Installation view of Haig Aivazian, Prometheus (2021), in All of the Lights, 2021 (photo by Useful Art Services)
“The new revolution in Lebanon, spurred in late 2019 by government failures to sustain civil society, reached a terrifying crescendo last summer, when 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate stored illegally at the port of Beirut exploded, killing more than two hundred and decimating huge swathes of the city. It was as if the full force of the sun came to Beirut that day, leaving a city veined by rubble and covered in dust. ”