Written by LUBNA RAGES

Ginane Makki Bacho was born in 1947, in Beirut, Lebanon. Her journey amid the political and economic turmoil of her home country, including the 15-year civil war, had a great influence on her artistic voice. Bacho became known as one of the many postwar artists¹ who had become part of an art scene dedicated to the politics of display.

As a child, Bacho was captivated by the written word, and enjoyed alternating the expression of her stories between written words and drawn images.² Her passion for language continued as she studied French literature at the Lebanese University (LU) and graduated in 1970. Bacho later received a Bachelor’s degree in General Art Studies from the Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA), in 1975.³ In 1982, she obtained a third Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Lebanese American University (LAU).⁴ Continuing her graduate education in the United States, Bacho received a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in printmaking and painting at Pratt, in 1987.

Prior to moving to the US, Bacho had experienced the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the consequent breakout of war in Beirut. As a result, Bacho’s apartment was completely destroyed by a bomb. In a state of shock, while standing in what was her home and studio, Bacho began collecting shrapnel, the remnants of a bomb shell. Describing her sentiments at the time, Bacho explains: “I stopped thinking about my belongings because we lost everything. What was left were these pieces of bomb shell. And I don’t know how it occurred to me to gather them, as if it was a challenge because they invaded my home and destroyed everything”⁵. Collecting shell fragments was Bacho’s way of coping with the emotional damage of the attack ⁶.

In 1984, Bacho’s struggles peaked when she became a refugee. The Lebanese Civil War urged her, along with her husband and four sons, to flee Lebanon. She first went to France, and then to the United States where she stayed for almost twenty years. Upon arriving to New York, Bacho found herself overwhelmed with change, but took the opportunity to learn from the city, its spirit, and people. She enrolled in an MFA program at Pratt, worked as an assistant to the head of the printmaking department, and widely exhibited her own works. In 1987, Bacho relocated to Great Falls, Virginia for her husband’s work and her sons’ education. In the 1990s, the recession hit the United States leading the artist and her family to face many challenges⁷. She worked multiple jobs to support her family, before returning to Lebanon, in 2000. Returning to her homeland, Bacho immersed herself in education, teaching Fine Arts at the American University of Beirut (AUB), the Lebanese American University (LAU), and the American University of Science and Technology (AUST).⁸ She also held solo exhibitions at the Agial Gallery in 2004, the Sursock Museum in 2006, and a retrospective of her works at the French Cultural Center, in 2005.

Bacho’s work addressed various issues such as tradition, family life, exile, alienation, broken aspirations, and remembrance. Her body of work included a series of paintings, etchings, sculptures, and printed books. In Bacho’s practice, narrative was central. Her background in literature and printmaking guided her to create complex narratives through building layers and textures. In her 2013 solo exhibition Afterimage at Ayyam Gallery in Beirut, the artist exhibited a selection of paintings that she referred to as ‘memoirs’. The works, built from personal images collaged together, provide insight into her personal history within the broader context of Lebanon's evolving landscape. By painting based off of photographs, the artist tapped into the universal act of trying to capture fleeting moments. She also used a muted pastel palette to evoke a sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of old family albums, contributing to the overall atmosphere of the compositions.

Just as Bacho’s narratives were central to her technique, so was the material she composed with. She used the bombshells she collected from her destroyed home in 1982 and other sites around Beirut. Bacho created various sculptures, including a series of cedar trees, one of which is Untitled, 2016, part of the Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation collection. The genuine authentic iron sculpture was formed by welding layers of shrapnel into the triangular shape of a cedar tree, the symbol of Lebanese national pride. The work not only reaffirms her country’s identity, but also serves as a tangible and visible reminder of the violence that has significantly influenced its history.⁹ Bacho also used similar post-war fragments in creating her sculpture series Exodus, 2018. The work is a sculptural installation featuring a series of figures crafted from her collected metal. Each figure is depicted in motion, suggesting a dynamic procession or migration, which aligns with the title of the series. The figures are stylized with elongated limbs, hunched backs, and appear to carry bags or suitcases, emphasizing the theme of a laborious or difficult journey. The unbalanced and drooping figurines, as if burdened by sorrow, are an ode to the plight of refugees¹⁰, which she is familiar with.

While Bacho avoided shocking imagery, she did not shy away from addressing conflict. For example, in the work Look the Other Way, 2012, also part of the Afterimage series, she depicts a serene moment between a mother and child amidst a backdrop of destruction. The work refers to the 1982 Israeli invasion that destroyed her home but spared her children’s lives.¹¹ The subdued tones used in her collage of damaged surroundings suggest an intention to downplay the devastation in the portrayal of conflict. Through such techniques, the artist placed a juxtaposition between the personal and the political.

The artist’s narrative soon shifted from the personal to the regional, as Bacho had her solo exhibition Civilization at the Saleh Barakat Gallery, in 2017.¹² Civilization dealt with the greater violence faced in the region, from Lebanon and Syria, to Iraq. The exhibition was comprised of three bodies of work: an installation of miniature figurative iron sculptures which make up cosmic-scale armies, a series of ornamental objects produced out of shrapnel, and a collection of national monuments.¹³ The works represented various scenes of conflict led by terrorist groups, torture of captives in orange jumpsuits, and overflow of boats with refugees. As Bacho suggests in reference to the title: “Civilization is used pejoratively to signify our decadence. And when I use scrap metal, it’s to convey that we live in a scrap civilization where only weapons and money count, destroying values, countries, and eradicating whole populations.”^[1] The artist’s understanding of conflict and its effects on the region were shaped by her personal experiences. In a sense, her iron sculptural works become biographical, as she managed to mold collective war anxieties into tangible and lasting forms.

Ginane Makki Bacho was able to echo her personal experiences into a regional and global context. Her works encompass her intimate yet impartial approach, and her practice reflects her continuous curiosity. She enjoys experimenting with mediums which consequently further enrich her work. Bacho's journey is not just a sequence of events; it is a narrative woven with resilience and an unwavering dedication to using art as a vessel for social change. The artist continues to reside and work in Lebanon.

Edited by Elsie Labban

References:

“Ginane Makki Bacho. Afterimage.” Meer, April 11, 2013. https://www.meer.com/en/2601-ginane-makki-bacho-afterimage.

Ginane Makki Bacho’s LinkedIn Profile. LinkedIn, October 2009. www.linkedin.com/in/ginane-makki-bacho.

" شظايا قذائف اسرائيلية تشيّد 'حضارة' في معرض لبناني" ، 2017. ميدل ايست اونلاين

“Lebanese Artist Turns War Shrapnel into Sculptures.” Scroll.in, June 14, 2017. www.scroll.in/video.

“Syria, Then and Now: Brooklyn Museum.” Edge Of Arabia. Accessed February 6, 2024. http://edgeofarabia.com/exhibitions.

Afterimage: Ginane Makki Bacho. Ayyam gallery, 2013. Beirut; Ayyam Gallery.

Gasparian, Nathasha. Damaj, Yara. Meskawi, Zeina. Abi Saab, Pierre. Civilization, 2016. Saleh Barakat Gallery.

Ginane Makki Bacho | