Figure 1
Article from Mulhaq al-Nahar, June 1968.
- 1 Dār al-Fann wa al-Adab is the correct translation in Arabic, but I will use the most current spelli (...)
- 2 From the survived archives of Dar el Fan at the Galerie Janine Rubeiz. I thank Nadine Begdache for (...)
1In a letter to members and friends of Beirut’s Dār al-Fann wa al-Adab1 (House of Art and Literature) preserved in her personal archives,2 cultural advocate and activist Janine Rubeiz recalls the activities of the centre during its first two years of life in 1967 and 1968 and announces a few ideas for the upcoming season. In a passage that summarizes the essence of Dar el Fan, she writes:
- 3 English translation by the author.
We worked hard during these two years, where we tried to implement the idea of a Lebanese cultural centre. A country presupposes a culture, a culture presupposes a personality, we are looking for the Lebanese personality. We know the different sub-personalities of different Lebanese sub-nationalities; it is time to determine, to search for the Lebanese personality. We have no recipe, no pre-established plans, we hope to provide a platform, to open minds to rational criticism, to accept dialogue.3
- 4 After a two-year break, Janine Rubeiz resumed some of the activities of Dar el Fan both at her priv (...)
- 5 Overall, the Civil War created severe obstacles to the collection and preservation of material rela (...)
- 6 This definition is debated. It is found in papers about Dar el Fan written by its founders and memb (...)
- 7 For a comprehensive list of Dar el Fan’s cultural activities, see Kassab (2003); Janine Rubeiz et D (...)
2Initiated by middle-class leftist and francophile Janine Rubeiz, Dar el Fan was a hub for creativity and an avant-garde catalyst for artists, writers, and political activists. Based in an old mansion off Bechara el Khoury crossroads, it was active until 1975,4 when its premises became inaccessible as the street turned into the infamous Green Line that divided Beirut for the years of the Civil War (1975-1990). The building was destroyed at the onset of the war and its archives were largely shattered.5 Often defined as “the first Lebanese cultural centre,”6 Dar el Fan aimed at being a crosscutting place of encounter and dialogue. Throughout its eight years of existence, it promoted a wide variety of cultural events, encompassing movie screenings, art exhibitions, poetry readings, lectures, political debates, and music concerts within the burgeoning cultural landscape of the capital.7
- 8 The coexistence of various religious groups in Lebanon during the 1960s was intricately tied to the (...)
- 9 An area that presents great diversity in the political, historical, social, religious, and cultural (...)
3Beirut in the 1960s stood as a microcosm of Lebanon, a city where diverse ethnic and religious communities including Muslims, Christians, and Druze, intermingled alongside multiple other Arab and European nationalities, creating a vibrant social fabric.8 Yet, beneath this heterogeneous cosmopolitan surface, political fault lines were quietly forming. The city’s intricate tapestry masked simmering economic, social, and religious tensions, emblematic of the broader challenges faced by the entire nation. This delicate balance was further complicated by regional dynamics, with Lebanon becoming a crucial piece of the broader Middle East chessboard.9 Dar el Fan operated at a time of deep historical and political transformation both on a global and local scale. Its cultural programme developed in the turbulent timeframe between the Naksa (the Arab defeat in the Arab-Israeli conflict) of 1967 and the outburst of the Civil War in Lebanon, against the backdrop of Third Worldist movements and the polarized dynamics of the Cold War. Within this panorama, Dar el Fan’s creation and role extended beyond simply exhibiting art and supporting culture, becoming an active subject in the production and circulation of ideas. As the opening passage reads, the centre explicitly sought to forge a renewed “Lebanese personality.” This was to be shaped through and by the centre’s cultural activities, often organized in response to the sequence of unsettling events happening in and around Lebanon. In such a way, Dar el Fan positioned itself as an active participant in discussions on pressing topics such as the construction of a cohesive political identity, the surpassing of internal sectarian divisions, and the relation with the former colonial and imperialist powers.
- 10 The New Left, arising from the counterculture of the 1960s in Western Europe and the United States, (...)
- 11 On the complex definition of Arab nationalism(s), I quote Manduchi (2017: 4): “When speaking about (...)
- 12 While debated by several scholars as to whether 1967 marks a turning point in the history of contem (...)
4Through a reading of the interplay between exhibitions, movie screenings, and political debates, this paper argues that Dar el Fan advocated for an engaged (multazim) culture and artistic expression that was pivotal in the shaping of a renewed political consciousness. This translated into the development of a novel, New Leftist10 political identity capable of supplanting unsatisfactory political ideologies such as Lebanese Nationalism and to surpass the disenchantment of traditional pan-Arabism.11 Indeed, Dar el Fan multazim cultural practices are to be understood as embracing the nuances and transformations that the concept of iltizām (commitment) underwent in particular after 1967.12 First coined in the late 1940s by Egyptian novelist Taha Hussein, the term builds on Sartre’s notion of engagement discussed in Qu’est-ce que la littérature? (1948). Here, Sartre emphasizes the idea that intellectuals have a responsibility to engage with their society and promote change through their work. In the context of decolonization between the 1950s and the 1970s, Arab intellectuals drew on Sartre’s contribution and “reinvented existentialism” (Di-Capua 2012) using various forms of cultural production to challenge the dominant narratives of colonialism and to articulate new visions of culture and, more explicitly, identity.
- 13 On the rivalry between āl-Ādāb and Shi‘r see Creswell (2019).
- 14 On the different articulations of iltizām, see Klemm (1999, 2000); Pannewick & Khalil (2015); Di-Ca (...)
5In Lebanon, the notion of iltizām and al-ādab al-multazim (committed literature) were championed by literary critics Suhayl Idris and his pan-Arabist journal āl-Ādāb (Literature), which had become the most important cultural journal in the Arab region by the late 1950s. A different position was supported by the collective of poets Shi‘r (Poetry), and their homonymous literary journal founded by poets Yusuf el Khal and Adonis in 1957. Although encouraging the Afro-Asian solidarity, the magazine resisted the discourse of committed literature in order to present an autonomous, non-political poetry.13 While the concept of iltizām was not a uniform one and different groups of intellectuals interpreted it in different ways,14 it reflected the complex relationship between culture, politics, and identity in the context of decolonization, and highlights the role that intellectuals played in shaping public discourse and promoting social change. In the words of Di-Capua (2019: 178): “Since its early articulation, iltizām emerged as a doctrine of cultural action and a framework of thought that could organize, systematize, and rationalize the quest for postcolonial culture.”
6The political commitment of Dar el Fan holds significance in the historical and cultural context of Lebanon, as it originates from the first endeavour to establish a dedicated multidisciplinary cultural centre which could rival with foreign ones. Founded with the explicit purpose of shaping and representing Lebanese culture, Dar el Fan aimed at assuming a critical role in fostering a sense of national identity amidst the diverse communities of the country. The establishment of such a cultural nucleus not only aimed at promoting Lebanon’s rich culture but also sought to navigate the intricate interplay between culture and politics. In the quest for self-definition, Dar el Fan came to constitute an arena for understanding a social and historical landscape where different ideologies were at play and where the Lebanese identity was fashioned against the background of a turbulent time and amidst the slippery narratives of cosmopolitanism and the Golden Age (Rogers 2008, 2021).
- 15 It has proved difficult to reconstruct a map of independent cultural institutions active in the Ara (...)
