Visual traces of art the case of Lebanon

Lebanon is a multilingual and intercultural Mediterranean port city and is seen as a meeting point between the East and the West for cultural activities. Lebanese art has a multilayered artistic tradition that reflects the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Eastern Mediter-ranean. Lebanon was occupied by the Phoenicians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Ar-abs, Crusaders, Ottoman Turks and the French. Modern art in Lebanon developed by feeding on the country’s historical, cultural and social structures. The increasing interaction with the West in the early 20th century offered Lebanese artists a new perspective and accelerated the transition to modern art movements. Inspired by art centers such as Paris, artists developed both a local and a universal language by blending Lebanon’s traditional understanding of art with modern techniques. The study aims to address the historical development of art in Leb-anon, its relationship with social events and its transformation in the contemporary period.While the foundations of modern art in Lebanon were laid under the influence of Western art, the artistic heritage of the Arab world was also preserved. Art education, especially from the mid-20th century, acquired an institutional structure and showed a multifaceted development where traditional and modern approaches were blended. Traces of war and social trauma have played a major role in modern Lebanese art. The Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) led artists to visualize social and psychological effects. Artists reflected the pain, loss and destruction of war in their works, while also questioning social change and reconstruction. Today, Lebanese artists continue to deal with themes such as identity, memory and cultural heritage, while car-rying traces of this past. Beirut plays an important role in the international art scene as one of the centers of modern art in Lebanon. Lebanese artists make themselves known in the global art world through modern art galleries, biennials and festivals. In addition, the diversity and evolution of contemporary art has made Lebanon an important art center worldwide.