COVID-19 Measure: Read Full Magazine Here. Every artist should think of himself as a part of a larger art community. The art market, like any market game, is about individualism and competition and only the artists could change that situation, and for this purpose, they need to gather.
They say that there’s no fate worse than dating an artist. But what happens when one creative mind falls in love with another?
However, they all have one thing in common: each relationship led the artists to create some of their best works.
Such relationship is considered to be a healthy one, when most couples inspire each other artistically.
Lena and Hagop are recognized as one the most influential artistic couple of the 21st century through their designs and creations that are spread worldwide working as the ultimate team.
Together they are the only couple to win the London 2012 Olympic Fine Arts gold medals for their artworks that were selected following a yearlong worldwide art competition and passing a rigorous process of juries.
Lena Kelekian is the first Lebanese artist from the Arab world to have her artworks selected for the Olympic Fine Arts competitions in two consecutive Olympiads. First time in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and her second gold medal came at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Lena is a visual artist, iconographer, muralist, restorer of icons and fine arts, concept developer and curator of biennales, art therapist, geologist/mineralogist, environmental designer, ceramicist, jewelry designer and a university lecturer, owner of Kelekian Art Gallery & Restoration Center.
She holds a B.S. in Geology 1981, from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, a D.S.T. in Theology 1989, from Institut Supérieur Pour La Formation Religieuse. Higher Studies Diploma, Research and Restoration 1983 -1995, IAP Program, University of London, UK with on site studies in Italy, Greece, Spain & Portugal and a Doctorate Degree Ordinario in fine arts and restoration 1995, Academy of Letters, Arts, & Sciences, Italy. Diploma in Art Therapy, 2006-2007, in Rhodes, Greece and Amman, Jordan from Art Reach USA. She holds an advanced diploma in museum curatorial studies 2014, Beijing Art Academy, China.
She is fluent in English, Arabic, Armenian, Italian and French
Since 1992, she has had 17 private exhibitions in Beirut, Palma Da Mallorca, Lyon, Cluj, Mamaia, LA, New York, Rhodes, Penang, Kedah and Jakarta.
Collective exhibitions: represented Lebanon in 174 biennales, Salons in 54 countries, to mention few; The Société National des Beaux-Arts, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris; The Tokyo International Art Exhibition, National Art Museum; The Shanghai Contemporary; Meadows International Art Exhibition, Mexico; Spectrum Miami Art Show, USA; MEADOWS Personal Structures-Open Borders, Palazzo Mora, Venice Biennale; The Beijing International Art Biennale; the Asian Biennale, Dhaka; 1st Ecorea Biennale, S. Korea; others in Guwahati, Penang, Langkawi, Urumqi, Bali.
She has achieved 19 gold medals & 28 Awards & distinctions, including the 2008 Beijing & the 2012 London Olympics Fine Arts gold medal, the Torino Olympic Torch, the International Olympic Committee IOC Trophy for Art & Sports 2014 for Lebanon, the ‘La Toile D’Or’ France, the ‘Creature d’Aujourd’hui’ European Union.
Her works are displayed in 24 museums around the world and auctioned at the Bonham’s Auction House London, the Piceneum Italy;
President of six international cultural/artistic associations
Founder & Board member of MEADOWS (Mediterranean Endeavors Advancing Development of Widespread Sustainability). President-Lebanon of Femme Art Méditerranée FAM (aegis UNESCO) Rhodes, Greece. President of Lebanon & the ME of Greci Marino Acc. delle arte & Scienze, Italy. Treasurer of the Indonesian Lebanese Friendship Association. Advisory Committee of the National Art Exchange, Tokyo National Art Center, Japan. Member of the AUB Alumni Association, Curator of the 19th Asian Biennale 2021, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Member of the Lebanese Olympic committee of Culture, Sports and Museums, LOC. Nominating Committee of BIAF Beirut International Awards Festival, Lebanon.
