USEK goes Hamra sidewalk and its coexistence

USEK has an exhibition entitled "Hamra the sidewalk of coexistence" co-curated by Miha Vipotnik and Melissa Gazale (full disclosure, Miha and myself have worked on several projects prior and he even designed the scenography of my own exhibition in Slovenia in 2009) - first the technical details: the exhibition will stay open till December 19th, from 11a.m. till 7p.m. Saturday and Sunday included. The curatorial team also includes: Fabio Macari and Serge Gazale. The concept goes back to Maroun Kosseifi and the graphic design is by Jennate Laamyem.

Is it a not-to-be-missed event? Yes. How come? First let me be clear, no one knows Hamra. The more you dig the more you find, and also to be very clear, there would not a Kaslik if there was not a Hamra (Kaslik was the war answer in the "Eastern Regions" during the war for what Hamra was - before the war to everyone - and during the war to the "Western Regions/West Beirut"). 

The exhibition dwells on many formats and features works from students in the Arts and Applied Arts Department of USEK. It mixes nostalgia with today, archives with current images, and Hamra being what it is, you wouldn't know the difference. The street mixes everything and everyone in a ribbon of "coexistence" to go back to the title of the exhibition, and yet, for all of its mixing-and-match, (loaded) past, it all makes sense in a very oblique way. Just like the exhibition which is some of sort of organized delirium (hint, the artworks work much better in the afternoon's dimmed light), but to quote Erasmus' book title "In praise of folly", the exhibition gives Hamra its dues - ironically in the university that leads its mirror image street, Kaslik.

Financial Crime and Cash Economy - Rethinking Lebanon strikes again

"Ca va sans dire, mais ca va mieux en le disant" (it goes without saying, but it goes better saying it) said Charles De Gaulle: Lebanon has become a de facto cash economy. With banks holding all our money hostage, with banks doing all kinds of tricks to take money when you deposit, transfer, or withdraw (lately, they are charging 70 USD to retrieve money coming from abroad). Money transfer systems (such as OMT/Western Union or Wish or BOB Finance) have become the way people handle money as opposed to banks.
A conference about "Financial Crime and Cash Economy" is being co-organized by Holy Spirit University of Kaslik and Rethinking Lebanon (helmed by the intrepid Jihad El Hokayem) in collaboration with the Lebanese Army. This conference will convene experts to address the rise in financial crimes resulting from Lebanon's shift to a cash economy. Of course, the idea is that with very few choices the Lebanese have, what is the best way to stop money laundering and such other crimes now that cash is the most used means in Lebanon.
The conference will mainly focus areas are identifying new illicit cash flow trends, evaluating policies to boost cash transparency, improving cross-sector information sharing, and building awareness. It is to be noted that as per the World Bank the severe economic and financial crisis Lebanon is enduring is likely to rank in the top 3, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century.
Experts will also examine solutions to reduce overreliance on cash, including restoring trust in banks, expanding digital payments (funny story, last time I was at my bank, I signed papers for the renewal of my card but - the person handling my application did not give me the said card, nor did I ask for it - why? Because the card is worthless at this point since no money comes into it!), implementing focused cash regulations, and incentivizing formal financial services. The goal is to advance a coordinated response that combats financial crimes while considering economic and inclusion impacts as Lebanon transitions away from a cash-based system.
The conference will be held at Jean Paul II amphitheater, USEK campus - Jounieh, on March 26, 2024 from 9:30 AM until 2:30 PM. The maximum capacity of the amphitheater is 1350 attendees in person. However, you can tune in to a live stream on zoom or dive into an immersive metaverse experience, the conference will be also covered by various media outlets and channels.

Rim el Assal - International Arabic Language Day #Flashback

Originally published on June 8, 2011:

Rim goes out and about defending Arabic language and assuring everyone – specifically the youth – that is a “cool” and “contemporary” language… She took the association fi’il amer (which exists in real life to promote and safeguard the Arabic language). She designed a new logo for them, created the selling line “Iltafit nahawi” (which means both “look at me!” and “let’s see what the literary Arabic is all about” (Nahawi is the Arabic used by newspapers)).

To make the whole thing look cool she used Magritte but with a twist. She goes on to ridicule all those who do not know the difference between “z” and “Zein” or “Daaad” and “dad” (two different letters in the language) and then attacks all those who use the Latinized version of Arabic (2 is not a “Hamze”!, 7 is not “Heh”!)…
And then, she blows a major strike picking words and sentences from Arabic luminaries (Oum Koulsoum, Ziad Rahbani, etc…) puts them in a visual pop art sauce and tries to translate them into English… All the poetry, mystique, humour, double-entendre is suddenly gone! You see, some sentences simply out to be said and written in Arabic!...
And she did the whole presentation without uttering ONE word in any language apart from Arabic!
Smashingly well done!