The Merz Foundation and the Italian Cultural Institute Beirut present the project “Hopes & Doubts”, curated by Costantino D’Orazio, which involves 8 Lebanese and 8 Italian artists in an exhibition in Beirut (Lebanon) and Turin (Italy).
The artists: Elisabetta Benassi, Ginou Choueiri, Elisabetta Di Maggio, Michael Fliri, Francesco Gennari, Pascal Hachem, Lina Hakim, Joanne Issa, Zena el Khalil, Marzia Migliora, Randa Mirza, Giuseppe Pietroniro, Luisa Rabbia, Marwan Rechmaoui, Rima Saab, Andrea Salvino.

The project aims to build an ideal bridge between the Lebanese and the Italian contemporary art scene, thanks to the artworks of a group of artists, linked by the same questioning vision toward the present world. Despite the differences of their recent history, Lebanon and Italy share the same natural attitude for creativity. Lebanese artists have always looked at the west Mediterranean art in order to developed a language which is unique in the Middle East art scene. Cutting edge artists focus on daily life translating the special emotional condition of the Lebanese people into paintings, photography, video and installation. Italian artists share with the Lebanese the interest in describing the shakiness of the present world.
Lebanon, one of the most exciting and interesting country of the Mediterranean, today cannot enjoy the priviledge of long-term projects and still lives in a condition of uncertainty. This situation, in which the “doubt” is the most frequent feeling, relates Lebanon to a whole generation of artists, who share the same question on a global scale. The constant question of the artists is not related to politics, but to the possibility of representing the present world, in order to find a keyword and a meaningful image.