Hagop Sulahian received his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the American University of Beirut in 1984 to continue advanced studies in Museum architecture & heritage building restoration in Portugal in 2001. Higher studies in environmental design in cut ceramic Antoni Gaudi style for embellishing cities 2002. Diploma in Art Therapy, 2006-2007, in Rhodes, Greece and Amman, Jordan from Art Reach USA, and specialized in museum curatorial studies 2014, Beijing Art Academy, China.
As an Architect he has his private practice, while as a visual artist he is the CEO of City Embellishment Projects, specialized in creating architectural/artistic landmarks within cities, in tunnels, roundabouts and public spaces as well as corporate artwork furnishings with his wife Lena kelekian.
He is fluent in English, Arabic, Armenian, Spanish and French.
He started exhibiting since 2000 in collective exhibitions in many Biennales, Salons & Art Forums in New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Rhodes, Sarajevo, London, Milano, Mexico City, Beijing, Saemangeum, Wanju, Penang, Jakarta, Phitsanulok, Bangkok, Dhaka, Tokyo, Cairo, Beirut, Assam, Kedah & many other cities of the world, and had five private solo exhibitions in Beirut, New York, Los Angeles, Cluj, Mamaia.
His abstract artworks were selected for display at the 3rd & 5th BIAB Beijing International Art Biennale-China, the 1st Ecorea Jeonbuk Biennale-S. Korea, 16th-17th-18th Asian Biennale in Dhaka - Bangladesh, the 1st Dafen Oil painting Biennale-China, 1st Langkawi Biennale-Malaysia, The Salon des Beaux-Arts, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris-France; The Venezia Biennale Palazzo Mora - Italy, The Tokyo International Art Exhibition - Japan, The Shanghai Contemporary National Art Museum-China; Meadows International Art Exhibition Tijuana-Mexico; & many others.
His artworks are in permanent display in 7 museums around the world.
He is an active member in cultural, artistic and social associations, with 20 years of experience in leadership in youth programs, organizer/instructor of Art Therapy workshops for traumatized children.
He is a lecturer and contributor to several journals on fine arts, restoration and environmental design, topics. Board member & founder of MEADOWS (Mediterranean Endeavors Advancing Development of Widespread Sustainability), as well as of MOFAA and MIFAA. Member of the Lebanese Order of Engineers and Architects, WAAUB, Gaudi Society of Architects.
Passionate, pioneering and powerful, these are the three most apt words to sum up the work of Lena Kelekian and Hagop Sulahian. Their synchronized creativity resulted in over a decade of collaborations that explored themes of ego and artistic identity.
No doubt, both Lena and Hagop are internationally renowned visual artists in abstract style, with Lena specialized in painting and restoration of Byzantine and Melkite icons. Her scientific background enabled her as an iconographer to excel in her “icon writing” (from the Greek word graphos) painting the icons in the traditional manner of Byzantine art thus using her mineralogy background to extract natural pigments from rocks and minerals during her geological field works to use in her painting and restoration of old icons. Along this process and through her scientific research on natural pigments she has made discoveries of several hues for which she was rewarded prestigious accolades for her being one of the most prominent individuals of her epoch to contribute to the arts through the sciences.
Their city embellishment works are typically large, visually impressive, and controversial, often taking years of careful preparation – resolving intricate technical issues in their execution while adapting to the city fabric and meeting three of their set basic requirements of beauty, functionality and sustainability. The couple has often realized its vast majority of projects through securing funds thus avoiding any burden on the national treasury and most often making unconditional donations for artworks ornamenting public spaces.
Their projects might seem at a glance to appear to contain no deeper meaning than being simply for joy, beauty, and new ways of seeing the familiar. But actually they always carry in them layered symbols and messages that provide food for thought but in much subtler ways than one could imagine, becoming true tools for triggering the intellect to wonder or analyze and make his or her interpretations of what they perceive.
Will any artist couple ever find a studio gallery space that strikes a perfect balance between independence and togetherness? For this reason Lena and Hagop have created several spaces each dedicated to a certain function. A workshop for the cut ceramic projects, a studio for painting and restoration, a big outdoor space for the creation of the large sized artworks and a gallery for private viewing and for art collectors. All this and still their home is never out of the picture in becoming a hotbed of midnight artistic creativity.
