‘Arabesque’ by Rayyane Tabet at Sfeir Semler Gallery

Courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg.

Sfeir Semler Gallery opens a second venue in Beirut. Alongside their flagship gallery in Karantina, this new Downtown space enables them to expand their presence in the city centre, offering a platform for Beirut’s artistic and cultural community.

Their launch features RAYYANE TABET’s exhibition, “Arabesque,” which delves into themes of cultural appropriation and original context through the lens of the stylized ornamental pattern found across artistic genres. Originally meaning “in the Arabic style” in Italian, the term now signifies an intricate design of interwoven lines, curiously absent from the Arabic language.

Courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg.

Language moulds itself around values, cultures, and societies to convey subjective perspectives. Over centuries, languages have evolved, coining words for all things new or foreign. “Arabesque,” once thought to encapsulate designs from the Arab world, emerged as a European construct. Despite being central to artistic expression where figurative art was restricted, these designs often became relegated to mere patterns.

Courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg.

The exhibition features the “Découpages” series, engravings from a 19th-century manuscript by Jules Bourgoin (1838-1908). This French scholar documented Egyptian architectural ornaments, setting standards for “Arab Art” in Europe. Tabet dissects and reassembles pages from Bourgoin’s work, revealing concealed geometries.

Also on display are music stands with sheets from Claude Debussy’s “Deux Arabesque” (1862-1918), a composition interpreting the arabesque motif through music. Each sheet features one letter from “Orientalism.” Ink covers specific notes, distorting the melody. A digital processor plays the altered composition, exposing blind spots in the initial European interpretation.

Rayyane Tabet’s “Arabesque” exhibition intertwines intricate ideas, historical realities, coincidental encounters, and emotions. By reframing basic shapes and lines, Tabet traces the journey of ideas across time and space, fostering contemplation on heritage, appropriation, subjectivity, and perception.

Courtesy of the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut/Hamburg.

About Rayyane Tabet

Born in Achkout, Lebanon in 1983, Rayyane Tabet pursued architecture at Cooper Union University in New York and Fine Art at the University of California, San Diego. Drawing from personal experience and self-guided exploration, Tabet delves into narratives that provide alternate insights into significant socio-political occurrences via individual stories. His architectural and sculptural background informs his practice, investigating contradictions within constructed spaces and their historical context through installations that reshape perceptions of physical and temporal gaps.

Location: Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Downtown Beirut

Dates: August 24 to November 16, 2023

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