Saleh Barakat

Saleh Barakat (born in 1969 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese art expert, gallery owner and curator.[1] He studied at the American University of Beirut and was nominated as a Yale World Fellow in 2006.[2] He runs Agial Art Gallery and Saleh Barakat Gallery in the Ras Beirut area.

Profile

Saleh Barakat inaugurated the Agial Art Gallery in 1991, in the immediate aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War. 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.[3] Being responsible for building major art collections in the region.[4]

Saleh Barakat deals with works from established Modern artists from Lebanon and the Arab World, such as Saloua Raouda Choucair to whom he organized a retrospective exhibition at the Beirut Exhibition Center.[5] He also has a team of younger talents including Oussama Baalbaki, Mohamad Said Baalbaki, Tagreed Darghouth, Abdulrahman Katanani, Tamara Al Samerraei, Chaza Charefeddine and Ayman Baalbaki, his most successful protégé. Baalbaki got extremely high bids at recent auctions. In April 2011, one of his works was auctioned at USD 206,500.[6]

Curatorial Practice

Saleh Barakat, who participated to numerous roundtables and educational programs,[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] The Road to Peace featured Rafic Charaf, Fouad Elkoury, Paul Guiragossian, Hassan Jouni, Samir Khaddage, Seta Manoukian, Saloua Raouda Choucair, Mohammad Rawas, Aref Rayess and others.

Barakat has been appointed to manage a museum project at the American University of Beirut.[11] 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 and Omar Onsi.[12]

Saleh Barakat is member of the advisory board of the Lebanese American University School of Architecture and Design[13] as well a board member of the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO (LNCU).[14]

Artists[15]

Curated Exhibitions

2014

  • Michel Basbous, Beirut Exhibition Center[16]

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
  1. "THE ART BUYERS". The Fine Art Fund Group Ltd. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  2. "Saleh Barakat | Yale Greenberg World Fellows". worldfellows.yale.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  3. "The Abu Dhabi art fair. Faith in art". The Economist. Nov 10, 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  4. "Yale World Fellows Program". Yale University. 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  5. "RETROSPECTIVE". Beirut Exhibition Center. September 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  6. "Modern & Contemporary Arab & Iranian Art Auction". Christies. April 19, 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  7. Canvas (2007). "Canvas Education: Speaker Profiles". Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. "Curator Statement". Pavilion of Lebanon. 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  9. "The Road to Peace: Paintings in Times of War, 1975-1991". Beirut Art Center. 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  10. Patrick Healy (July 6, 2009). "Face of War Pervades New Beirut Art Center". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  11. "Pour un effort national de préservation de l'art". L'Agenda Culturel. 2012-01-23. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  12. "L'AUB doterait Beyrouth d'un nouveau musée". L'Agenda Culturel. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  13. "School Administration | LAU School of Architecture & Design". sard.lau.edu.lb. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  14. "Home". www.lncu.org. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  15. "Agial Art Gallery & Saleh Barakat Gallery - Artists". www.agialart.com. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  16. Zeina Zalzal (20 September 2014). "Michel Basbous et sa forêt de sculptures au Beirut Exhibition Center". L'Orient Le Jour. Retrieved 13 June 2015.

• Website of Agial Art Gallery

• Website of Saleh Barakat Gallery

• Profile on Yale World Fellows

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