7Through the study of archival material, interviews, and the reconstruction of selected exhibitions and political debates, the paper attempts to explore the political implications of Dar el Fan’s own vision of culture and cultural politics. The text operates on two levels. On one hand, it aims to illustrate how different intellectuals have responded to and participated in the historical events and political debates of their time, through their artistic practices or otherwise. On the other hand, it observes the political effects and objectives on and within society resulting from such intellectual engagement. As scholarly analyses of this cultural centre and its broader impact on the sociopolitical landscape remain scarce, a comprehensive examination of Dar el Fan’s political commitment is indispensable for understanding how cultural institutions, particularly in Lebanon’s context, strive to shape the politics of culture. Such an analysis promises to shed light on the nuances of the centre’s role in navigating the complexities of cultural representation within the Lebanese society. Moreover, while several studies has been conducted on cultural production from the region including cinema, music, and theatre (Nooshin 2009; Saab & Meyers 2019; Shafik 2007), and on the influence of cultural personalities such as, for instance, Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum (Lohman 2010), the literature on the role of cultural centres in the broader Arab region between the 1950s and the 1970s has been notably limited, despite their significance in fostering cultural development.15 The scarcity of literature on this subject leaves a critical gap in our understanding of how these cultural institutions contribute to the sociopolitical dynamics of the Arab world. Further research into the operations, impact, and challenges faced by cultural centres in the Arab region would provide valuable insights into the role they played in promoting cultural exchange, fostering national identity, and influencing the region’s broader cultural and political narratives.
8The article is divided into three parts. The first deals with the foundation and opening of Dar el Fan in 1967 and the biographical profiles of Janine Rubeiz and some of its most active members, in order to situate Dar el Fan in the Lebanese cultural and political landscape of the time. The second tackles the response to the Naksa of 1967 and the strengthening of solidarity with the Palestinian revolutionary cause, informed by the long-lasting impact of the Algerian War of Independence. These bear witness to how Dar el Fan sought to build a network of solidarity throughout the Arab region that embraces larger Third World movements and political ideologies. The third part discusses how Dar el Fan attempted to create a platform of dialogue among different political sensibilities in a context of growing tensions on the verge of the Civil War in Lebanon. The structure serves the purpose of highlighting the commitment of Dar el Fan in different forms, from the political aspirations tied with its foundation, to its reaction to both regional and local events and to illustrate how this commitment was regarded as integral to the “personality” of the Lebanese. The objective is to provide a comprehensive portrait of Dar el Fan and illuminate its strengths and weaknesses. Within the scope of its cultural mission, the goal is to discern the political impact it has had and discuss its contribution in shaping political consciousness.
- 16 Editor’s note: all the articles mentioned are listed into the bibliography section, by newspapers a (...)
9The research adopts a methodological approach grounded in the examination of archival sources from newspapers and magazines16, as well as the oral history method. The substantial loss of Dar el Fan’s archives influenced the available sources. The fragility of oral history poses additional challenges, as the passage of time has limited the availability of key informants. Their accounts, though valuable, can as well be susceptible to individual biases and the malleability of memory. Moreover, some interviewees, having been closely associated with Dar el Fan or Janine Rubeiz, may bring a subjective perspective to their recollections, highlighting the delicate interplay between personal connections and historical narratives. To mitigate the risk of adopting a solely subjective perspective, a comparative approach was employed. By collecting and analysing diverse oral histories from various sources, the author seeks to identify patterns, commonalities, and disparities among the narratives. This comparative method adds layers of complexity to the analysis, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of the events in question. Furthermore, to validate and cross-reference the oral accounts, reliance on external sources such as press articles becomes imperative. These articles serve as a supplementary layer of evidence, offering an alternative perspective and helping to corroborate or challenge the information gathered through oral histories.
- 17 On the cosmopolitanism of Beirut see Rogers (2018, 2021) and Maasri (2020).
10Beirut has always been open to influences from Europe and the rest of the Arab world. Together with Cairo, it embodied one of the poles of an intellectual revival that started with the Nahda (awakening or enlightenment), the cultural movement that flourished in the Arab regions of the Ottoman Empire during the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. With the beginning of the French Mandate in 1920, Beirut was shaped to be “the capital of the French Mandate and the showcase for French ideals.” (Kassir 2010: 280). When Lebanon gained its independence in 1943, Beirut maintained its features of a cosmopolitan city, and its fast economic growth opened up the so-called Golden Age of a Lebanon marketed as the “Switzerland of the East,” a definition that was far from grasping the reality of the country.17
- 18 Among the countries which established such cultural centres in Beirut were the USA, USSR, France, G (...)
11Up until the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, the city had a dynamic cultural landscape with a distinct position within the Arab world. Besides well-established cultural institutions such as the American University of Beirut, the Unesco Palace, the Sursock Museum, and other spaces for intellectual sociability including the Arab Cultural Club and the Cénacle Libanais, roughly forty art galleries were active between 1955 and 1975 (Bardaouil & Fellrath 2018). The activities of Beirut’s artistic intelligentsia concentrated in and around Hamra Street, one of the main arteries of Ras Beirut, where artists of various nationalities would congregate and debate the social and aesthetic ideas of the time. There, artists, writers, and intellectuals enjoyed a concentration of galleries, cinemas, theatres, and leftist-leaning cafés such as Café La Palette, an early artist-run space, and the Horseshoe Café, the meeting-point par excellence of the artistic and literary community. Moreover, no less than seven foreign cultural centres18 were operating in Beirut as cultural diplomacy devices, each following its own agenda.
- 19 Janine Rubeiz writes : “[…] J’ai tout de suite décidé qu’il fallait que le gens se sentent dans une (...)
- 20 The association of Dar el Fan was constituted earlier on 31 January 1967, before the opening of its (...)
- 21 The findings from archival research in journalistic outlets indicate a notable discrepancy in media (...)
- 22 Private papers of Halim Jurdak. Translation from Arabic to English by the author. I thank Saleh Bar (...)
12Within this institutional landscape, Janine Rubeiz lamented the absence of support for cultural activities from the public sector, and founded Dar el Fan in 1967 as a place where intellectuals at large could “feel at home.”19 The opening of Dar el Fan on 27 November 1967 was met with a certain degree of expectation, as shown by the Francophone dailies L’Orient and Le Jour which had both featured articles on the constitution of the cultural association already in February 1967.20 The weekly La Revue du Liban, a popular magazine among the French-speaking bourgeoisie, dedicated a two-page article to the still-in-embryo cultural centre already in August of the same year (La Revue du Liban, 1967, 26 August). The predominant coverage of Dar el Fan’s opening by French newspapers serves as a revealing indicator of its identity, a “house for all” that resonated prominently with the French-speaking bourgeoisie.21 Located in a traditional villa, Dar el Fan had a hall for exhibitions and concerts, a library of books, newspapers and vinyl, a cafeteria and a garden. Described by artist Halim Jurdak as “an oasis for modern art and culture and a platform for free thinking welcoming quality from wherever it comes from,”22 the centre soon became one of the main catalysts in the artistic and intellectual scene of Beirut and a meeting point where artists, journalists, thinkers, researchers, and politicians could meet, socialize, and discuss their work.