Their sensitivity, sensuality, and creativity merged with the love they have for each other, inspired them to make art that they never would have dreamt of, before meeting each other, in a fairy tale kind of story that started over a contested meeting during the creation of the Haigazian University emblematic monument in 2000, all the way to their civil union in ‘Castell de Bellvere’ in Palma de Majorca, Spain in 02-02-2002 at 2 o’clock.
This new month of the new year 2021, BUSINESS LIFE magazine had the opportunity for an exclusive interview with Lena Kelekian and Hagop Sulahian.
BL: Why did you marry an artist?
Hagop Sulahian: My choice was for the person, the bright mind, the bubbly personality, the exceptional human being who happened to be an artist with a scientific mind.
BL: Did your Marriage to an artist become your inspiration?
Hagop Sulahian: I would rather say, marriage to such a person whose creativity has no bounds or limits was a source of inspiration.
BL: Why people who marry artists end up the Happiest?
Hagop Sulahian: I am not sure that I agree with that statement as there are throughout history far more cases of failed relationships and marriages than one can even count, compared to the successful ones that could be categorized as Happy and that is simply because most failed marriages envisaged it as a bohemian fantasy whereas it must be a combination of creative and business savvy minds who know exactly how to plan and organize matters, to marry the free spirits with the discipline of a business model which is not an easy task, this leads to success. As for happiness it is altogether another issue which has to do first and foremost with mutual understanding and respect of each other’s space and intellectual aspirations and the willingness to make sacrifices whiteout hesitation for the sake of the partner.
BL: How do you plan your international Art projects and exhibitions?
Hagop Sulahian: Planning an exhibition varies greatly whether it is local or international, as the logistics vary to a great extent. Certainly our expertise has evolved over the many and varied exhibitions that we organized for individual solo shows for our works or for big collective exhibitions that we have organized and curated that actually made us even more recognized and sought after in the international scene. Certainly organizing and curating for an exhibition with hundreds of artists from 150 to 200 countries is not an ordinary feat and calls for logistics and team players that is at another level of organization and discipline. This success in our endeavors has led to our hard earned reputation in organizing big events that enabled us to create a network of thousands of artists from all corners of the world and solidified our credibility in the big art circles opening the doors wide open for us to organize big shows at Venezia Biennale in Venice, in Carousel du Louvre in Paris, in Shanghai, China and so many others and Lena recently being appointed as one of the main curators for the Asian Biennale in Dhaka.
BL: Which is your most famous painting?
Lena Kelekian: I need to make a distinction between my sacred art works and abstract paintings as far as the sacred art is concerned my most valued icon is the icon of “Christ the Pantocrator” while for my most famous painting I have to say it is my artwork that earned me and my country Lebanon the 1st Olympic Fine Arts Gold medal and the Olympic Torch of 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Hagop Sulahian: My work entitled ‘Colorful Medley of Olympic Harmony’for which I received the Olympic Fine Arts Gold medal held during the 2012 London Olympics.
BL: Who are your clients?
Lena Kelekian: They are a wide array, depending which artworks we are talking about. Whether it is my Sacred Art, art restoration works or the Abstract Art or city embellishment projects. I would say mostly, Royalty and heads of states who gift each other from my works, high governmental officials, diplomats, celebrities, art collectors, banks, foundations, corporations, high end hospitals, hotels, resorts, friends and some that consider art as a solid investment.
BL: Your use of bright colors and visible paint strokes makes it appear as though the world was moving by quickly, would you elaborate?
Lena Kelekian: I have always been fascinated by colors as it is a major source of personal joy, imagine the world in black & white, it would be such a dull place. Maybe that is why you will rarely find any of my works in monochromatic rendition except for some works done in black china ink, even there I cannot help but to splash a tone. Other than that all are polychromatic with dynamic visual impact that are certain to trigger something within the viewer, probably more questions than answers, here I am referring to my abstract works as well as to all my city embellishment projects executed in cut ceramics giving life to the dull cement.
