Fouad Elkoury · Be…longing

beirut art center is pleased to present be…longing, a solo exhibition dedicated to the renowned lebanese artist and photographer fouad elkoury. be…longing presents photographs from fouad elkoury’s forty-year career, many of which have not been shown until now. from beirut to paris, from cairo to istanbul, and from other places where he has left part of himself behind, his images form a pictorial autobiography that extends across different cultures. regardless of his subject – concrete skeletons of skyscrapers under construction, an armed soldier waiting behind a pile of sandbags, a fur drying on a clothesline – elkoury’s photographs convey the ineluctable passing of time.

in civil war, elkoury presents a series of black and white and color photographs taken in beirut during the lebanese civil war, which are divided into five chronological sections each highlighting important dates from the conflict. the series sombres juxtaposes images from different parts of the world for insights into the subjects scrutinized, beginning with a set of images showing beirut in the aftermath of the civil war. eikoury’s intrepid travels are also presented in monologues, an array of images from different countries and cultures displaying what he terms ‘itinerancies’.atlantis documents the head of the plo’s escape from beirut by sea, revealing an intimate and often unseen side of arafat. in palestine, the artist settles down to document the struggle of everyday life under occupation, while civilization, fake = real? shows diasecs of dubai, a civilization of contradictions in the process of boom and formation. time monologues mixes moving and still images as an experiential study on the passing of time, while moments projects images accompanied by music, exploring themes such as the traces of war and elkoury’s journey in egypt in the footsteps of gustave flaubert and maxime du camp.

be…longing is an exhibition poised between fouad elkoury’s wanderlust and his in-depth studies on societies. it is a retrospective that delves into his archive, shedding light on his renowned works by presenting them in the context of never-before-exhibited images.