tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post8889197186202585966..comments2023-12-02T15:13:47.883+02:00Comments on Beirut the Fantastic: URBAN HERITAGE AND ITS POLITICS :THE GRAND THEATER in Beirutsrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11922740967252084103noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-40720881268873599522021-01-18T17:14:41.299+02:002021-01-18T17:14:41.299+02:00Hello, who is the author of this article please? I...Hello, who is the author of this article please? I'm interested in discussing the subject as I'm working on the Grand Theatre. Thank you. clara yamminehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12339555804986244397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-28174241316084534042019-11-29T13:56:06.774+02:002019-11-29T13:56:06.774+02:00Story of this blog is well written. The writer kep...Story of this blog is well written. The writer kept in consideration the grammar very well. Level of English also very well. Lot many new words has been used while writing content of this blog.<br /><a href="https://www.halahadaya.com/collections/all/products/vegan-leather-shoulder-bag-for-women" rel="nofollow">Women’s bag in Kuwait</a>theloveandlightstorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00086689310267905234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-70039729425883665472019-09-16T14:07:59.239+03:002019-09-16T14:07:59.239+03:00This is very educational content and written well ...This is very educational content and written well for a change. It's nice to see that some people still understand how to write a quality post.! <a href="https://www.voicestress.org" rel="nofollow">get more</a>josphenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06136380173422519251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-842649848974301552019-09-05T09:57:56.789+03:002019-09-05T09:57:56.789+03:00I have read all the comments and suggestions poste...I have read all the comments and suggestions posted by the visitors for this article are very fine,We will wait for your next article so only.Thanks! <a href="https://wizzo.org/" rel="nofollow">secret info</a><br />saadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16929332240004812632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-17425274307525908652011-12-27T22:42:49.745+02:002011-12-27T22:42:49.745+02:00Thank you for this post. I am a little bit confuse...Thank you for this post. I am a little bit confused as to the relationship between section AA and section BB as seen in the last image of the post. <br /><br />Is section BB the building that has been demolished that was the subject of my blog post "Censoring Beirut Heritage" a few months ago? If so, it seems to bare a strong resemblance to the theatre building with similar features (theatre + private space) and a similar layout. That would be quite the contrast from the narrative articulated by Solidere project manager Tamara Rae Napper who said on a Facebook thread at the time:<br /><br /> "The building being demolished was in fact across a street from the Grand Theatre, and never had any functional or physical connection to it. It was a 3-storey building built in the 1930s with a concrete-frame construction and cement render facades.."<br /><br />Ms. Rae further commented on Karl reMarks blog: <br /><br />"The building that is being demolished was never historically part of the Grand Theatre. It sat across the street from it."<br /><br />Am I missing something here?<br /><br />Secondly, I asked Ms. Napper if Solidere intended to preserve any of the signage or original building materials for possible future display, such as the glass sidewalk, but have not heard anything back from her. I wonder what the protocol is for preserving physical pieces of buildings and how decisions are made in that regard. Some worry that heritage artifacts such as signs, etc. may have been dumped into the landfill and it would be good to get some clarification from Solidere on that.Habib Battahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15691610014903547411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-9434156691359644212011-09-08T14:48:51.546+03:002011-09-08T14:48:51.546+03:00@ Alex, I can also see the rest of your point.
I...@ Alex, I can also see the rest of your point. <br /><br />I said that the prime argument for conserving heritage is because it means something tho the people of a place, but heritage can definitely be worth preserving even if it bears no direct relation to those people or their lives.<br /><br /> For example, the temples of Baalbeck, built 2,000 years ago, have an incalculable value in terms of architectural and cultural heritage, even if they are totally disconnected from the people who inhabit Baalbeck today. :) And that is without getting started on their economic value as a tourist attraction.<br /><br />The same might be said about Stonehenge, which is prehistoric, and thus holds little relevance to anyone in the UK today, but tells us a good deal about the people who created it. <br /><br />In the end the criteria for conserving heritage is relative and has to be kept flexible, rather than rigid, in my opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-88228970382782204712011-09-08T14:33:39.824+03:002011-09-08T14:33:39.824+03:00@ Alex, thank you for your comment and sorry for t...@ Alex, thank you for your comment and sorry for the late reply.<br /><br />It is true that there is a huge gap, if you will, between Lebanon's pre war psyche and its post war psyche, and that's for a number of reasons that I will not go into here. <br /><br />More importantly, perhaps, remember that this is a divided society, and that there is no consensus on the content of its culture and/or identity. <br /><br />For example, the is no single school textbook that teaches the country's history, something badly needed. As for the traumatic events of the war, one reason why there is such a gaping hole in the national psyche is because there has been a concerted effort to enter into a sort of collective amnesia on the subject, with insufficient discussion, no war memorial, no war museum, not truth comission (though that would be hoping too high lol), etc. <br /><br />This approach has been very unhealthy to say the least. <br /><br />Regarding structures like the "egg", many young people were interested in and supported its conservation, and I was one of them (I was not born in the prewar era), though I agree it means more to people who actually knew the pre war days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-83791378147978834932011-09-01T23:21:31.877+03:002011-09-01T23:21:31.877+03:00Great post Sandra, thanks so much!
