Ziad Rahbani performs at the opening of the 55th session of the Hammamet International Festival at the Hammamet Theatre on August 2, 2019. (Credit: Anis Mili/AFP)
It was in the living room of Assi Rahbani’s house in the Metn district's Antelias — a space Ziad Rahbani once called a “republic” — that the young genius we have just lost was raised. In this "living room republic," the romantic artistic movement of the Arab East took shape, glorifying nature, heritage and the countryside through music, language and dialect that helped craft a new Lebanese identity.At just seven years old, Ziad listened as Said Akl debated with Ounsi al-Hajj over the meaning of the word "homeland." This room was not merely a site of musical or theatrical creation. As Ziad himself once put it, it was a "decision-making center." Yet the "prodigal son" did not "follow the line." He rebelled against this cultural project — in an intellectual rupture that, in many ways, encapsulates Lebanon’s modern history. More on this...
It was in the living room of Assi Rahbani’s house in the Metn district's Antelias — a space Ziad Rahbani once called a “republic” — that the young genius we have just lost was raised. In this "living room republic," the romantic artistic movement of the Arab East took shape, glorifying nature, heritage and the countryside through music, language and dialect that helped craft a new Lebanese identity.At just seven years old, Ziad listened as Said Akl debated with Ounsi al-Hajj over the meaning of the word "homeland." This room was not merely a site of musical or theatrical creation. As Ziad himself once put it, it was a "decision-making center." Yet the "prodigal son" did not "follow the line." He rebelled against this cultural project — in an intellectual rupture that, in many ways, encapsulates Lebanon’s modern history. ...
