Saleh Barakat (born in 1969 in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

) is a Lebanese art expert, gallery owner and curator. He studied at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

and was nominated as a Yale World Fellow in 2006. He runs Agial Art Gallery and Saleh Barakat Gallery in the

Ras Beirut Ras Beirut () is an upscale residential neighborhood in Beirut, Lebanon. It has a mixed population of Christians, Muslims and Druze, and is associated with nonsectarian relations between members of thee groupings. Ras Beirut is home to some of ...

area.

Profile

Saleh Barakat inaugurated the Agial Art Gallery in 1991, in the immediate aftermath of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

. Since then, he expanded, becoming a leading advocate for Modern Arab painters in the art market, with high expectations to see them enter the museums. Being responsible for building major art collections in the region. Saleh Barakat deals with works from established Modern artists from Lebanon and the Arab World, such as

Saloua Raouda Choucair Saloua Raouda Choucair (; June 24, 1916 – January 26, 2017) was a Lebanese painter and sculptor. Life and career Born in 1916 in Ain El Mraisseh, along Beirut's coastal Corniche, Lebanon, Choucair came from a family of doctors, lawyers, engin ...

to whom he organized a retrospective exhibition at the Beirut Exhibition Center. He also has a team of younger talents including Oussama Baalbaki, Mohamad Said Baalbaki, the successful Ayman Baalbaki, Abdul Rahman Katanani, Tagreed Darghouth, Tamara Al Samerraei, and Chaza Charefeddine. Baalbaki got extremely high bids at recent auctions. In April 2011, one of his works was auctioned at US$206,500.

Curatorial Practice

Saleh Barakat, who participated to numerous roundtables and educational programs, has participated in the organization of keystone exhibitions for Lebanese and Middle Eastern Art. In 2007, he co-curated with Sandra Dagher the 1st Lebanese Pavilion at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. The Pavilion featured a collective exhibition of Fouad Elkoury, Lamia Joreige, Walid Sadek, Mounira Al Solh, and Akram Zaatari. In 2009, he curated the Road to Peace at Beirut Art Center. The exhibition featured paintings, photographs, drawings, prints and sculptures by Lebanese artists during the war. Its title comes from a series of prints by Aref Rayess that depict Lebanese survivors of war. The Road to Peace featured Rafic Charaf, Fouad Elkoury, Paul Guiragossian, Hassan Al-Jundi, Samir Khaddage, Seta Manoukian,

, Mohammad Rawas, Aref Rayess and others. Barakat has been appointed to manage a museum project at the American University of Beirut. This project follows a donation by Dr Samir Saleeby, who happens to be a relative of the late Khalil Saleeby (1870-1928), a pioneer of Lebanese painting, and consists of 30 paintings from Saleeby himself and Saliba Douaihy,

César Gemayel César Gemayel (1898 in Ain al Touffaha near Bikfaya, Ottoman Empire – 1958 in Beirut, Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterrane ...

and Omar Onsi. Saleh Barakat is member of the advisory board of the

Lebanese American University The Lebanese American University (LAU; ) is a secular private American university with campuses in Beirut, Byblos, and New York. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New York and is recognized by the Lebane ...

School of Architecture and Design as well a board member of the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO (LNCU).

Artists

* Abdul Rahman Katanani * Ayman Baalbaki * Mohammad Rawas * Mona Saudi *

Nabil Nahas Nabil Nahas (born 18 September 1949) is a Lebanese artist and painter living in New York. Biography Nabil grew up in Cairo and Beirut, before moving to the United States for college to study at Louisiana State University. He is the younger brother ...

* Saloua Raouda Schoukair * Shafic Abboud * Tagreed Dargouth

Curated exhibitions

* 2014 - Michel Basbous, Beirut Exhibition Center * 2012 - Shafic Abboud (with Nadine Begdache), Beirut Exhibition Center * 2011 - Saloua Raouda Choucair, Beirut Exhibition Center * 2010 - De lumière et de sang, Foundation Audi, Beirut * 2009 - Mediterranean Crossroad * 2009 - The Road to Peace: Paintings in Times of War, 1975–1991, Beirut Art Center * 2007 - Pavilion of Lebanon (with Sandra Dagher), Venice Biennale * 2002 - Ateliers Arabes, 9th Francophonie Summit Art Exhibition, Beirut

References

External links

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Website of Agial Art Gallery
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Website of Saleh Barakat Gallery
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Profile on Yale World Fellows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barakat, Saleh Lebanese art collectors Lebanese art dealers Businesspeople from Beirut 1967 births Living people American University of Beirut alumni