Biography
Waddah Faris
Waddah Faris, a luminary in the world of art and culture, seamlessly bridged the diverse worlds of the East and the West. His life was a masterful blend of the vibrant energy of Beirut and the refined influences of Paris and Barcelona.
As a gallerist with an exceptional vision, a graphic designer with unrivaled creativity, and a photographer who seamlessly integrated Arab cultural motifs into the global art narrative, Faris shone brightly as a pioneer of artistic expression in the Middle East.
His Contact art gallery served as a dynamic hub that launched the careers of numerous Arab avant-garde artists, while his Galerie Faris in Paris marked the significant emergence of Arab art onto the international scene.
Faris's profound and resonant voice extended beyond his visual creations, echoing through his steadfast support for his peers in the art community.
His enduring legacy, a rich tapestry of Arab heritage interwoven with global artistic influences, stands as a tribute to his remarkable life at the crossroads of art, culture, and history.
“A trans-Arab pioneer, anarchist and visionary, he was the forerunner in promoting Arab art in Europe. He paved the way for Arab artists on the international stage by introducing them at the most prestigious art fairs. He transformed the landscape of contemporary Arab art.”
Salleh Barakat, Agial Art Gallery (Beirut, Lebanon)
Early years
1940 - 1962
Waddah Faris (1940-2024) was born in Aleppo, to a Syrian teacher and an Iraqi diplomat . The eldest of three siblings, he spent much of his youth travelling from Syria, to Iraq, to Turkey, to end up finally in Lebanon.
He first studied architecture in the UK and applied graphics in Germany. In 1963, Waddah went back to Beirut and started working for several publishing houses.
Establishing in Lebanon’s design and art scene
1962 - 1975
In the 1960s, Lebanese graphic designer Waddah Faris established himself as a leading figure through his impactful work. Faris contributed to anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movements by designing for publications like An-Nahar and Hiwar, and creating book covers for Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani. His designs often incorporated bold visuals and symbolic elements to advocate for social causes like the Vietnam War and the Palestinian struggle.
Faris' work extended beyond publications. He served as the art director at Beirut's renowned "Gallery One," showcasing his design expertise in a different capacity. By the end of the decade, Waddah Faris had become a well-respected figure in the Lebanese art scene, recognized not only for his graphic design but also for his burgeoning career in photography.
Ghassan Kanafani book covers
Snapping the Golden 60s
1960 - 1975
Capturing Beirut's Creative Spirit: The Lost Photographs of Faris
Waddah finally purchased his own camera, a Nikon F2S, after his friend Sami Karkabi nudged him to stop borrowing his. This camera became an extension of Faris, a tool to document fleeting moments of everyday life in Beirut.
Faris's lens turned to his close circle of friends and Beirut's cultural figures. His black and white photographs captured artists mingling at exhibition openings in the Sursock Museum, dancers rehearsing for the Baalbek festival, and intellectuals like poets and collectors deep in conversation over cigarettes at the Horseshoe Cafe.
We see Annahar journalists engrossed in phone calls at their offices, and lively gatherings of friends at the Palmyra Hotel in the Bekaa Valley. Faris even documented the visits of renowned artists like Stockhausen in the Jeita grottos and Max Ernst at the Basta market. The list goes on, with glimpses of figures like Dorothea Tanning, André Masson, and Françoise Hardy.
Faris developed some of the film himself, but the photographs eventually became scattered and hidden away in his various residences. Sadly, these captivating glimpses into Beirut's creative scene were at risk of being lost to the world.
Portrait of Max Ernst
Contact gallery
1970 - 1975
Portrait of César Nammour
With César Nammour and Mireille Tabet as his partners, Waddah Faris founded Contact in 1972—an art gallery in Ras Beirut.
The gallery's modern and progressive stance was evident in the diverse range of artistic expressions it supported, exhibited, and promoted. Contact sought avant-garde and modern art rooted in Eastern and Arab identities.
This new art space was "exclusively focused on promoting artists from the region," which included the entire Mediterranean Levant (including Cyprus) and the Arab countries.
These objectives were showcased through exhibitions by leading artists such as Salwa Rawda Choukair's sculptures, Aref Rayyes' evocative and socially engaged works, Farid Haddad's "Hearts and Monuments" series, Elbacha's painted wood assemblages, Munir Eido's folded and cut paper sculptures, Halim Jurdak's abstractions, and the noble ceramics of Dorothy Kazimi and Nuha al-Radi. Rafic Charaf's sensual "Antar wa Abla" ink drawings were also among the memorable shows. Additionally, the gallery featured emerging Arab artists from Syria and Iraq, including Shakir Hassan Al Said, Ismail Fattah, Faiq Hassan, Rafa Nassiri, Saleh al-Jumaii, and Faiq Hussein.
While engaged with contemporary Arab art issues, the gallery maintained active interaction with national, Arab, and international concerns. Notable exhibitions included "The Deconstruction of the Lebanese Election Poster," a group show by Lebanese and resident artists, and the "Political Paintings" exhibition of Wenti Tsen's critical works on the Vietnam War.
