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Producing in the dark: Lebanese artists battle to keep creativity alive in a country at war

As Israel presses a deadly offensive versus armed group Hezbollah in his home country, Lebanese artist Charbel Samuel Aoun battles with the role of art in a country swallowed up in conflict.

Does art still have a location in such a crisis? stated Aoun, a. 45-year-old mixed media painter and carver.

Lebanon has actually traditionally played a central function in the Arab. world's artistic scene, serving as a vibrant center for visual. arts, music and theatre, blending traditional and modern. influences.

Now, Lebanese artists are utilizing their work as an outlet for. the disappointment and anguish they feel after a year-long Israeli. offensive that has eliminated more than 3,200 individuals, the vast. bulk of them given that September.

Aoun's pieces are a direct reflection of Lebanon's. back-to-back crises. In 2013, he started collecting dust from. Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon to develop a series of layered. paintings, before carrying on to check out other mediums.

Now, he says the darkness and hopelessness of the war - and. the particles left by Israel's intense bombing campaign. across Lebanon's south, east and Beirut's southern suburban areas - has. restored his desire to work with dust.

You either stop everything or keep going with the little. that still has meaning, he said.

2 of his exhibits have actually been cancelled due to the war. While he when lived on the earnings from his art, he now also. depends on offering honey from his beehives, which he first set up. as a task to develop art from beeswax.

I can no longer rely on the art market, he stated.

Galleries across Beirut have actually shut down in current months,. with owners informing Reuters there was no demand to purchase art at. this time. Lebanon's famous modern art museum, the Sursock. Museum, has moved its collections to underground storage.

Lebanese singer and musician Happiness Fayad has actually grappled with the. psychological toll of the dispute - which made it difficult for her. to carry out for months.

It limited my imagination, it was like I shut down. I. could not offer to others, nor to myself, Fayad, 36, stated.

Instead, she tossed her energy into songwriting. One line in. a new tune checks out: You are from the downtrodden individuals, whose. word has been silenced, and by their weapons, you are paying the. cost with your blood.

She recently began carrying out once again, singing for displaced. and refugee kids in Lebanon at a fundraiser north of. Beirut.

They're altering the environment, having a good time after such a. challenging duration, she said, specifically for those who ended up being. accustomed to the noise of bombs rather of beats.

(source: Reuters)