BL: Are you promoting feelings of excitement within the crowds, rather than a sense of isolation in some of your paintings?
Lena Kelekian: As I am a very social and joyful person in nature and detest isolation I garner much of my energy and inspiration from social interactions that are ever so enriching to me. That is why the visual dynamics in all my paintings are bustling with colorful interactions, not leaving a dull spot. But if the viewer takes a deeper analytical look into them surely will realize that most of my artworks are a macadam of layered concepts with subdued signs, symbols and encrypted messages that tell a much different story than what appears on the surface. But ultimately my joy is to spread happiness and positivity through my works to everyone.
BL: How did you feel when you were announced as the winners of the London 2012 Olympic Fine Arts gold medals?
Lena Kelekian: I was happy to win my 2nd Olympic Fine Arts Gold medal in London 2012 after winning it for the 1st time in Beijing Olympics in 2008. To me what was more pleasant was to have my husband Hagop also get selected and winning the Gold medal as well to the bafflement of the jury when we were called onto the stage of the Barbican center as two artists from Lebanon each with a different name and surname to receive our gold medals and for them to discover onstage as we embraced that we were actually husband and wife. Our joy was even greater for achieving this pinnacle and gaining these medals in the name of our country Lebanon, and receiving official congratulations by the president of the republic and honors from ministers at the time which is a unique feeling to be recognized and honored in your own country.
BL: What can you tell us about the benches that were designed and built by artist Lena Kelekian and architect Hagop Sulahian?
Hagop Sulahian: It was one of Lena’s dreams that she initiated the concept in 1997 after winning the 1st prize for the design of the Sassine tunnel in Ashrafieh, in Beirut. Started the project in 2003 and is still in progress with 68 benches already executed to date and a few more benches remaining for completion. While the executed megachess of 8 x 8 meters with the narrative of the legend of Europa and Zeus and the propagation of the Phoenician alphabet from Lebanon to the world is part of a future project to host large scale chess competitions in public. Every bench has a unique design with variable themes promoting corporate images such as banks, to social responsibility similarly to raise awareness about breast cancer or children with heart issues or road safety victims even sending environmental awareness messages through them. Each bench has within it an encrusted chessboard serving as functional art pieces bringing lively colors coupled with the ergonomic designs rendering them landmark pieces and meeting spots identified individually through Lena’s signature and the logos of the contributors for encounters amongst friends, infatuated couples, families remembering their loved ones, and people from all walks of life.
BL: What would you tell us about sacred art?
Lena Kelekian: After getting my degree in Geology and while I was studying iconography I was keen to better understand the faith and the life of the saints whose images I was depicting, which led me to acquire a degree in theology. As iconography is bound by strict rules and regulations, set by the ecumenical councils and the fathers of the church. Benefitting from my geology background, I paint my icons in egg tempera using pigments that I extract from the minerals found in Mother Nature that God has created, emphasizing on the symbolism between the eternal nature of the Almighty and the never fading pigments I use to paint my icons which represent the eternal nature of the creator.
1992 the year of my 1st solo exhibition in Beirut, with my sister Hilda, who is specialized in painting Islamic verses on parchment, heralded the beginning of our successful career in sacred art in both Islamic and Christian artworks as art ambassadors for Lebanon. The same year our artworks were acquired by Rev. Billy Graham for permanent display at the Sacred Art Museum in Illinois, USA. Since then the exhibitions followed all over the world, as we became recipients of many gold medals, accolades and prizes for our sacred artworks.
My sacred art is the reflection of my inner soul and joy. My motto in life is to live in peace and harmony with all my surroundings, in my big habitat, planet Earth, with my family and friends and with the fauna and flora. As God Almighty has created humans consisting of body and soul, hence as much as we nourish our body with food, we have to nurture our soul through prayers to be in equilibrium and lead a happy life.
