THINKING “ART” TO HEAL WOUNDS

Meeting with Barbara Polla, gallerist and writer, and Michel Abou Khalil, cultural advisor and mediator, in conversation with Luisa Ballin, journalist and United Nations correspondent.

In December 2020, just a few months after the tragic explosion at the Port of Beirut, the exhibition L’Art blessé (Wounded Art) presented damaged artworks in a mise en abyme, where the traces of destruction were transformed into works within the work itself. Drawing inspiration from the Japanese kintsugi technique, the exhibition offered these martyred artworks a second life.

Building on this experience, gallerist Barbara Polla and essayist and cultural mediator Michel Abou Khalil explore how we might rethink “art” as a way to heal wounds, in order to continue living and creating.

Barbara Polla is a doctor, writer and exhibition curator, and served as a member of the Swiss Parliament for 12 years. She is the author of novels, poems and essays, including a book dedicated to Palestinian visual artist Abdul Rahman Katanani, Parole d’artiste (Slatkine, 2023).

Dr Michel Abou Khalil is the author of Art et conflit. L’impact du théâtre au Liban (Art and Conflict: The Impact of Theatre in Lebanon) (Slatkine, 2022).

Swiss Made Culture event, in partnership with Rencontres Orient-Occident

CHF 10 per person | Free for children, students, Swiss Made Culture members and with the Abobo
Booking required: online ticketing or via event@swissmadeculture.ch

Photo credits:
Barbara Polla : Guillaume Varone
Michel Abou Khalil : F. Barras