RAMI CHAHINE 

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The Cedar standing in front of the Matyr’s monument in Martyr’s square Downtown Beirut, a major gathering point in Lebanon’s history of protests and national struggles.

How can reclamation of dismemberement be a catalyst for creative exploration?

How can we reclaim the destruction of our environment and social fabric in acts of collective liberation?

Can environmental art and social practice be at that intersection which nurtures both social healing and environmental restoration?




The Cedar making its journey from the TakeOver Gallery to Martyr’s Square

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I had planted this Cedar tree when I was seven years old. It died in 2022 due to unfavorable conditions, when the municipal workers cut it down and dismembered it, the idea to retrieve it and reconstitute it emerged.

Early 2024 the recontructed trunk invaded the Take Over gallery space with a video projection of a virtual tour of the Chouf Cedar reserve. “What remains of my Cedar forest” set the presence of the cedar tree in depictions of our national identity against the lack of national policies that are put in place to protect our environment.



The Cedar at TakeOver Gallery Beirut, with maps from Batoul Faour’s Oranges from Haifa on the wall