Photo by Patrick Baz/AFP, illustration by Jaimee Lee Haddad/L'Orient Today.
This week, we're steering away from the Arab world's booming art scene and introducing you instead to the space we're choosing to create in our own city.
L'Orient-Le Jour, together with L’Orient Today, is holding its first-ever festival at the Beirut Hippodrome this weekend. The three days of debate and celebration will be open to all, with an exclusive concert by Ibrahim Maalouf and the Trumpets of Michel-Ange.
Here are our picks for what you don't want to miss.
(Usually) Every Thursday, L’Orient Today, in partnership with The MYM Agenda, guides you through happenings across the Middle East that are actually worth your time.
Upon his appointment, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam was heralded by some as a symbol of Lebanon's new era, attaching him (almost fantastically) to the idea of a savior. Since then, these same people have criticized him for "not doing enough fast enough." Moving away from the symbolism and controversy of his politics, join him on Sunday as he takes the stage to tell his side of the story.
From the Grand Serail, our editors-in-chief, Elie Fayad and Anthony Samrani, will deep dive with Salam on the issues of Hezbollah's disarmament, economic and structural reforms, Israel, Syria and more, with no complacency or taboos.
Sign up to attend here. For more information on the talk, read our announcement here.
There are those who cover the news, and those who step back to ask what it all means. Kim Ghattas has done both. She decided she would be a journalist at 13, growing up in Civil War Beirut, convinced that if people only understood better, the war might stop.
After more than 20 years reporting for the BBC, the Financial Times and de Volkskrant — collecting an Emmy along the way — she turned to writing books: “In a lot of ways, it’s writing for posterity,” she tells L’Orient Today.
On Sunday at 5 p.m., Ghattas will sit down for a one-on-one conversation moderated by Iva Kovic-Chahine, head of L’Orient Today.
For more information, click here.
Artificial intelligence freaks me out, and Sunday's debate "Is AI the next religion?" doesn't make me feel any better.
But if you have a stronger heart than mine, and are starting to question the implications of our newfound reliance on AI, while also being open to welcoming it under conditions you are figuring out how to set, join three sharp minds who will take the stage:
- Craig Forman, an American-European tech and media entrepreneur, executive chair of the Center for News, Technology & Innovation, will discuss AI’s impact on the economy, society and the flow of information.
- Kristen Davis, a British-French former tech and innovation director at the New York Times and transformation expert, will share her insights on navigating strategic thinking through cutting-edge technology.
- Fatima Abu Salem, an AUB professor and AI governance consultant, applies data science to social, health, agricultural and environmental challenges.
The discussion will be moderated by Ludovic Blecher, L’Orient-Le Jour executive board member and former director of innovation and strategic relationships within Google’s news ecosystem.
For more information, click here.
Special mentions for our French speakers:
On Friday, former French president (2012-2017) François Hollande looks back on his decades of political experience and wonders, "What kind of West will emerge after the Gaza war? What will tomorrow’s world look like?" The debate will analyze the driving forces of an international stage ruled by the law of the strong.
For more information, click here.
On Sunday, beginning at 3 p.m., four groups of students from the law, political science, literature, philosophy and technology faculties at Saint Joseph University (USJ) will debate several topics, all revealed to them on the spot. They will be judged on the spot, as the competition will be introduced and concluded with short comedy sets by John Achkar, because why not?
For more information, click here.
Finally, on Saturday, the festival will come alive with the sounds of "The Trumpets of Michel-Ange," the latest project by musician Ibrahim Maalouf.
For more information, click here. For tickets, click here.
Didn't find what you were looking for? Stay up to date with all these events and more everywhere in the Arab world through the MYM Agenda, available on our website here.
Israel continues attacks on southern Lebanon, demolishes buildings in Bint Jbeil