BL: What would you tell us about contemporary art?
Hagop Sulahian: Contemporary art has seen fast propagation in many art scenes around the world although it remains to be highly competitive in the upper echelons where it is confined within tight circles especially when we come to speak of the art business and auction houses and art dealers. It is through our MEADOWS ngo we promote renowned artists and encourage emerging artists while taking care of young talents and providing a platform for them in the international arenas of contemporary art scenes.
BL: What would you tell us about ceramic art?
Hagop Sulahian: This is a major topic which we have developed over many years to become an essential constituent of our city embellishment projects with a specialized workshop dedicated to this material, where the ceramic is the main material used for the creation of murals, monuments, benches, landmarks etc. Being our material of choice for its wide range of colors, providing almost unlimited possibilities in design. Also for durability against the elements, hygiene and minimal maintenance properties and for its ability to be cut in a multitude of shapes and sizes similar to the style of the great Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi but with a modern twist.
The method applied is technically called Trencadis and not as commonly mistaken for mosaic which is entirely something else, having to do with Roman & Greek period art form using tesserae.
We have evolved this art form from two dimensional applications such as the mural of Beirut river bank wall, the Salim Salam tunnel walls, the Sassine tunnel, the Summerland Kempinski Hotel resort marina jetty, to three dimensional applications creating monuments to mention the Beirut-Tripoli coastal highway mural and monument, the Beirut-Damascus highway monument, The Armenian genocide centenary monument in Haigazian University, or even functional art such as the benches on the 3km stretch of the Ain Mreisse corniche of Beirut waterfront and many public gardens.
BL: What would you tell us about artwork furnishing?
Hagop Sulahian: This is another chapter about which we are extremely passionate about as we take pride in being the pioneers in advancing the concept of introducing art in a complete new framework into corporate buildings, hotels like the Kempinski royal suits, Summerland resort bungalows and especially in the medical field institutions such as clinics, medical centers and hospitals, thus transforming them from dull fear instilling complexes into heartwarming spaces of culture, art and positive vibes for patients, visitors and the medical corps alike.
The success of this concept can be seen in all four buildings of the Clemenceau Medical Center in Beirut, and their newly inaugurated hospital in Dubai and the upcoming hospital in Riyadh, similar to the Belleview Medical Center, the Hotel Dieu de France children’s ward for cancer patients and many others.
BL: What would you tell us about your civil society volunteer services through MEADOWS?
Lena Kelekian: Mediterranean Endeavours Advancing Development Of Widespread Sustainability is an International NGO that Hagop and I established in Beirut in 2007 which has had a phenomenal growth spreading into 76 countries by 2020 with a network of thousands of artists from all over the world.
MIFAA (Meadows International Fine Arts Association) under MEADOWS has been actively involved in the organization & creation of platforms for the participation of its selected member artists at high profile art events all over the world from New York Art Expo to Miami Spectrum, London, Jollabuk do in South Korea to, Venezia Biennale, Verbania, Novara, Cairo, Beirut, Abu Dhabi, Sarajevo B&H, Guwahati India, Langkawi Malaysia, Jakarta & Bali in Indonesia, Cluj Museum Romania, Carousel du Louvre Paris, Mexico & many other upcoming exhibitions in Tokyo, Shanghai & Singapore.
Similarly MYFAA (Meadows Youth Fine Arts Association) Organized art exhibitions for hundreds of young teenage & emerging artists from over hundred Nationalities during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2014 Sotchi Winter Olympic Games, the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates conference in Barcelona under the title “My Dream of Peace” also organized children related Art Therapy events for traumatized children from wars in South Africa, Greece, Jordan & Lebanon in collaboration with high educational institutions, Universities, foreign Embassies & other ngo’s through Memorandums Of Understandings targeting particular age groups and programs.
For 2021 MEADOWS shall be completing its partnership of over 15 years with the American NGO Paint Pals for which shall be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for working together to bring children of the world together through the arts.
BL: What would you tell us about restoration? What attracted you to this field?
