Anachar Basbous’s Sculptures Soothe And Enchant Me; They Make Me Dream And Carry Me Far Away. They Are Made With Human Hands And A Celestial Spirit. They Belong To A Culture Of Magical Objects: Their Forms Are Modern And Universal.
A number of Anachar’s emblematic sculptures are worthy of being inscribed in the artistic heritage of Humanity. What joy it would be to own a large garden with one of his sculptures in it. What joy it is for a population – whether one is a solitary walker, with family, friends or children, in Lebanon or anywhere else in this
vast terrain of our global village – to be able to visit a public garden, take a seat on a bench, to rest, meditate and commune with the soul of an artist’s sculpture
inhabited by grace, and with nature surrounding it. And to be able to walk around it.
Let us dream!
Let us dream, when all the calamities of the world fell on the people of Lebanon and on its Eden-like landscapes.
Famine, disease, ugliness, violence, corruption … all congregated in this corner of paradise and conspired against this people known across the world for their culture, their love of life, their talents, and their many merits. Anachar’s sculptures form a dialogue with the nature of Rachana, this garden-village of sculptures designed by his illustrious father Michel and his brothers, in harmony with this Lebanese land that is blessed by the gods, sung of by so many poets, and painfully missed by the Lebanese diaspora pushed into exile; in harmony with the blue sea, the air, and the light that is so particular to Lebanon, and which inspired so many artists; in harmony with its daytime sky and the myriad stars that cradle it at night.
I am happy and proud to have guessed, from the moment of our first meeting in Paris, that Anachar Basbous would be a sculptor capable of designing an installation on the forecourt of the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA), forming a dialogue with and homage to the facade of Jean Nouvel, then to remove all its stars to leave only one large meteorite, which will take its place in the IMA’s new Alley of Sculptures. His project exceeded all my expectations. Thank you, dear Anachar, for reminding us of our communal stellar origin, stardust. Thank you for making us dream!
*Claude Lemand has been a collector since 1981, a gallery owner and art publisher in Paris since 1988, and is a major donor to the Institut du monde arabe museum, a researcher and exhibition curator.’