SIMONE FATTAL on view in Jack, 1971

Ashkal Alwan, Beirut
Dec 1, 2023 — Mar 1, 2024

"On a certain evening, in 1971, Gaby Bustros and her husband John Haines were promenading across Martyrs Square. The Square then had cafés, old movie theaters, and a bustling array of people from all over the world. There, they met a band of young musicians on their way to India. As was the fashion in those days, Lebanon was a mandatory stop on that route, but this group was stranded in Beirut, lacking the financial means to go on with their journey. Gaby and John took them home, but after a while, they asked for our help. Each one of us took a musician, with Jack, the guitarist, staying with me. But the musicians also took us into an enchanted world filled with a valley with old trees, boulders, and a stream that all hippies knew but we, the Lebanese, did not. Together, we slept nights in the open air.

Jack stayed a while, playing all day, while I made quite a lot of drawings of him playing, sometimes trying to convey the music. These drawings, like forgotten time, have been sleeping in my drawers since. This summer, Christine Tohme discovered them and decided to present them along with their memories of pop music, carefree times, the sixties, and starry nights.”

—SIMONE FATTAL

For more information, please visit the exhibition website.