13Author Evelyne Massoud reports bits of conversations with the founder Janine Rubeiz and secretary Francois Harfouche, and describes Dar el Fan’s mission as to gather the “scattered” artists and intellectuals in an official, independent place (La Revue du Liban, op. cit.). Born out of private initiative as a société anonyme, a French business structure equivalent to a corporation, it divided its initial capital of fifty thousand Lebanese pounds (around 16,000 US dollars at the time) and sold its shares at the price of 50 Lebanese pounds to the public of artists, writers, and intellectuals. The self-financed system allowed a certain degree of economic independence and guaranteed equal participation among members and audiences of relatively diverse political backgrounds. Unattached to any official body or political party and far from commercial interests, Dar el Fan enjoyed a unique freedom that fostered unconstrained creativity and debate outside of traditional forms of institutionalized power, both local and foreign.
- 23 Translation from French to English by the author.
- 24 Translation from French to English by the author.
14The Lebanese character of Dar el Fan is underlined by writer and artist Etel Adnan (2003: 14) in her essay included in Janine Rubeiz et Dar el Fan, where she writes: “Foreign cultural centers were numerous at the time and very active, competing for a very dedicated intellectual clientele, but it was time for a Lebanese centre to see the light of day.”23 In the same source, Janine Rubeiz asserts: “We were many to discuss in cafés but felt we needed a meeting place where we felt at home. Foreign cultural centers whose programs were decreed by distant ministries could not provide everything we feel we need.”24 (Kassab 2003: 19).
- 25 From the website of the Arab Cultural Club [last access on 19 December 2023]. Translation from the (...)
- 26 Ibid.
15Dar el Fan was not the only local cultural hub in the vibrant landscape of Beirut. Other cultural clubs, such as the Arab Cultural Club and the Cénacle Libanais were also active during this period in proposing a model of an engaged culture. While these shared commonalities, they possessed distinct characteristics as well. The Arab Cultural Club, established in 1944 by an elite group aligned with the Arab nationalist trend,25 remains until today well known for having organized the annual Beirut Book Fair since 1956. The Club hosted debates, lectures, and occasional art exhibitions. Its mission, as outlined on its website, includes fostering cultural and social connections among members to contribute to the development of Lebanese society and the establishment of the foundations of national unity based on the principles of Arabism (al-‘urūba).26
- 27 On the Cénacle Libanais see Élias (2013, 2017).
- 28 Chehabism was a school of thought that followed the principles of President Fouad Chehab. His rule (...)
- 29 Interview with Elias Khoury, Beirut, July 2023. On the same topic, literary journalist Akl Awit (bo (...)
16Founded in 1946 by literary figure Michel Asmar and active until 1984, the Cénacle served as a platform for lectures and debates and a publishing house championing an engaged cultural perspective.27 It was particularly active in the immediate aftermaths of Independence and focused on defining a Lebanese national consciousness. However, it maintained a strong governmental, Chehabist28 approach and never won the sympathies of the Left. During the interview, renowned Lebanese author and intellectual Elias Khoury (1948–2024) has underlined how the Cénacle was perceived as an organ of the state apparatus of President Fouad Chehab (in office 1958–1964) by the radical Left, and described it as belonging to “the right wing.”29 In contrast, Dar el Fan embodied a revisited, post-1967 Arabism that was more democratic and leftist, openly pro-Palestinian and in solidarity with a transnational network of anti-imperialist Third World movements. Its cross-disciplinary approach, not limited to lectures and debates, provided tangible support to artists from diverse disciplines including fine art, theatre, dance, poetry, and music, all contributing to shape the “Lebanese personality.”
- 30 Dar el Fan was perceived, by the majority of the interviewees, as “a place for art.” This definitio (...)
- 31 The foundation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the Arab defeat in the consequent Arab-Israeli wa (...)
17The exploration and discussion of self-definition undertaken by these cultural spaces encapsulated the essence of a pivotal historical era.30 After the struggles for independence and the processes of decolonization, the region had seen the rise of pan-Arabism championed by the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. The 1967 Arab defeat against Israel was a major setback, which had a deep impact on the political as well as the cultural dynamics in the Middle East. Although not involving Lebanon militarily, the war had decisive effects on the political scenario in the country. An additional influx of Palestinian refugees added to the previous wave caused by the Nakba (the term to designate the birth of the State of Israel in 1948, which forced thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes and find refuge in nearby countries). The rise of Palestinian militant organizations as part of the Palestinian Resistance,31 which found a wide social basis in the refugee camps and was supported by a large segment of the Lebanese political spectrum becoming a uniting cause for the Left, would be a catalyst in the path to the outbreak of the Civil War. On a global scale, whereas the Arab region had become a crucial battleground in the Cold War between the USA and the USSR, the protests of 1968 with their anti-establishment culture and calls for women’s liberation resonated in Lebanon where a vibrant student and trade-union movement, as well as radical left organizations, were also gaining momentum. Global international redesign and widespread dissent towards Western modernist discourse overlapped and contended with one another in shaping culture as a site of political emancipation and identity making (Rogers 2021).
- 32 For a complete list of the activities held at Dar el Fan, see Kassab 2003.
18This historical and political framework nurtured the programme of activities at Dar el Fan with incredible diversity. During its years of activity, it held weekly events such as conferences, exhibitions, movie screenings, musical concerts, poetry readings and theatrical plays with the aim of bringing art and culture closer to the audience (Monday Morning June–July 1972). From 1967 to 1975, beside the countless contributions from local intellectuals and artists in all disciplines, events included an exhibition of contemporary British sculptors, presentations and lectures of foreign intellectuals such as awarded French writer Michel Tournier and novelist and filmmaker Marguerite Duras, Italian poet, writer and film director Pier Paolo Pasolini and Algerian poet and writer Kateb Yacine, screenings of Soviet and American movies alike, an exhibition of reproductions of Japanese prints, experimental theatrical plays, and discussions on the condition and rights of women.32 This implied numerous collaborations with local intellectuals, political figures, and artists as well as with foreign embassies and their cultural centres in order to organize events and exhibitions with international presenters. Overall, the diversity of the activities and of the invited speakers helps tracing the political spirit of Dar el Fan: intellectuals of all national, ethnic, and religious communities were invited but despite claiming to be “open to all” the centre selected figures with a leftist leaning, although being available to host representatives of the moderate right. This highlights a clear political tendency as well as a flexible policy that would help the centre navigate the delicate dynamics of the country and of the Cold War.
- 33 Proposal for a cultural policy is a manifesto of Janine Rubeiz’s ideas. In the text, she advocates (...)
19Janine Rubeiz was determined in opening up to cultures other than the French, riding that wave of cosmopolitanism that was constructed as peculiar of Beirut (Maasri 2020; Rogers 2021), which rather than clear-cutting with the colonial past, witnessed and tried to foster the transformation of existing connections and relations. In her 1977 Proposal for a cultural policy, she expressed her awareness of the “imperialist cultural aggression” and her concern about the “inferiority complex” and the need for imitation that this had generated in Lebanon. To overcome this cultural shallowness, she proposed to remain open to foreign cultures while preserving cultural roots and national heritage.33
- 34 Interview with Nadine Begdache, May 2022.
