The article reviews "Shifting Crossroads. Beirut Contemporary," an exhibition at Circolo in Milan that surveys the contemporary Lebanese art scene. It features internationally recognized artists like Mona Hatoum and Simone Fattal alongside emerging talents, including works from the Saikalis Bay Foundation, founded in 2024 by Nicole Saikalis and Matteo Bay. The show spans historical-archival investigation, photography, installation, painting, and sculpture, with pieces such as Stéphanie Saadé's "Stage of Life" (2021), Catherine Cattaruzza's "I am Folding the Land" (2022), and Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige's "Waiting for the Barbarians" (2013) exploring themes of memory, fragility, and geopolitical instability.
This exhibition matters because it presents a plural and collective vision of Lebanese art at a time of global crisis, marked by war and political turmoil. Rather than treating concepts like fragility and suspension as abstract poetic categories, the works ground them in personal and historical realities, reflecting the unstable power balances that have shaped the eastern Mediterranean. By juxtaposing established figures with younger artists, the show highlights the resilience and evolving nature of Beirut's artistic community, offering a nuanced counterpoint to reductive narratives about the region.