Beirut’s Nuhad Es-Said pavilion aims to ‘unite all Lebanese people’
Beirut’s Nuhad Es-Said pavilion aims to ‘unite all Lebanese people’/node/2592360/lifestyle
Beirut’s Nuhad Es-Said pavilion aims to ‘unite all Lebanese people’
The recently inaugurated Nuhad Es-Said pavilion at the National Museum of Beirut is envisioned as a space where Lebanese from all walks of life can unite to celebrate culture and art. (Supplied)
Beirut’s Nuhad Es-Said pavilion aims to ‘unite all Lebanese people’
Dedicated to memory of Lebanese art connoisseur and curator
Nation has ‘beautiful’ culture, says heritage expert Lama Salam
Updated 35 sec ago
Dalal Awienat
DUBAI: The recently inaugurated Nuhad Es-Said pavilion at the National Museum of Beirut is envisioned as a space where Lebanese from all walks of life can unite to celebrate culture and art.
Dedicated to the memory of Lebanese art connoisseur and curator Nuhad Es-Said, it occupies a special area within the museum, creating an environment that encourages artistic and cultural conversations.
“We want to reiterate the museum’s position in society and the pavilion will be viewed as a cultural hub and unite all Lebanese people,” Lama Salam, a member of the National Heritage Foundation in Lebanon, told Arab News.
“As Lebanese people, our culture and heritage unite us. The more we sit down, research and discuss our heritage and see that we have so much to be proud of the more we realize how beautiful our culture is,” she added.
The pavilion features a restaurant and multi-purpose seating area that can be rented out and used for galleries, showcases and events.
Salam said the design of the pavilion features large gates and archways as an ode to the museum’s architecture.
“Gates were already part of the museum’s foundation but we chose to incorporate them more to symbolize something more significant,” said Salam.
“The gates act as symbolic portals from the past leading to the present and hopefully into the future. As you pass through all these gates you walk through the past, the present and, God willing, through to the beginning of the future.”
Salam described visiting the pavilion as a unique experience unlike offerings at traditional museums.
“When you sit in the restaurant, you are surrounded by history, the preserved iron gates, the historic wall, and a beautiful view of Beirut’s green racetrack with pine trees in the background.
“Since this pavilion is an annex to the national museum, which we consider a cultural treasure, it offers a unique experience,” she said.
Georgina Rodriguez teams up with Mayyas dance troupe for new campaign
Updated 04 March 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Argentine model Georgina Rodriguez has joined forces with Lebanese dance group Mayyas, who won the 17th season of “America's Got Talent,” for a new campaign.
They starred in an advertisement for Egyptian real estate company Horizon Egypt Developments, where Rodriguez and the Mayyas promote Saada, a real estate development in New Cairo in Egypt.
The video opens with a formal outdoor gathering in a desert setting, where guests dressed in evening attire socialize under draped golden canopies and soft candlelight.
Rodriguez arrives in a shimmering gold, form-fitting gown, drawing attention as she walks through the crowd.
She stops and watches as the Mayyas perform a choreographed routine to orchestral music. The dancers were dressed in black and gold outfits, paired with gold eye masks, moving in the synchronized formations they have become famous for.
During the event, a waiter hands Rodriguez a letter. After reading it, she makes a phone call and says in Spanish, “Pack my bags. She reached before me.” The scene then transitions to her getting into a luxury car and when the driver asks for their destination, she responds: “It’s always Saada.”
This is not Rodriguez’s first campaign for Saada. In October, she led a campaign for Saada Sahel, another real estate development on Egypt’s North Coast.
In the video, she was seen speaking on the phone, saying: “I already got the tickets, we are going next summer.”
For the campaign, she wore a white lace-trimmed sundress with spaghetti straps and a fitted bodice featuring intricate lace detailing.
The look was accessorized with a necklace from Egyptian brand Nado’s Jewelry’s Perle collection, which includes large, rounded links alternating between polished gold and diamond-encrusted surfaces.
Teaming up with Rodriguez and winning “America’s Got Talent” are not the only global milestones for the Mayyas.
In 2023, Nadim Cherfan, the founder and choreographer of the dance troupe, reached a major career milestone when he choreographed part of Beyonce’s performance at the grand opening of Atlantis The Royal in Dubai.
“To the artist of my life Beyonce, thank you for making my dream come true. Thank you for being the humblest, most professional and phenomenal human that you are,” he shared on social media at the time.
