is a free space and there are no limitations, one is used to a rhythm and a way of managing galleries that is understandable and legitimate, but here I felt that artists had to take the space as if they were at home,” he commented Joumane Khaddage.
He also added: “one goes to a gallery and remains silent, there is no time to share or chat because it is like going to a library, the artists were here and it also allowed them to meet each other.”
Sculpture by Carlos Fernández
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Publicize art “made in Chile”
In this sense, the sculptor Carlos Fernández, presented two works from the artist’s first stage that have to do with experimentation and the use of figures.
“I find this event to be a good opportunity to reach an audience that in general I do not have access as ambassadors and I find that it is good because finally somehow you have the possibility of having a small window to the outside,” said the artist.
On the other hand, Vicente Irarrázabal presented a series of four serigraphs intervened with wedges and anthropomorphic drawings that refer to archaic forms of expression and that also takes microscopic photos of the bloodstream and human skin, which refer photos to other scales such as space.
“It seems to me that this instance of an exhibition in the same embassy of Lebanon seems to me a wonderful project, which as I understood the ambassador wants to continue, I hope other embassies repeat this type of projects because they create ties between different cultures far away and between the foreign and the national. Any instance that creates these ties are extremely rich for its own culture “, affirmed the artist.
Vicente Irarrázabal series
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The attendees were also able to taste typical Lebanese desserts such as the meghlé that, in the words of the ambassador, is eaten by women after giving birth and which, according to the ambassador, symbolizes the birth of new instances for the art that is made in Chile.
“I have a large space that I can offer and it gives me joy and I am sure that many people do too, in addition to being an instance for artists to make themselves known and the diplomatic corps will meet other artists,” concluded the ambassador.
The exhibition can be visited by appointment by calling the Lebanese embassy until Friday, December 3.
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