The ruins of Baalbek seen from the village. © Marilyn Stafford
The exhibition’s more than 300 pieces were curated by Vali Mahlouji and staged and produced by Jacques Abou Khaled with support from the Philippe Jabre Foundation in collaboration with the Baalbeck International Festival, Lebanon’s Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) and the Ministry of Culture. They include paintings, manuscripts, original archival material, posters, coins and archeological artifacts, some dating back to the Neolithic period, that intertwine to narrate a broad span of human history.
From the Bonfils Studio. Door of the temple of Jupiter. Circa 1885-1895. Collection Fouad Debbas/Musée Sursock.
More than a historical site; an amalgam of lived experiences
In the collective imagination, Baalbeck is often involuntarily reduced to the history of its Roman temples, including the famous six columns of the Temple of Jupiter. In this new exhibition, Mahlouji tells L’Orient-Le Jour (OLJ), the aim was to weave together stories that go beyond the nostalgia of city-museums is places like Palmyra or Jerash. The curator developed his expertise studying the archives in pre-revolution Iran, particularly focusing on the Shiraz Persepolis Festival. The Baalbeck archeological site, he says, is one of the most “powerful in the world”, both historically and in terms of human identity.
The exhibition is an opportunity to express the endless meanings of the place and the history of the people who lived there, rooted in the complexity of the prehistoric layers of the site. "The temples are built exactly where 10,000 years of civilization have lived," Mahlouji says. "Today we are witnessing this constant tension between the archaeological site and the urban space, which is endowed with all types of human attitudes and identities."
The desire to organize an exhibition around the iconic site started two years ago, according to Zeina Arida, director of the Sursock Museum. It started as a discussion between Arida, Nayla de Freige, director of the Baalbeck International Festival, collector and patron Philippe Jabre and art dealer and Orientalist painting expert Gaby Daher. Following the destruction of the Palmyra site in Syria, the group talked about the importance of highlighting Baalbeck. “All of us who took for granted the eternal aspect of archaeological sites have discovered that they are not immutable," Arida says.
Louis-François Cassas (1756-1827). Reconstitution of the three temples of Baalbeck. No date. Circa 1784-1787. Philippe Jabre collection.
Unique pieces; millenary archetypes
It is difficult for Arida, Mahlouji and Daher to identify the central pieces in the exhibit because it features many unique works and artifacts that are being displayed publicly for the first time. One of the highlights is a mythical painting made by Prosper Marilhat (1811-1847) that belonged to the Prince de Joinville, Duke of Orleans and son of Louis-Philippe, King of France, Daher says.
Daher, who contributed greatly to the development of Philippe Jabre’s collection (including 30 paintings that are now part of the exhibition), says that the exhibited works of Louis-François Cassas (1756-1827) are extremely rare. The Orientalist painter was sent by Louis XVI to assess the ruins of Baalbeck and Palmyra at the end of the 17th century. He produced a very rare, general view of the ruins at the time, and in the process of his travels, his convoy was attacked several times. "In Baalbeck, he even had to bribe people in order to get the proper protection that would allow him to carry out his mission until the end," Daher says.
Herbert von Karajan at the Baalbeck festival in 1968. Photo Festival de Baalbeck
The exhibition is also contains extremely rare daguerreotypes by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (1804-1892), most of whose works belong to the National Library of France. Paintings as well as photographs, including an aerial photo of the site of Baalbeck taken by the French Army of the Levant in 1920 and the album of the personal photographer of Kaiser Guillaume II (Philippe Jabre's collection), are also on display.
The desi1176637gn and presentation of the exhibition has also succeeded in transmitting the magic of the multifaceted identity of the venue. For example, visitors can clearly see the space dedicated to the Baalbeck International Festival, which follows a walkway drawn from the many epic performances that took place over the course of several decades. "Baalbeck, Archives of an Eternity" succeeds at letting the audience travel, as a witness and as a voyeur, through symbols that go beyond the spatial-temporal context of the place. It is a living ode to eternal life.
(This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour on the 25th of June)