20Born into a Greek-Orthodox middle-class family, Janine Rubeiz (1926–1992) was French-educated, spoke French fluently and travelled to France often. She is remembered as “a refined and active woman” and her name is associated with “memorable and outstanding activities.” (Al Raida Journal 1992) In an interview with Rubeiz’s daughter Nadine Begdache, the latter describes her mother as a leftist, secular, and democratic with great faith in her country and a genuine will to improve it.34 Her biography is inextricably interwoven with the foundation, the cultural mission, and the commitment of Dar el Fan. Influenced by the progressive, open-minded spirit of her father Nicolas, surgeon and founder of the Rubeiz hospital, Janine Rubeiz was encouraged to challenge societal norms from a very young age. Begdache recalls that she used to wear shorts and bike to school, receiving open criticism and insults from both men and women in the streets.
- 35 In a letter to the ambassador of Japan Otoshiro Koruda, Rubeiz describes Modern Theatre with the fo (...)
- 36 The committee of Dar el Fan was elected on a yearly basis. Notable members included artist and prof (...)
- 37 Kamal Jumblatt (1917–1977) was a Lebanese Druze politician, who founded the Progressive Socialist P (...)
21Although not an artist herself, Rubeiz was passionate about art, poetry, and theatre. In the early 1960s, she was part of the Committee of the International Festival of Baalbek and in the association Modern Theatre,35 as administrative director and costume designer. She cultivated friendships with several artists and used to socialize with them at cafés such as the Horseshoe and in the Suq Bab Idriss, among the landmarks for intellectuals at the time. Art critic and writer Helen Khal, in an article about Dar el Fan (Monday Morning 1972, June–July), confirms that the centre was born out of the will of a group of friends “prodded by the energies of Janine Rubeiz” who wanted to provide a platform to support art and culture but also the artists she was friends with. Writer and artist Etel Adnan (1925–2021), who was also a member of the Dar el Fan Committee,36 defines Rubeiz as “une bête politique” (a political beast) as she describes her leftist leaning, her attachment to Marxist ideas and her affiliation to the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) led at the time by Kamal Jumblatt.37
22Rubeiz was also an active member of associations for women’s rights and fought for granting empowerment and development of women within society. In an interview with Monique Sibille for Tele Liban dated early 1970s, Janine Rubeiz defines herself as a long-time feminist and denounces the lack of equality in man-woman relations (Kassab 2003: 41). An archival document dated 1977, and reprinted in the book on Janine Rubeiz and Dar el Fan, reports that she was elected Commissioner for Women Affairs of the PSP (ibid.: 245).
- 38 Interview with Nadine Begdache, May 2022.
- 39 Ibid.
- 40 They were to shape Lebanon’s modern art world.
- 41 On the political commitment of Aref El Rayess, see Gasparian (2020).
- 42 Editor’s note: L’Orient-Le Jour is a newspaper created by the merger of L’Orient and Le Jour in 197 (...)
- 43 See for instance her positions on the Algerian War of Independence and on the political crisis in L (...)
23Nadine Begdache finds in these biographical details the reason behind Dar el Fan, explaining how the entanglement of politics and art was at the core of Janine’s life and how this has influenced her management of the centre, reflecting in its activities. She underlines how the foundation of Dar el Fan was prompted by her personal friendship with artists and writers, with whom she shared common political and cultural concerns.38 Among them, she mentioned artists Aref El Rayess (1928–2005), Shafic Abboud (1926–2004), and Etel Adnan as some of the best friends of her mother and the initiators of Dar el Fan.39 Their biographical profiles add to a deeper understanding of the centre. They were all members of the French-speaking middle class, had an avant-gardist conception of the arts40 and shared common leftist values. El Rayess was known as a committed artist, especially for his support to the Algerian Revolution and to the Palestinian Cause.41 Abboud, although never belonging to any political party, developed a deeper political consciousness after 1967 and in the same year he withdrew his application for French naturalization because “the attitude towards Arabs is distressing” (Le Thorel 2014: 88). Adnan was a Pro-Palestinian leftist who voiced her political views on the pages of al-Safa and L’Orient-Le Jour42, where she worked as a cultural journalist.43 In his essay “L’inquiétude – Janine Rubeiz” (The disquiet– Janine Rubeiz), Rubeiz’s grandson Karim Begdache (2003) insists on the creation and direction of Dar el Fan beyond the promotion of culture. He explains how Janine Rubeiz was never simply a philanthropist, nor just a cultivated middle-class woman running a cultural centre, but combined her interest in the arts with the creation of a cultural space that “was political in its everyday practice” (ibid.). Janine Rubeiz (whom Kassir [2010: 496] writes was “known, despite her bourgeois origins, as Janine La Rouge, the Red”) and her fellows operated amidst diverse social, political, and historical tensions that characterized their time, embodying the zeitgeist of their era.
24On 7 June 1968, on the first anniversary of the June War, Le Jour published a photo of journalist and author Maurice Sacre, writer and activist Leila Osseiran, and artist Aref El Rayess sitting side by side at a table at Dar el Fan. The article’s headline reads “Cinq voix et le souffle d’un poète pour dire le 5 Juin” and it summarizes the main content of the panel they delivered “in front of a very crowded hall” (Le Jour 1968 7 June) on the opening night of Le 5 Juin group exhibition (al-Yawm 1968, 7 June). Deeply concerned with and involved in the Palestinian resistance, Osseiran spoke first, focusing on the impact of the Naksa on Palestinian women, their social status and their role within society, and the Palestinian struggle itself. El Rayess discussed the role of the artist with the following words:
- 45 Ibid. English translation by the author. In this passage, El Rayess stresses the role of the artist (...)
The role of the artist, the man of letters, the honest journalist like that of the painter is to warn of danger and to stand against and prevent harm to all enemies who infiltrate our ranks under the cover of science and culture.45
- 46 As I was not able to retrieve a catalogue of the exhibition, the reconstruction of it is based on t (...)
- 47 See for example Magazine (1968, June: 93); La Revue du Liban (1968, 8 June); Le Jour (1968, 5 June) (...)
25Sacre offered a panorama on the different narratives of the 5th of June, providing a larger analysis of the 1967 defeat, its causes, consequences, and future perspectives. He passionately discussed how the Naksa was perceived as a turning point among the Arabs not only concerning their shared history but also in the production and circulation of ideas and ideologies. A reading of poems by Palestinian author Mahmoud Darwish followed the panel. The concerns of the speakers at Dar el Fan found a visual translation46 in the exhibition Le 5 Juin, which brought together the works of a group of artists active in Lebanon’s art world, such as Aref El Rayess, Wahib Bteddini, Hassan Jouni, Mohamed El Khatib, Jamil Molaeb, Toufic Abdul-Al, Cici Sursock, Georges Guv, Olga Limansky, Stelio Scamanga, Ismail Shammout. The diverse backgrounds of the participants, whose birthplaces included Palestine, Yugoslavia, Russia, and Syria apart from Lebanon, and who were living in Beirut and nurturing its scene, offer a glimpse of the diverse cultural panorama of the city at the time. They were selected through a call that Dar el Fan launched in collaboration with the Association of Lebanese Painters, for artworks that were inspired by the June War and its consequences. Overall, they shared a very direct, visually overt, and easy-to-read interpretation of the tragedy and despair following the defeat. Mohammed El Khatib portrays a group of fleeing refugees. Men and women walk carrying a few belongings and holding the hands of their relatives, afraid of losing them in the crowd. The painting of Olga Limansky, showing fearful faces of children staring at the viewer, is aptly titled Effroi, while the collage Cinq Juin by Cici Sursock features press cuts of newspaper headlines announcing the beginning of the conflict. The exhibition was well covered by the press, and obtained a good amount of critical reviews, both on Francophone and Arabophone outlets, both praising and criticizing the event.47
26The political importance of the 1967 War was immense, as it demonstrated the strength of Israel, the complicity it enjoyed from the world’s major powers, and the failure of the Arab regimes to address it. Disillusion with Arab nationalism and Nasser’s pan-Arab leadership became widespread. In intellectual circles, the political debate sparked by the defeat turned into a wide-ranging debate over Arab culture, modernization, and prospects for political change. Kassab states that:
Most Arab thinkers agree that the defeat by Israel in 1967 was a turning point in Arab popular and intellectual consciousness. It was a political and intellectual crisis that called for a reassessment and a revisiting of the modes of thinking that had prevailed as well as of the political and intellectual struggles that had hitherto been adopted. (Kassab 2010: 2)
- 48 The Tricontinental Conference (Havana, Cuba, 1966) gathered countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin (...)