Lena Kelekian: I was fortunate enough to have during my studies in restoration, conservation and preservation that extended over 10 years of site works all over Europe the opportunity that allowed me to train and work using my expertise in geology and artistic talent on some of the most prestigious sites ranging from the ecclesiastical to the royal all the way to the vernacular. Restoration work is a very scientific based task full of excitement and adventure of the surprises and the findings that the process might uncover.
My artistic talents along with my scientific background has facilitated for me to overcome many difficult tasks that I was able to undertake in this complex yet interesting field where a lot of research and deciphering is needed to undertake restorations of the grand masters to achieve reversible restoration works.
I enjoyed immensely working on famous sites in several countries as in Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Like the Firenze Duomo, where it was so interesting to work on the frescoes where the oxidation process in the minerals used in pigments turned from original green leaves to blue by the 20th century. Working on the frescos of the Medici palaces in Monterchi and many cathedrals in Venice. The Alhambra wooden ceilings with artichoke motives of the national reserves in Andalucía and in one of the Monasteries of the Dominican order where we had to restore frescoes of one dome within another dome constructed at different historic periods in Spain.
In Portugal, the Vasco de Gamma private residence murals depicting scenes of wild and mythical creatures from his travels to the Indies. The depicted murals with azulejos in the royal baths of the princesses in the Poussadas of Alentejo. In Greece, the monasteries and churches on lake Prespas, Kastoria, Kozani and the Trodos mountain churches in Cyprus where the depicted eyes of the saints turned from white to black because of the lead used in the making of the white pigments.
Also I was privileged to be entrusted in restoring a big parchment manuscript of Louis XIV carrying the royal seal in addition of hundreds of very old Byzantine, Russian and Melkite icons and many valuable paintings, artifacts mainly china and porcelain.
Following the Beirut Port blast, I concentrated my efforts on restoring a wide range of damaged icons, art pieces and porcelain of private collections.
BL: As an international artist and architect, what would you say on architecture in Lebanon? How would you compare it to the rest of the world’s architecture? Do you have plans to expand your business abroad?
Hagop Sulahian: Architecture in Lebanon has undergone many transformations and as an expert in restoration of heritage buildings I would say the traditional Lebanese architecture is unique in its elements and vocabulary. Those heritage buildings are under a constant threat of disappearing in light of the voracious appetite of the developers that see no merit but to pull them down and erect towers instead.
The past 15 years, a number of young talented architects started making their mark with the application of ecofriendly designs but a lot needs to be done in the field of legislation to advance the practice while safeguarding the heritage which is in great peril.
As an expert in restoration of heritage buildings the project closest to my heart is the St. Nicolas Melkite church museum of sacred art in Saida, a major project of restoration and conservation of a historic building which shall house a huge collection of rare Melkite icons that have been restored by Lena during the past 10 years. The prominence of this project lies in the fact that it shall be housing along the sacred art a lot of historic artifacts and documents relating to the history of the city of Saida and the peaceful coexistence of its citizens.
As for outside the country we have been already rendering consultancy services for a number of years for countries abroad.
BL: What are your comments on Lebanon’s current crisis? How far did affect your business (positively or negatively)?
Hagop Sulahian: It is very sad to see the whole country slip into the abyss of economic hardship which has affected everyone without exception. Forcing people to concentrate on the essentials of life and art in most instances is considered as a luxury and sought after in times of economic prosperity unless for those who collect it as investments.
BL: Where do we stand today amidst the status of the global economy?
Hagop Sulahian: The global economy has undergone also major transformations in ways that has made countries more and more interdependent and reciprocally affecting each other’s economies which after the downturn caused by the COVID 19 pandemic shall see a surge once things go back gradually to normal.
BL: How did this crisis inspire you?
Lena Kelekian: Historically crises put artists, poets, musicians under dire conditions and such pressure that they come up with their best ever creations be it in arts, music or literature and we have the examples to prove it.