Art Week Riyadh to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s dynamic cultural scene
Curatorial team includes local, regional and international contemporary art specialists
Vittoria Matarrese: Art Week Riyadh represents an extraordinary opportunity to engage with a city and region undergoing profound cultural transformation
Updated 03 March 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: The Visual Arts Commission has announced the curatorial team for the inaugural Art Week Riyadh, scheduled to take place from April 6 to 13 under the theme “At the Edge.”
The team features artistic director and curator Vittoria Matarrese, associate curators Basma Harasani and Victoria Gandit Lelandais, and public program curator Shumon Basar.
Matarrese, the former director of the Bally Foundation in Switzerland and the performing arts department at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, praised the initiative.
“Art Week Riyadh represents an extraordinary opportunity to engage with a city and region undergoing profound cultural transformation. It is a platform to explore these shifts and reveal how tradition and acceleration coexist and evolve.”
Harasani said the project “is a testament to the remarkable progress the country has made in establishing itself within the global cultural narrative, while still preserving its authenticity and showcasing the very best the Kingdom has to offer.”
Art Week Riyadh will take place at Jax district, featuring activities across the city. And a curated selection of artworks from more than 30 local, regional and international galleries and collections.
Additionally, it will have panel discussions, interactive sessions, and special events designed to showcase Riyadh’s cultural vitality, its evolving artistic landscape, and growing influence on the global stage.
Gandit Lelandais, a specialist in contemporary art from the Arab world, said the “fact that Art Week Riyadh exists demonstrates the intentional development of a thriving art ecosystem.”
There was “a clear vision to foster a healthy environment for growth among all the key players — galleries, artists, institutions, scholars, collectors, and more.
“This initiative is invaluable, offering a city-wide platform for critical discussions, dialogue, and reflection under one roof.”
Basar said: “Art Week Riyadh offers a moment to frame everything that has happened in the arts in Riyadh, in the Kingdom, and in the region over the last years and decades.
“And to dialogue that with global-scale conversations in an increasingly multipolar world.”
The curators have broadened the concept of the theme “At the Edge” to create a program uniting leading cultural institutions, renowned artists, art patrons and enthusiasts, top galleries, and prestigious art collections.
DUBAI: Australian actor Guy Pearce donned a pin in support of Palestinians at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday.
On the red carpet, “The Brutalist” actor donned a pin of a white dove holding an olive branch with the phrase “Free Palestine” written on it.
A best supporting actor nominee for “The Brutalist,” Pearce has worn pins at several public appearances since last year.
Controversy occurred when Vanity Fair France photoshopped his pin out of a photograph taken of Pearce on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in 2024.
“As the Palestinian people are already suffering great trauma and loss due to the vengeful regime of Netanyahu,” Pearce wrote in an email to CNN at the time, “it is most unfortunate that a reputable publication like VF attempts to eliminate support that I or anyone chooses to offer.”
‘No Other Land’, a collaboration of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, wins Oscar for best documentary
“No Other Land” highlights Palestinian activists fighting to protect their communities from demolition by Israeli military
The documentary has not found a US distributor after being picked up for distribution in 24 countries
Updated 03 March 2025
AP
LOS ANGELES: “No Other Land,” the story of Palestinian activists fighting to protect their communities from demolition by the Israeli military, won the Oscar for best documentary on Sunday.
The collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers follows activist Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of his hometown, which Israeli soldiers are tearing down to use as a military training zone, at the southern edge of the West Bank. Adra’s pleas fall on deaf ears until he befriends a Jewish Israeli journalist who helps him amplify his story.
“About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now, always fearing settlers, violence, home demolitions and forcible displacements,” said Adra.
“No Other Land” came into the night a top contender after a successful run on the film festival circuit. It did not, however, find a US distributor after being picked up for distribution in 24 countries. For the Oscar, it beat out “Porcelain War,” “Sugarcane,” “Black Box Diaries” and “Soundtrack to a Coup d’État.”
Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham accept the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film for "No Other Land" during the Oscars show in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on March 2, 2025. (REUTERS)
The documentary was filmed over four years between 2019 and 2023, wrapping production days before Hamas launched its deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza.
In the film, Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham embeds in a community fighting displacement, but he faces some pushback from Palestinians who point out his privileges as an Israeli citizen. Adra says he is unable to leave the West Bank and is treated like a criminal, while Abraham can come and go freely.
The film is heavily reliant on camcorder footage from Adra’s personal archive. He captures Israeli soldiers bulldozing the village school and filling water wells with cement to prevent people from rebuilding.