27While the crisis that ensued post-1967 had intricate social and political underpinnings, its convergence with the events of May 68 signalled a transformation in the Arab political sphere. For the leftist circles in Lebanon, this period witnessed a notable introspection, as well as active participation in the global revolution inspired by movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.48
- 49 According to Haugbølle (2017: 503) “In Lebanon, the New Left was represented by Socialist Lebanon, (...)
28Although Dar el Fan itself was not openly affiliated to any political party, its main animators favoured themselves a secular Arab understanding of Lebanese identity that drew on the political identity of the New Left. Departing from a revisited heritage of Nasserism (a political current based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser that blended Arab nationalism and socialism), the Arab New Left was a heterogeneous movement critical of capitalism and imperialism as well as of the status quo of the Arab regimes, perceived as inadequate in uniting the Arab nation. Radicalized around the Palestinian Cause, which became central after 1967, it found in the figure of the fida’i the local symbol of an anti-colonial revolutionary struggle that had assumed transnational characteristics with the Tricontinental Movement.49 At Dar el Fan, these conceptions merged to shape a “personnalité” that came to constitute a third force surpassing the two opposite poles of a debate on Lebanese identity that had been running since independence, if not since the foundation of modern Lebanon itself, between a Arabist conception versus a Lebanonist one. In this sense, the cultural activities of Dar el Fan served as a response as well as an arena for discussion on the forms of such “personnalité,” analysing what it meant to be Lebanese in those troubled times. These translated into political debates, movie screenings, and exhibitions, that were responding to current issues while proposing shared, leftist political positions and narratives championed by the cultural actors or products involved. As in the case of Le 5 Juin, for instance, the visuality of the exhibition reflects the pain of defeat while simultaneously prompting the observer to question what caused it. Questions that find a platform for discussion in a debate led by figures such as Aref El Rayess, Maurice Sacre and Leila Osseiran, all embodying a leftist political vision, and followed by the reading of poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, recognized as the national poet of Palestine.
29Along with overtly political events, other forms of iltizām arose from the everyday practices of Dar el Fan and its members. One notable example is artist Huguette Caland (1931–2019), who was the daughter of Lebanon’s post-independence first President Bechara el Khoury, and an advocate for the Palestinian Cause. She was actively engaged in empowering Palestinian women living in refugee camps, and her activism was briefly highlighted in the 1970 documentary Resistance, Why? directed by filmmaker Christian Ghazi and written and produced by the writer Soraya Antonius. In 1969, Huguette Caland, along with a group of other women, founded Inaash, a non-profit organization aimed at creating employment opportunities for Palestinian and Lebanese women through the production of traditional Palestinian embroidery. Despite her commitment to the Palestinian Cause and activism not being expressed in her artworks, her first solo exhibition at Dar el Fan in 1970 was an intrinsic political act. She managed to organize some cars to bring Palestinian friends from the Sabra and Chatila camps to attend the opening, despite a ban on Palestinians leaving the camps at the time. Huguette Caland recalls how Janine Rubeiz was happy to receive them, explained about the exhibition, and how their friendship grew stronger since then, indirectly hinting at Rubeiz’s own support for Palestine (Kassab 2003: 81).
- 50 On the evolution of Arab nationalism and the Arab Left see Bardawil (2020), Haugbølle (2017), and G (...)
- 51 Formerly The Palestinian National Liberation Movement (PNLM), is the largest resistant organization (...)
- 52 See L’Orient (1968, 17 February: 6). Khoury probably refers to the small part Lebanon played in the (...)
- 53 Ibid.
30The endorsement of the Palestinian Cause found its roots in the shared Arab identity championed by Arabism. In the aftermaths of the Naksa, this was reevaluated and reinterpreted according to more leftist principles and democratic ideals, stressing the cultural and historical commonalities of the Arabs and supporting solidarity and cooperation apart from aspirations of national unification.50 Novelist Elias Khoury, who enlisted in Fatah51 in 1967, was at the time among the leftist students who organized a debate on the Palestinian Cause held at Dar el Fan in February 1968. Student at the École supérieure des Lettres, Khoury’s contribution to the debate was entitled “Lebanon and the Palestinian Problem.” He denounced what he perceived as the dangerous neutrality of Lebanon in its relation with Israel, and the problematic lack of involvement of the Lebanese bourgeoisie in the struggle.52 The debate was opened by fellow student Nakhle Moutran, who analysed the State of Israel in connection to Zionism, highlighting the relation to imperialism and tracing networks of solidarity with other movements of the Third World and Latin America. Other speakers included students Kamal Begdache, who discussed the economic and cultural significance of peace, and Francois Zabbal, who discussed the role of the intellectuals in the Palestinian Cause. The audience who attended the debate, composed mainly of students, passionately discussed the consequences of nationalism and imperialism and the role of the class struggle and the armed resistance in the Palestinian Cause53 referencing Marxist ideologies alongside Arabist principles of trans-Arab solidarity.
- 54 A Christian Lebanese organization concerned for the welfare of Christians in the Israeli-occupied W (...)
- 55 Fought in March 1968, the Battle of Karameh (Jordan) opposed the Israeli Defence Forces and the com (...)
31In May 1968, only a few months after this debate, Dar el Fan organized a collective exhibition at its premises in collaboration with The Friends of Jerusalem54 under the theme of the Occupation. Palestinian artist Jumana Husseini portrayed the traditional architecture of Jerusalem, where domes and minarets coexist with churches and crosses, in vivid contrast to Rafic Charaf's Scorched Earth (1968). The Lebanese painter’s palette of light and dark greys and browns depicts a deserted, devastated land. Meanwhile, Iraqi artist Kadhim Haidar celebrated the resistance of Palestinian fighters, the fedayeen, in their battle against the Israeli Defence Forces, which gained recognition among Arab countries. A striking image depicts crusade-like warriors celebrating their military success on horseback against the backdrop of an orange-coloured sunset landscape, paying homage to the Battle of Karameh.55 Nearly 90,000 posters featuring these artworks were sold, and the profits were distributed among the dispossessed Palestinians in the West Bank and the families of fighters killed in the liberation struggle. This placed Dar el Fan and its committee in open solidarity with the Palestinian Cause at a time when this and the presence of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was already dividing Lebanese public opinion. Le Jour reports excerpts of the statement of Leila Baroodi, one of the curators of the exhibition:
The goal is clear. We must ensure that the Arab countries form a solid rear front and, especially in financial matters, play an important role: that of enabling the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank or other currently occupied lands to confront the occupation, to resist to the occupier. (L’Orient 1968, 8 May: 6)
- 56 For a partial overview of the posters of the exhibition, see Mulhaq al-Nahar 1968 and figure 1.