Contact Art Gallery also explored regional art scenes beyond the Arab world. An example is the exhibition of Four Cypriot Artists: Kourousis, Makrides, Votsis, and Sfikas, which delved into other emerging cultures and their modern art approaches.
Photography as a modern art form took its early steps in Beirut with an exhibition of prints by Tom Lukas.
By the mid-70s, Contact Gallery had become a central hub for promoting Arab artists in the region; everyone knew the gallery.
The gallery published three zany issues of a review also titled "Contact." Rather than a catalogue of objects for sale, it served as a directory of exhibitions and events happening elsewhere in the city, as well as a literary journal that published poetry, prose, and critical articles—often astringent—about the gallery's own exhibitions.
In 1974, Faris and his friend Riad El-Rayess began setting up Al Riwaq, an art gallery that, unfortunately, never opened to the public due to the impending war.
Contact Gallery catalogues
By the early 70s, Waddah had already established himself as a person of interest in graphic design (having established his studio: The Art Shop, but we'll get back to it on the next post), and for anyone who wanted to get in touch with artists in Lebanon; he was friends with all of them.
One of their greatest projects were the 1973 and 1974 catalogues for the Baalbelk International Festival, an internationally well known festival. Their lineup was a mix of concerts of all sorts of genres and origins, dance, theater... There you could see names from all those artistic disciplines, names like: Joan Baez, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Béjar or Margo Sappington, to name a few.
It was in those years, while designing the catalogue for the festival, that Waddah decided to bring his idea of promoting Arab art to that project, and decided to replace the brands of the sponsors with artworks from a huge variety of Arab artists.
The Art Shop
1970 - 1975
Baalbek International Festival
Paris & Galerie Faris
1975 - 1990
With the civil war erupting, Waddah decided to leave Beirut being his first stop London. There he past some years working for example with the Iraqi Cultural Center, until he decided to leave to Paris.
Paris of the 70's offered a displaced Arab cultural activist the closest possible substitute to the vitality and energy of pre-war Beirut, as it had suddenly become the principal hub and destination for an Arab world that was undergoing an unprecedented surge in its development.
It was in 1979 when Waddah decided to inaugurate his second gallery, Galerie Faris (1979-1992) with a collective exhibition of contemporary Arab artists from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, and Egypt.
After the warm and puzzled reception from the Parisian art milieu, the gallery soon developed to become the principal source of reference and information on contemporary Arab art.
In those days, Waddah had one major objective. To bring the greatest Arab artists to a Western audience. Some of these artists were Abboud, Henein, Assadour, Lisa Fattah, Melehi and Shakir Hassan.
A lucky coincidence gave them access to a stand at the renounced Paris art fair - the FIAC, where Waddah and his team showed contemporary Arab artists work for the first time in an open and internationally recognized platform. They maintained an active and continuous presence at the FIAC for the next ten years 1980-1990, bringing Arab art to spotlight at the fair.
While showing Arab artists like, the gallery also presented the works of European artists like A. Mateu and Goudji.
The Gallery, while principally dedicated to Arab art, had hosted many international artists from France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany, U.K., Japan, India, Latin America and U.S.A. Some were presented in solo exhibitions, like Ugo Attardi, others in group shows, such as the Italian exhibition, and others at the FIAC like A. Mateu from Spain. Many internationally renowned artists were in the gallery's permanent collection such as Max Ernst, Andre Masson, Robert Motherwell, Peter Blake, Guillaum Corneille Karel Apel, Vivan Sundaram and Goudji.
Although his work in Paris made him live a busy life promoting Arab artists in Europe, Waddah continued to portray his surroundings and his daily life. During those days, Waddah continued to carry his cameras with him wherever he was, portraying characters like Mahmoud Darwish, Shafic Abboud, Thea Porter, Sonia Fares, between others. As well as, the daily bubbling life of Rue de l'Université.
Needless to say, Waddah always credited the success of his gallery to the amazing work of the women who worked with him: Hanane, Fiona and Anne.
In 1988 his life would change forever. It was at the FIAC of that year where Waddah met a Catalan artist, Assumpció Mateu, that would later become his future wife.
By 1990 they got married and moved to Barcelona.
Art Consulting
1980 - 2015
Since his time in Paris, Waddah dedicated an important part of his time in Art Consulting projects, in architecture and design.
His first significant project was designing an art program for the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Riyadh. This project quickly expanded, at the client’s request, into a comprehensive enhancement program, setting a benchmark for art programs and the seamless integration of traditional decorative arts into modern architecture.
Throughout his career, Faris often faced the challenge of being brought into projects too late to influence the architecture at an early design stage. This limitation led him to focus on interior finishing materials and their applications, developing well-integrated and organized flow and sequencing of spaces with seamless design solutions.
Faris's expertise in artwork applications and his deep knowledge of materials and crafts allowed him to continuously offer innovative solutions that brought novelty and quality to his finished projects. His extensive experience in art enabled him to understand its spatial impact and propose scales and mediums of application that transcended conventional perceptions.