Residents of the small, rugged region of Masafer Yatta band together after Adra films an Israeli soldier shooting a local man who is protesting the demolition of his home. The man becomes paralyzed, and his mother struggles to take care of him while living in a cave.
Oscars fashion round up: Arab designs and standout looks on the red carpet
Updated 03 March 2025
Arab News AFP
DUBAI/ LOS ANGELES: After a long season of red carpet events, Hollywood's top stars brought their best fashion yet to the Oscars on Sunday.
A handful of designers represented the Middle East, with Saudi couturier Mohammed Ashi, Lebanon’s Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad, and Egyptian-helmed label Marmar Halim dressing attendees.
Ashi, the founder of Paris-based fashion house Ashi Studio, dressed US actress Meg Ryan, as well as French Algerian author and YouTube star Lena Mahfouf. US actress and director Anna Kendrick opted for a Fall/Winter 2024 ready-to-wear look by Ashi Studio at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, held after the Academy Awards.
French Algerian author and YouTube star Lena Mahfouf. (Getty Images)
At the ceremony, Danish actress Connie Nielsen and English star Annabelle Wallis opted for looks by Elie Saab, with Nielsen sporting a soft pink gown from his Spring/Summer 2025 couture collection and vintage Joseph Saidian and Sons jewelry.
Annabelle Wallis opted for a look by Elie Saab. (Getty Images)
Co-countryman Zuhair Murad dressed TV host Kelly Ripa and actress Keleigh Teller in bright orange and pale blue, respectively. Ripa’s gown hailed from the fashion house’s ready-to-wear Resort 2025 collection, while Teller showed off a look with floral beaded details from Murad’s ready-to-wear Fall 2024 collection.
Zuhair Murad dressed TV host Kelly Ripa and actress Keleigh Teller in bright orange and pale blue, respectively. (Getty Images)
US actress Ryan Michelle Bathe showed off a gown by Dubai-based Egyptian-led label Marmar Halim
While some A-listers matched their looks to their roles (hello, cast of “Wicked”), others went for classic old school Hollywood glamour.
Ariana Grande has worn an array of Glinda-coded pink gowns since kicking off a long press tour for the hit musical and then for awards season. But the nominee for best supporting actress saved the best for last, floating down the red carpet in a sculptural pale Schiaparelli peplum gown. The strapless bodice flounced at the waist and laced up the back. The dress then cascaded to the floor in a glimmering cloud of tulle.
Ariana Grande in a sculptural pale Schiaparelli peplum gown. (Getty Images)
Co-star Cynthia Erivo, a nominee for best actress, went for her Elphaba moment in a majestic dark green velvet Louis Vuitton gown with a high pointed collar, a wide neckline, a full skirt and her signature long nails.
Cynthia Erivo, a nominee for best actress, went for her Elphaba moment in a majestic dark green velvet Louis Vuitton gown. (Getty Images)
Jeff Goldblum -- who plays the Wizard -- wore a cream double breasted Prada jacket, dark pants, floral shirt and a purple floral brooch.
For mere mortals, wearing white is a challenge. For Hollywood stars, it screams old-school glamour.
Elle Fanning (“A Complete Unknown”) wore a lacy white Givenchy gown with a prominent black bow at the waist -- and a vintage Cartier diamond necklace. Her blonde tresses were swept into a sleek up-do.
Lupita Nyong'o, who voiced Roz in the animated feature “The Wild Robot,” rocked a white Chanel gown with pearl-encrusted straps, a silvery bodice overlay and a sweet bow at the waist.
The red carpet sparkled with glittering confections.
Demi Moore may not have won the best actress Oscar for her gripping turn in body horror flick “The Substance,” but she was dressed for the moment, wearing a body-skimming silver Armani gown with a plunging neckline and full train. And past best actress winner Emma Stone shimmered in a sequined nude Louis Vuitton gown, her pixie cut slicked back.
Amid a flurry of nude, shimmering gowns, a few stars stood out for wearing bold hues fit for royalty.
Zoe Saldana, who won the best supporting actress Oscar for her work in “Emilia Perez,” reigned supreme in a burgundy tiered Saint Laurent bubble gown. (Getty Images)
Zoe Saldana, who won the best supporting actress Oscar for her work in “Emilia Perez,” reigned supreme in a burgundy tiered Saint Laurent bubble gown with sheer black opera gloves.
And Colman Domingo, who often wins the red carpet for Hollywood's men, wore a custom Valentino belted red jacket with black lapels and a sparkling brooch over black trousers.