32The exhibition featured the works of several artists from the Arab region, including Iraqi painter Dia al Azzawi, Palestinian artist and art historian Kamal Boullata, Iraqi sculptor Mohammad Ghani, Sudanese painter and graphic designer Ahmed Shibrain, and Stelio Scamanga and Aref El Rayess56. The latter displayed his work The Palestinian, which is also referred to as Che Guevara or The Resurrection of Che Guevara. The duality of the title of the work is revealing of El Rayess’ support of liberation fights, anti-colonial, and anti-capitalist movements that were taking place globally during the decolonization period and trace a link between the local struggle of Palestinians and the larger Third Worldist struggles of the South. In the same year, El Rayess illustrated a collection of 400 poems called Juin et les mécréantes [June and the non-believers] by Nadia Tueni (Le Jour 1968, 14 December; L’Orient 1968, 20 December). A Lebanese Francophone poet, Nadia Tueni authored numerous volumes of poetry and worked as a literary editor at Le Jour. Presented at Dar el Fan in December 1968, her book was described as a political and poetic parable, and the profits from the sale of the original artworks and books were donated to Palestinian villages as well.
33Whether through pro-Palestinian events or everyday actions, Dar el Fan and its members stood with the Palestinian Cause and the resistance. Significantly, the centre sold cultural items, being books or posters, that were instrumental in disseminating public support for the Cause, while the proceeds from the sales of these products provided tangible support for the resistance. It is evident that the endorsement for the Palestinian Cause came to constitute a central aspect of the new, emerging “Lebanese personality.”
- 57 See, for instance, the profusion of posters realized across the globe for the movie The Battle of A (...)
34El Rayess’ support of the Palestinian struggle was rooted in another epic struggle of the Arab world, namely the Algerian Revolution. The latter played out between the Algerian National Liberation Front and France between 1954 and 1962, when eventually it led to Algeria gaining its independence from France. The war became a symbol of the Arab countries struggle against colonialism and foreign occupation and had a profound impact on the Arab public. It is no surprise that the Algerian War inspired artistic production in many countries that either resonated with its struggle or celebrated its pride.57 In 1972, during an event commemorating the tenth anniversary of the war at Dar el Fan, El Rayess gifted his painting titled Salut aux martyrs de la révolution Algérienne [Greetings to the Martyrs of the Algerian Revolution] to the Algerian ambassador Mohamed Yazid (Le Soir 1972, June). The painting, which he had painted in Florence in 1960, depicts French colonizers as officials with monstrous heads in the shape of a crocodile. The Algerian people in the painting are portrayed as a group of men whose bodies, legs, and arms overlap with each other, while one is probably protecting the corpse of a fellow fighter. The background of the painting features floating skulls, reminding viewers of the atrocities of the war. The artwork was donated to the National Museum of Fine Arts of Algiers. Aref El Rayess was not the only artist who supported the Algerian Revolution. Artist and writer Etel Adnan expressed the complex relationship with the French language, which was perceived as the language of the colonizer, a condition that became clear during the Algerian War and resonated with the French Mandate in Lebanon as well in her 1984 essay To Write in a Foreign Language. In an article published in al-Safa on 1st November 1972 and titled Pour saluer la révolution algérienne [In Honor of the Algerian Revolution] Adnan asserts that:
even if the Algerian revolution has not kept its promises, it does serve as an example of a revolution that shaped a new country. It established a key link to the Arab world. […] the revolution is the beginning of an Arab awakening: The idea that Arabs can neither fight nor self-organize is no longer valid. One million Algerians died so that one hundred million Arabs would feel less ashamed of having missed the train of history, and so that they might even dare to hope to catch up to it and jump on board. (al-Safa 1972, 1st November: 9, translated in English in Meyers & Rabben 2013)
- 58 The movie is made of five short movies directed by Youcef Akika (Quand Jeannette), Ghaouti Bendedou (...)
35The 1966 Italian-Algerian war film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers was screened at Dar el Fan in February 1973. As the hall was overcrowded, the Algerian ambassador attended the screening from the back of the room (L’Orient-Le Jour 1973, 8 February: 6). The movie, which is centred on the figure of freedom fighter Ali la Pointe, reconstructs the events that occurred in the capital of French Algeria between 1954 and 1957, during the War of Independence. The film was critically acclaimed for its importance in documenting guerrilla warfare. Although the movie was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, France banned its screening for five years after its release. At Dar el Fan, the movie was screened along with other Algerian movies such as Hassan Terro (1968) by Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina, L’Aube des Damnés (1965) by Ahmed Rachedi and L’Enfer à dix ans (1968).58 Although the films approach it stylistically in different ways, they all share a common setting—the Algerian war and a staunch critique of French colonialism. Generally, they serve as indirect documentation and a tribute to the struggle for independence and resistance against occupation.
36Political stances were at the core of Dar el Fan throughout its existence and contributed in shaping both the identity of the cultural centre and the “Lebanese personality” it aimed to propose. Departing from a paradigm shift in political ideology that reached its zenith after the 1967 Defeat and aligning itself with the global movements of 1968, Dar el Fan embodied a distinguished political identity that diverged from conventional nationalisms and embarked on a journey that reexamined and revitalized the principles of both Marxism and Arabism. Socialist and revolutionary ideas were discussed and disseminated through cultural activities such as debates, conferences, and artistic representations. Members of the centre were able to explore concepts of class struggle, economic exploitation, and social justice through engaged artistic works. In the context of pan-Arab solidarity and the struggle against Western imperialism, Dar el Fan encouraged its members to identify themselves as part of a larger Arab community. These discussions allowed for the exploration of the links between Lebanese identity and Arab identity, while reinforcing the ideological convictions of members in favour of regional solidarity and cooperation. Its support for the Palestinian Cause and the Algerian Revolution are synonyms of its leftist leanings, anti-imperialist standpoint, and right of self-determination of the Arab people, which eventually were promoted as values central to the cultural identity of the Lebanese citizen. Thus, the cultural activities of Dar el Fan created a dynamic space where political ideas could be explored, debated and contested. Through these exchanges, members developed a deeper understanding of their own identity. The discussed cultural activities meant to build and reinforce cultural connections with other countries from the region, such as Algeria and Palestine, as well as entering in a larger Third Worldist movement that connected countries from Latin America to south Asia. Perceived as integral to the revision of culture, this intellectual solidarity was rooted in a common history of colonialism and the struggle for self-definition, which could see the light in and was anchored in Cold War dynamics.
37Throughout the first half of the 1970s, internal tensions grew in the country, paving the way to a civil conflict. These included sectarian and confessional tensions and clashes among different groups, notably Muslim and Christian, and the growing perception by most Christians of the Palestinian resistance as creating a threatening state within the state. Furthermore, during the early 1970s, confrontations with state forces unfolded as waves of strikes rippled through various sectors, ranging from tobacco to education.
- 59 Ghassan Tueni (1926–2012) was a journalist, politician, and diplomat. From 1948 to 1999, he was the (...)
- 60 Georges Corm (1940–2024) began his career in the public sector in Lebanon in 1963 as an economist a (...)
- 61 Raymond Eddé (1913–2000) was a Lebanese Maronite lawyer and politician. He served as a legislator a (...)