If I may respo...Great post Sandra, thanks so much!<br /><br />If I may respond in part to Anonymous, you bring up some really good points. <br /><br />The biggest problem here is identifying why and for whom you are preserving the heritage of a site, and to whom it has significance. You rightly point out that the theater itself retains a certain ' nostalgic eminence' as well as an important cultural reservoir to those who existed and operated in pre-war Lebanon. However, there is such a salience between pre and post-war Lebanon and how public and private space is treated (cultural or otherwise) that it is incredibly hard to reconcile the two into a one coherent and mass "national nostalgia" (which will effect how and where 'culture' is derived). As it is, in N. America and Europe, even among my generation (30 and under) there is a connective and nostalgic heritage between what is and what was, even to the 1950s'. The War years were and are so monumental in their implications that with this same generation in Lebanon you find a cultural/heritage dissonance. So then, I would think this brings us to the question of: how do you sell something like the Egg as a piece of cultural heritage to a generation who maintains no connection nor appreciation (of the non-nefarious sort) for such a structure? Or, better yet and to flip this dichotomy, of what importance is a structure that possesses no connection nor appreciation for the cultural heritage of a generation? Tell them that it is indeed important to their past when, for all purposes, they have no connection to this past? It is certainly something to think about. One could say, however, that the lack of such cultural heritage sites are the very reason as to why this disconnect exists. <br /><br />Just some edibles for thought ;)Alex Pughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002240022059129735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-84957083507591904472011-08-31T17:12:25.890+03:002011-08-31T17:12:25.890+03:00Nice blog, and this is a great post. The theatre h...Nice blog, and this is a great post. The theatre has to be preserved, it´s beautiful.<br />Thank you for sharing,<br />MyriamMyriam B. Mahiqueshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04877775531588362818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-40186662610212652662011-08-31T11:30:35.449+03:002011-08-31T11:30:35.449+03:00Beyond that, and speaking of the Grand Theatre its...Beyond that, and speaking of the Grand Theatre itself, I think it is significant for a number of reasons:<br /><br />- It is a beautiful, scenic building with a distinctive architectural style, from a bygone era<br /><br />- It used to be a theatre where serious shows were sometimes put on; shows that had a cultural significance, not just commercial ones; in a sense it is reminiscent of today's arts cinemas. <br /><br />- Like many buildings in the Downtown it means something to a generation of Lebanese. When I say that I am not looking back nostalgically to Lebanon's "belle epoque", but simply to an era in the history of Modern Lebanon which means something to those people who lived it. <br /><br />- You posed the question of why heritage is important to preserve it: Heritage can be important for a variety of reasons, but most importantly because it means something to the people of a country or city. The Grand Theatre means a good deal to us in Lebanon, and especially to the generation of Lebanese who lived the pre war era; therefore, and on that basis, it is definitely worthy of conservation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-91940499210070685342011-08-31T11:08:16.517+03:002011-08-31T11:08:16.517+03:00Dear Sandra,
thank you for posting this article; ...Dear Sandra,<br /><br />thank you for posting this article; I could have a good deal to say about Beirut's "Grand Theatre".<br /><br />Before doing so, however, I would like to point out something that is a little off topic, but still quite significant.<br /><br />Basically, while Lebanon has a (very old) law that protects (mainly archeological) antiquities, we do not a have a law that protects or defines heritage, as in heritage buildings or monuments. This makes it possible for culturally significant buildings like the National Theatre to be at the mercy of a company like Solidere, because Lebanon lacks the necessary legislation to protect and define a heritage building (there is a list of heritage buildings kept by the Ministry of Culture, but that's something different). <br /><br />If we did have such a law, Solidere could be sued (at least in theory) for clearing away parts of the theatre that it claimed were "insignificant", without giving a valid reason.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724043031283924282.post-20594552897740092592011-08-28T20:39:38.925+03:002011-08-28T20:39:38.925+03:00"Teatro Al Kabir" as was known prior to ..."Teatro Al Kabir" as was known prior to 1975,ended by the beginning of the Lebanese war during that year, as a cinema for cheap movies.<br />It was always remembered by the old people of that time as "THE THEATRE" WHICH BROUGHT CULTURE, EXCITMENT,IDEAS AND A VIVID PICTURE OF THE "OUTER WORLD".<br />MANY PROMISES WHERE GIVEN AT THE TURN OF THIS CENTURY, TO KEEP THIS "MONUMENT" TO THE FUTURE GENERATIONS, AND TO REVIVE IT AS A THEATRE.<br />YES, IT IS THE RESPOSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENTS TO SAFE GUARD CULTURE...WALID N RICHANInoreply@blogger.com