Waddah Faris & Associates (WMAF) offered a wide range of specialist design services to meet diverse client requirements. These services included office facilities of various categories and configurations, executive and VIP office areas, receptions, meeting rooms, multi-purpose areas, lobbies, and facade enhancements.
Faris’s approach to materials was unique. Conventional cladding and separators were rarely used solely for their functionality. Instead, materials like glass were etched and transformed into artwork before being employed as wall separators. This approach extended to other functional materials, creating distinctive and subtle environments.
Waddah Faris's innovative integration of art and design left a lasting impact on the field, demonstrating how traditional arts could harmoniously coexist with modern architectural elements. His work continued to inspire and set standards for future art programs and design projects.
Installation at S.A.B.I.C. headquarters in Ryiadh (Saudi Arabia) of the work Pyramid of Dreams by Alberto Udaeta
Stolen Art Iraq
In 1979, Waddah Faris had the chance to document the Iraqi Museum's core collection of artworks. At that time, the collection reflected a comprehensive picture of the development of Iraqi modern art. It contained works by early pioneers and many masterpieces by the leading artists of that period.
The tragic loss of that collection, along with works acquired by the museum since, particularly those after 1997, left Iraq without the physical artistic evidence of its seminal modern heritage.
Many of these stolen works started appearing at public auctions and in some regional public and private collections. The laxness and lack of professionalism among Iraqi cultural authorities were so great that they failed to document the facts about some of the returned works.
Worse still, the lack of interest in developing a serious information record and the payment of compensations for some returned works, coupled with the absence of historical authority, encouraged the "return" of many falsely attributed works for the purpose of gaining the authorities' compensations.
Additionally, after submitting their image collection to the museum in good faith, Faris and his team were subsequently inhibited from undertaking a physical inspection of the museum's collection.
This, along with the proliferation of "academics" with clear connections to public institutions and individuals suspected of hoarding, purchasing, or facilitating the marketing of these works, led Faris to publish his findings in the hope of prompting an Iraqi administrative awakening to take effective steps for the return of these works.
The Nimrud Project
The tragic theft of the Iraq National Museum and the destruction and looting of many of the country's archaeological sites led to an awakening in museum circles around the world regarding the gravity of this loss.
Developed jointly with Factum Arte—an international leader in art and technology applications—and with the gracious help and permission of the British Museum, this initiative aimed to reproduce an exact replica of all the components of the throne room and install it in a Mesopotamian location where it would be openly accessible to students and visitors.
The majority of the component elements came from the British Museum collection, and from five other museums that granted permission for the completed 3-D scanning work that allowed for the production of life-size molds for eventual casting.
The concept was developed as a pilot project that could expand to create a comprehensive Mesopotamian replica archaeological site with the potential to become a prime learning and attraction site.
Iraq Lost Art
Archive, Exhibition & Documentary
2010 - 2020
In the latter years, Waddah kept exploring through photography and design. He began trying new things like compositions that mixed both his photographs, designs, his passports, etc.
It was around 2010 that Waddah began working slowly but steadily on his life's work: his archive. With one foot on each side of the Mediterranean, he kept working on his personal project.
It was around 2015 that his friend Saleh Barakat would convince him to get his archive organized with the objective of making an exhibition. In 2017 the exhibition "Beirut (1960-1975): The City of the World's Desire" opened at Saleh Barakat's Gallery. The following year the documentary "The Times and Tales of Two Beiruts" would follow. Waddah spent his last years (prior to his illness) working non-stop on his archive: identifying, scanning, organizing thousands of photographs.
In all of this, Faris' photographic practice was peripheral. Whether he took pictures for posterity is impertinent, for the pictures retroactively gain an urgency which exceeds his intentions.
The photographs seize the past in the form of an image, but this past is not a determinate object: it is not a fixed set of spatial or temporal coordinates, nor is it an archive from which historical material can be appropriated. What is known of the past does not exist apart from the present's relation to it. The past itself is subject to historical change. The two are dialectically intertwined. The past is a disruptive force actualized in the present - the former only comes into being when resurrected as the latter. To historicize the sixties as the era of failed struggles puts the past in the service of the needs of the present. However, the past cannot be assimilated within a definitive course of history. The past calls into question the necessity of the historical outcome in the present. Unlike the historicist's descriptive account, Faris' images have an actualizing agency.
They are not to be contemplated. To intervene in the unfulfilled past of each present, the images are to be acted upon. An exhibition such as this one should not be misunderstood as an attempt to represent the past 'as it really happened'. Rather, it is a venture into an unfulfilled past. To quote Walter Benjamin's Theses on the Concept of History once more, "If one looks upon history as a text, then one can say of it...that the past has left in them images comparable to those registered by a light-sensitive plate." The light-sensitive plate is the negative - the undeveloped film. It registers the images of the past, but it is not readable or cognizable. It is no mishap that Faris had never developed, printed, scanned and displayed his photographs. The historical distance was a necessary one. Now printed and on display, the images are here to be read. And yet, it is in a potential future which we can aspire to descry the details.
Saleh Barakat Gallery
For more about the gallery and the documentary please click here
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