38The cultural programme of Dar el Fan, in this context, responded by expanding the space for debates on domestic issues. Début 1970, a talk moderated by journalist, politician, and head of Al-Nahar newspaper Ghassan Tueni59 brought together the two economists Hicham Nassab and Georges Corm.60 The conference was entitled “Que Faire?” which drew inspiration from a political pamphlet written by Lenin in 1902. The speakers discussed economy and education, and aimed to highlight the interconnectedness of different aspects of social and political life and their impact on the current problems in Lebanon. The event was covered by articles with titles such as Que faire ? Plus qu’un débat, une question angoissante [What to do? More than a debate, a worrying question] (Le Jour 1970, 11 March) and Le ‘Que Faire?’ de Dar el Fan reste sans réponse [The Que Faire of Dar el Fan remains unanswered] (Le Jour 1970, 18 March), emphasizing the significance as well as unresolved nature of the conference. In October 1972, under the presidency of the poet and cultural actor Samia Toutounji, Dar el Fan hosted a debate featuring Ghassan Tueni, political leader of the National Bloc and minister Raymond Eddé61, and founder of the Progressive Socialist Party Kamal Jumblatt to discuss democratic institutions in Lebanon. Etel Adnan offered a staunch critical review of the debate on the pages of al-Safa newspaper. Her article, titled “Il a fallu trois hommes politiques pour dire trois fois rien” (It took three politicians to say three times nothing) (al-Safa 1972, 31 October), opens with the telling mention of the possibility of democracy to survive “present problems” and “the manners on which these problems are discussed or simply ignored,” referring to the state of growing tension in Lebanon and the lack of tangible actions from political powers (ibid.). Both Eddé and Jumblatt offered a definition of democracy, its values and role that Adnan describes as superficial and aleatory, while questions on how to tackle issues of sectarianism were left unasked. This and the paradoxes of the Lebanese constitution were addressed by Tueni, who, however, failed to analyse in depth its complexities. Adnan concludes her article with the following lines:
But after all, these three politicians have on several occasions jointly served in successive parliaments and ministries without having carried out a single reform. Before an overflowing room, they flattered the crowd, lightly detracted from one another, and made us wish that, at the next debate, Dar el Fan would invite a taxi driver, a peasant from the Beqaa Valley, a painter who does not sell his paintings, and a dreamer. (ibid.)
- 62 November 1972 saw the strike of the workers of the Ghandour factory of biscuits and chocolate. This (...)
39The overall atmosphere of tension, both among different religious denominations and various economic classes,62 coupled with the demands of the Palestinian resistance, heightened the prevailing unease. Within this frame, Marek Halter’s exhibition at Dar el Fan in 1973, and the implicit warning it conveys about the atrocities of any war, does not appear to be a mere coincidence. Halter was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1936 and fled with his family from the city to the Soviet Union during WWII. He gained recognition in 1967 when he launched an appeal for peace in the Middle East on the eve of the June War. Following the end of the war, he founded the International Committee for a Negotiated Peace Agreement in the Middle East. Halter’s ink drawings and gouaches exhibited at Dar el Fan were described as having a unique combination of simplicity and raw violence. The reviewers described him as an engaged artist, particularly for his depictions of soldiers, helicopters, tanks, and battle scenes against a plain background, which created a powerful representation of the violence.
- 63 On the exhibition also see L’Orient-Le Jour (1973, 13 February).
Halter voices his protest with an almost amused cynicism. To him it is all so idiotic, tin soldiers fighting against tin soldiers, with cardboard shields and wooden swords, looking fat, funny and ridiculous, like gremlins in a child story book. (Monday Morning 1973, 12-18 March)63
- 64 Kamal Salibi (1929-2011) was a Lebanese historian, notably known for some of his books such as The (...)
- 65 Georges Khodr (1923) is the archbishop of Byblos, Botris, and Mount Lebanon. Advocating the renewal (...)
- 66 Son of former president Emile Eddé, Pierre Eddé (1921–1997) was a politician and an economist, one (...)
- 67 A left-wing thinker, Karim Mroué (1930–2024) would become Deputy General Secretary of the Lebanese (...)
- 68 Mounir Chamoun (1934–2016) is nowadays considered to be the father of psychoanalysis in Lebanon. Af (...)
- 69 Abd al-Majid al-Rafei (1927–2017) was a Lebanese politician and member of the Lebanese Parliament. (...)
- 70 Hassan Awada (1923–2011) was a judge and a financial inspector during the government of President F (...)
- 71 This was proposed by Tueni as a new agreement based on belonging to the same society rather than to (...)
- 72 Proposed by Eddé, the establishment of a single constituency across the whole of Lebanon was aimed (...)
40Despite their childlike style and lack of detail, his works encouraged the viewer to focus on the forceful message they conveyed. Depicting any war, the artworks seem to extend an invitation for reflection on conflicts, their repercussions, and the connected loss of humanity experienced by the warring parties. In the same year, Samia Toutounji, together with other cultural actors, shares her concern about the state of culture with L’Orient-Le Jour. Her words come after the April 1973 Israeli raid in Lebanon, when Israeli army units attacked several PLO targets in Beirut and Saïda as part of the retaliation for the Munich massacre at the Summer Olympics in 1972. The Israeli operation sharply polarized public opinion in Lebanon. While thousands attended pro-Palestinian demonstrations, the opponents of the armed Palestinian presence tried to use the opportunity to restrict Palestinian freedom of movement. The government installed a curfew. Two weeks of fighting between the army and Palestinian groups ended in a stalemate. Toutounji refers to the loss that affected Dar el Fan—which she defines as “one of the bastions of culture”—following the establishment of the curfew, and, moreover, to the inability “to speak or discuss the problems of the day.” (L’Orient-Le Jour 1973, 16 May). In November 1973, Dar el Fan organized a series of events aimed at fostering dialogue regarding the tensions that were being exacerbated by sectarianism. The goal was to analyse the problem of the divide that was occurring within Lebanese society during a time of deep crisis. To encourage conversation, these events were structured as debates between two speakers who held differing political positions or represented different factions. The series of conferences covered a variety of topics, including the historical, cultural, and religious foundations of the divide, which was debated by Kamal Jumblatt and Kamal Salibi,64 professor of history at the American University of Beirut, with the Orthodox archbishop Georges Khodr65 and the historian and diplomat Adel Ismail serving as counterparts. Other topics included economic, social, and political factors, with politician and former minister Pierre Eddé66 and member of the central committee of the Lebanese Communist Party Karim Mroué67 debating and economist Hicham Bsat and psychoanalyst Mounir Chamoun,68 serving as counterparts. The series also featured debates on the impact of the oil market, the roles and responsibilities of institutions, executive-legislative and judicial powers, administration, and education. Pierre Eddé and Ghassan Tueni concluded the series with a discussion on possible solutions to overcome the crises. Sectarianism was explored, analysed and debated in other encounters at Dar el Fan throughout the end of 1973. On 20 December, Pierre Eddé, Ghassan Tueni, Abdel Majid Rafei,69 and Hassan Awada70 met to discuss the Social Pact,71 the single constituency,72 and development as potential means to overcome the confessional and political divide (L’Orient-Le Jour 1973, 20 December: 20).
