The Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum was one of many cultural & historic sites significantly damaged by the August 4 explosion. In fact, over 600 building having heritage status, concentrated in the historic districts of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, were affected by the explosion.

The museum had to close as a result but after relentless work for the past two years with the help of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH), the French Ministry of Culture and Agenzia Italiana Per la Cooperazione Allo Sviluppo (AICS) with UNESCO-Li Beirut, it will reopen its doors this Friday at 7:30PM and will return as a premiere cultural hub in Beirut.

Background:

The Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum is one of Lebanon’s most important and most visited museums. It first opened in 1961 with a mission to collect, preserve, and exhibit local and international art, and played key role in the development of the cultural scene in Beirut, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.

The museum reopened officially in 2015 but was severely damaged during the Beirut port explosion last year. All the stained-glass windows on the museum’s façade were obliterated and the roof was damaged, leaving the museum exposed to the elements. The art works were safely moved into storage but the repair costs were estimated in the millions not to mention a lot of necessary raw materials was no longer available in the country.

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