The talk Chronologies and the Question of Periodization departs from the exhibition Beyond Ruptures, a Tentative Chronology  which takes the form of a historical timeline from 1952 until 2023 exploring three chronologies: that of the Sursock Museum, of its exhibitions, and of significant local socio-political events. In this talk, we will introduce the making of the exhibition timeline, reflect on methodologies and challenges when attempting a chronology of a contested history, and question the conventional periodization of Lebanon’s art history. 


Ashraf Osman is PhD candidate in History of Art as part of LAWHA, with a position between Università Cà Foscari (Venice) and the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB). He holds a Master of Advanced Studies in Curating from the Zurich University of the Arts (Switzerland) and a Master of Architecture from Syracuse University (New York). His practice encompasses olfactory art, socially-engaged art, and the architectural and urbanistic memory of the Lebanese War. Ashraf researched and wrote the timeline for the exhibition Beyond Ruptures.

Pierre France is a Research Associate at the Orient-Institut Beirut. A PhD candidate (defense in waiting) in Political Science at Aix-Marseille University, his doctoral research focused on the process of the Lebanese state’s survival throughout the Lebanese war (1975-1990). Pierre's current research project, “Fictio Statis. Unreliable numbers, Private Statistics and Economists’ careers in Lebanon (1950-1990)”, aims at unfolding the question of numbers in Lebanon, from the mandate era to the contemporary period. In parallel, Pierre is developing a chronology of the Lebanese wars.

Nadia von Maltzahn is Research Associate at the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB), where she leads the research project LAWHA “Lebanon’s Art World at Home and Abroad: Trajectories of artists and artworks in/from Lebanon since 1943”, funded by the European Research Council. She holds a DPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. Nadia’s recent publications include The Art Salon in the Arab Region: Politics of Taste Making (Beirut: Orient-Institut Beirut, 2018), co-edited with Monique Bellan.

This event is a collaboration with the research project LAWHA. “Lebanon’s Art World at Home and Abroad: Trajectories of artists and artworks in/from Lebanon since 1943” (LAWHA) is about the forces that have shaped the emergence of a professional field of art in Lebanon within its local, regional and global context. LAWHA has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 850760) and is hosted by the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB) of the Max Weber Foundation, with Cà Foscari University of Venice as an additional beneficiary.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A. 

In English - Free admission.