41Although generally attended by a wide audience, it seems that these events did not always achieve their intended objective. One aspect that Dar el Fan emphasized in sponsoring them was its opening towards diverse political sensibilities to engage in dialogue. During the conversation between Pierre Eddé and Karim Mroué, mediator Maurice Sacre described Eddé as representing the “intelligent right” or a “refined bourgeoisie,” while Mroué embodied the “educated left” (L’Orient-Le Jour 1973, 8 November). This suggests that despite Dar el Fan’s goal of inclusivity there were still class-based barriers to accessing its activities, and throughout its existence, the targeted audience was primarily composed of an educated, mainly French-speaking bourgeoisie, thus failing to reach exponents of the nationalist right as well as lower social classes. Furthermore, the meeting which featured Salibi and Jumblatt discussing the causes of the lack of national cohesion and unity in Lebanon, has been criticized as a “dialogue between the deaf” (L’Orient-Le Jour 1973, ibid.). More precisely, the author of the article in L’Orient-Le Jour blamed the speakers for not truly addressing the problem and suggested that it would have been more effective for each speaker to clearly present their own ideas, to take the risk of getting rid of their “own confusion” rather than engaging in an unproductive conversation (ibid.) The conference ended up in mirroring Lebanon’s division rather than overcoming it, which seems to be further perpetuated by the inability of its elite members to effectively communicate, tackle problems and provide concrete solutions. From the collected sources on the series of debates, it emerges that the crisis in Lebanon tended to be oversimplified as merely a religious disagreement. This attribution may be due to the fact that the promoters of the centre and its audience were predominantly composed of the middle and upper-middle class, and had scarce connections with the masses and its demands. The proposed resolution of secularism, which was championed by Dar el Fan’s founder Janine Rubeiz and its members, failed to address the complex interplay of demographic, political, and economic factors.
42The exacerbated tensions between different communities peaked on the morning of 13 April 1975, when an unidentified gunman fired from a car on a church in the Christian East Beirut suburb of Ain el-Rummaneh, wounding and killing a number of people. A few hours later, Phalangist militiamen reacted by killing Palestinians travelling in a bus to Tell el Zaatar refugee camp. Fights erupted between the Phalange and the Palestinian Resistance and its Lebanese allies, marking the beginning of a war that, despite a few periods of appeasement, was to last fifteen years.
43In a letter written to conclude the 1974-1975 season and published in L’Orient-Le Jour on 16 June 1975, Janine Rubeiz directed her message to the audience and members of Dar el Fan. She described the recently concluded season as positive, but at the same time expressed her concern for the events in the country and her hope that the centre could count on a more engaged and committed audience when the cultural programme resumed after the summer break. Rubeiz reflected on the fact that despite all the efforts made by Dar el Fan to provide a platform for dialogue between opposing factions, Lebanon was in a dire state where violent events were occurring with increasing frequency. She states:
- 73 English translation by the author.
It takes a lot of in-depth work and a lot of time to change men, their mental structures, their conditioning, their irrational reflexes… the fruits of a long heritage. But if we don't change people, we don't change anything. […] In view of creating the Lebanese citizen […]. (L’Orient-Le Jour, ibid.)73
44Her “hope” expresses her steady faith in culture as a site not only to define a shared identity that overcomes differences but also to commit to concrete realities where “the chaos and the crisis are the results of poor analysis and lack of general knowledge from the majority of the citizens and, unfortunately, of their leaders as well.” (L’Orient-Le Jour, ibid.) In July of the same year, when the violence had calmed down and the Lebanese believed that war was still avoidable, Dar el Fan announced the possibility of an exhibition where people could share their impressions of the events of the spring of 1975. The centre invited everyone to express their concerns through a poem, a construction, a photo, or a work of art that served as a witness of the time. This planned grassroots and collective exhibition never saw the light as Dar el Fan became inaccessible and its premises were destroyed a few months later.
45The article has examined how Dar el Fan demonstrated its political commitment between 1967 and 1975 through its cultural programme and the activities of its members. Navigating global 1960s Lebanon, Dar el Fan and Janine Rubeiz found themselves entangled in a complex web of contrasting tensions, influenced by Lebanon’s diverse society, the aftermath of the 1967 Naksa, the rise of the New Left, decolonial stances and foreign interests expressed through the respective cultural centres’ agendas. In this nuanced and challenging era, Dar el Fan and Janine Rubeiz served as witnesses and participants in the intersections of culture, politics, and society against a backdrop of local and global complexities.
46The foundation of Dar el Fan was itself a political act, as it came as a response to the absence of support from governmental institutions and the need for a local cultural centre particularly crucial during the cultural reevaluation following the Arab region’s defeat in 1967. Within this frame, culture was considered a site for political commitment and key in promoting a “Lebanese personality” that embodied the values of the New Arab Left. At Dar el Fan, this emerged from the biographical contribution of some of its members, particularly the activism of its founder, Janine Rubeiz. Other notable members such as Huguette Caland, Aref El Rayess and Etel Adnan also expressed their political stances regarding the events happening throughout the Arab region. This is reflected in the activities of the centre, whose programme at large is a testimony of its commitment to everyday political practice, with interests spanning from the condition of the woman in Lebanese society to urbanization and environmental concerns. Particular space and importance have been given to uphold the struggle for independence, anti-colonization, and resistance. Support towards the Palestinian Cause and the Algerian Revolution emerged from the cultural activities organized with the goal of promoting anti-imperialist and Third Worldist values among the Lebanese audience. Exhibitions, debates, and movie screenings contributed to establishing and reinforcing solidarity and ideological connections with neighbouring countries as well as with regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America that shared similar revolutionary struggles and came to constitute a third counterforce in the polarized landscape of the Cold War. This aimed to raise awareness about decolonization but also to fashion culture as a tool for building alliances and strengthening regional cooperation and mutual support. At the same time, Dar el Fan was able to maintain and cultivate good ties with both the USA and the Soviet Union, establishing collaborations with the embassies of both countries to enrich and develop its cultural program.
- 74 By various written and oral sources collected throughout the research.
47The political engagement of Dar el Fan became even more pronounced when tensions started to increase locally at the beginning of the 1970s. Attentive to the internal developments of Lebanon, Dar el Fan responded with the organization of a series of political debates that strove to devise a common ground to tackle the crisis of the country. However, when looking at the political spectrum of the speakers, which have been described as “open to all” and to which “all were invited”74 in fact demonstrated the ambition to offer effective and accessible. When looking at the political spectrum of the speakers, it emerges that they spanned from the far-left, pro-Palestinian wing to the moderate right, with no real exchange with far-right parties. Even so, most of the sources highlight the impasse that these debates often reached, lacking the ability to establish a meaningful dialogue. Moreover, it is unclear to what extent the members of Dar el Fan, mostly belonging to the French-educated middle class, were conscious of the various social and economic factors weighing on Lebanon during that time, as the surviving sources on such debates do not seem to reflect a complete awareness of this complexity. This has likely posed limits to the dissemination of the identity it championed, without denying its vital role in supporting different cultural disciplines. This aspired “Lebanese personality” was inherently open to cosmopolitan influences, leftist, secular, anti-colonialist, and deeply committed to supporting the self-determination of Arab people. It embodied an Arab identity that had grown disillusioned with Nasserism and pan-Arabism, and also refused to accept Lebanon as a mere appendage of Europe. Instead, it acknowledged and grappled with the history of colonization that Lebanon had endured, and it sought to actively respond to the evolving events and challenges within the region.