After absorbing the shocking news of Covid 19 and getting beseiged by the lockdown for the first time in our lives, at the early days of winter I had several main inspirations besides the zoom interviews, artists contemplating about their feelings and how to react to it with artistic creations during lockdown.
As COVID 19 turned into a pandemic and the numbers of victims started spiraling out of control and all medical institutions started making frantic appeals to the public all over the world to take strict precautions to safeguard their lives and those of others by wearing masks. This was enough of a reason for me to come up with a new concept which we immediately started organizing through our MEADOWS ngo which comprised of a virtual exhibition entitled ‘Mask Art – Creativity Under Lockdown: MEADOWS artists against Covid 19’ by inviting artists from all over the world to create artworks that would carry the message of awareness but the twist was that we transformed the protection masks into canvases so they became the art displays. This exhibition was launched under the patronage of UNESCO Beirut office on the occasion of the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development with the opening word by Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General.
The final selection included the works of 252 artists (selected out of 800 entries) from 120 countries where the selection committee nominated six Honorary Artists in appreciation for their contribution to the art world. This exhibition appeared on the official websites of UNESCO and MEADOWS and is presently hosted on the of several international prominent art institution websites.
My second inspiration led me to the creation of a new series. Just right after the completion of the Mask Art exhibition, I came across a box that turned out to be a gift from South Korea from 2010 containing a full set of rice paper, china ink and superb set of brushes. I was tempted to start experimenting with a new line of black china ink with colors and started a series of blossoming flowers as we were nearing the spring season and soon enough all the walls in our city apartment was covered with colorful flowers announcing the arrival of spring.
Later on when summer started in June being confined in our mountain house and despite the mounting pressure I was driven by my nature of always seeing the half full part of the cup, took advantage of our immobility to create huge artworks in our garden that I would have never been able to produce in my studio. Exploring techniques and new approaches with a new state of mind, an exercise that I would call ‘Liberating’ in the true sense of the word.
BL: Is it a test of our humanity?
Lena Kelekian: The test of our humanity is measured by our ability to receive the blows and stand up again amidst the debris and lend a helping hand to our fellow citizens irrespective of who they are.
I believe the blast of August 4th 2020 in the port of Beirut put everybody to the test and as artists stand out in their hypersensitivity in perceiving hardships have always found themselves at the forefront of major challenges. It would have been unthinkable to sit idle in the face of such a disastrous calamity which had affected everyone. Since the entire country was in a state of shock, we through our MEADOWS ngo took the initiative to provide art therapy workshops through specially tailored sessions to all those that were traumatized by this explosion. It was of such magnitude that the term ‘communal trauma’ was rightfully applicable. It did not take too much thinking to put our expertise and training in art therapy to good use. Having acquired and provided this advanced training to over 25 social workers from all over Lebanon, in Rhodes and Amman during 2006 and 2007 following the incidents of the 2006 war on Lebanon. This led to providing art therapy to over ten thousand children all over Lebanon traumatized from the war. A month after august 4 we immediately started a special art therapy program for the nurses of the St. George Hospital that were mostly affected by the blast and in view of the positive results and great success obtained we shall be expanding our services to other prominent hospitals as well as students and teachers in areas affected by the blast.
BL: How do you describe the year 2020?
Hagop Sulahian: Extremely challenging in all respects and putting humanity to test as far as solidarity is concerned.
BL: What are your next plans for 2021?
Lena Kelekian: If the difficult circumstances of 2020 were not able to put the reins on our cultural and artistic activities as we participated over twenty mostly virtual art exhibitions worldwide. We are hopeful
that we shall be moving full speed ahead to make up for any lost time as we have many exhibitions inline of which I can mention the The 19th Asian Biennale which I have been selected to be the curator, as well as the Arte Laguna collective exhibition of MEADOWS artists in Venice, Italy and some prominent artwork furnishing projects in hospitals in the gulf along with our ongoing international exhibitions. We would be aiming at the completion of the huge project of embellishing the external walls of the Salim Salam Tunnel in the heart of Beirut with a modern colorful ceramic designs.
