The moment to remember
door Irina Volgareva
Artist Stéphanie Saadé came into contact with the Oude Kerk during a residency last year. She is currently at home in Beirut. There too, the impact of the pandemic is great, but it is not the first time that the lives of the Lebanese are being turned upside down. They never take stability and security for granted. After massive protests broke out on 17 October 2019, many exhibitions were already closed, as was the major art event Home Works 8. The peace and quiet has still not completely returned: there are long queues at the banks every day. The unrest has been lurking since the outbreak of Covid-19. The current crisis adds to existing problems, also for artists who again have to deal with disappointments about postponed exhibitions and now also about the disappearance of the possibility to work together. Nevertheless, Saadé is also optimistic: although we are less physically busy, the mind is more active and our heads are overflowing with new ideas.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
by Stéphanie Saadé