Alongside the exhibition 'Scarlet Ruins, Silent Canvases' at Beit Beirut on the 3rd Floor, talks will be held in the Projector Room on the Ground Floor:

Talk: Sari Saab — Fashion, Memory, and the Weight of War

Thursday, October 23

4:30 PM (Please arrive 15 minutes early)

Sari Saab is a multidisciplinary creative rooted in fashion and audiovisual arts, always driven by concept rather than convention. She has never seen fashion as just clothing for her, it’s a language, a narrative tool. While she studied fashion design, Saab’s purpose was never to add to an already saturated industry, but to use garments to tell stories that matter stories that confront, provoke, and remember.

War, the military, and the culture surrounding them have always been central themes in Sari Saab’s work. Not out of romanticism, but out of deep personal ties her father’s admiration for the army, the story of her partner’s father who died in service, and the close relationships she has built with individuals within Lebanon’s military fabric.

Her latest works have ranged from deconstructing military aesthetics to creating conceptual pieces from body bags, collaborating with the Lebanese army. These projects are not just art they’re reflections on grief, masculinity, power, and survival. War isn’t just history it’s our reality. And through art, Saab tries to make sense of it.

Her first collection was a tribute to her partner’s father, who drowned in a rescue mission. Another project translated the shape and aura of military tanks into a sculptural blazer designed to make its wearer feel unshakable. But her most personal project came during a time of war, when creativity felt impossible. She couldn’t design clothes when people around her were dying. So she collaborated with the Lebanese army and a manufacturer of real body bags. Each piece in that collection was made from those black PVC bags sealed, not sewn. She called it Over My Dead Body, a reflection of the numbness and powerlessness she felt, and a protest against the superficiality of creating in times of death.

For Sari Saab, war isn’t just a theme  it’s a lens through which she processes life, masculinity, loss, and resilience. Her work is less about beauty and more about meaning.

Talk: Farouk Abillama — Art, Memory, and the Arab Market

Friday, October 24

4:30 PM (Please arrive 15 minutes early)

Born in Beirut in 1975, during the Lebanese Civil War, Farouk Abillama grew up amid destruction and resilience experiences that continue to shape his relationship with art. As a collector and founder of FA Auctions, he plays a vital role in promoting modern and contemporary Arab art internationally.

In this talk, Abillama will reflect on the artworks featured in Scarlet Ruins, Silent Canvases and discuss how the memory of conflict influences artistic creation and collecting in the Arab world. He will also share his insights on the evolution of the regional art market, the path toward global recognition, and the enduring importance of preserving cultural identity through art.

Talk: Sherif Raphael — Drawing Through Chaos

 Saturday, October 25

 3:00 PM (Please arrive 15 minutes early)

Sherif Raphael is an illustrator based in Beirut, and he uses drawing as a way to process and reflect on the political and emotional landscape around him. Chronicles of 1, 2, 3 Wars is his most personal project to date and the first time he has decided to fully put his thoughts, doubts, and contradictions into a printed form.

It’s an illustrated journal that traces his political evolution from 2019 to 2025, through revolutions, wars, and shifting beliefs. Across 12 double-page spreads, two versions of himself the past and the present comment on the chaos surrounding them. It’s messy, raw, political, and deeply personal. Just like the country that shaped him.