Capturing the Arab World's Key Cultural Periods on Film | Waddah Faris
In this conversation, we talked to Waddah Faris about his work as a designer, artist, photographer, art critic and former gallerist. We also talked about his work at Contact Art Gallery and Galerie Faris, the Baalbek Festival catalogues he designed, and much more!
Waddah Faris is a designer and art critic living and working between Barcelona and Beirut. He began his education in architecture in 1959 then transferred in 1961 to applied graphics, which was his preferred field of study. He returned to Beirut in 1963, joined Khayyat Publishing designing books for Franklin Publication, then joined al-Nahar newspaper where he was involved in editorial design work for the weekly literary supplement. He also worked for al-Nahar Press Services to design their specialist publications. He also designed some of the catalogues for the Baalbeck Festival (1973 & 1974), printed at the Imprimerie Catholique in Beirut. It was in the 1973 catalogue that he introduced the concept of sponsorship of Lebanese artwork reproduction as substitute to conventional advertising pages. He also introduced contemporary graphic image and design treatments that showed ‘jazzy’ visual experiments and interesting use of colors, inks and printing techniques. In 1972, he founded Contact Art Gallery, and was invited to join the graphic design studio Art Shop in Beirut as a partner. He organized in the 70s in Beirut several art events and exhibitions that brought to the spotlight the Arab avant garde of that period. He then moved to Paris in 1979, where he established his Gallerie Faris and continued to promote Arab (and European) contemporary art. He lives in Barcelona since 1984.
The afikra Podcast
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning, and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work.
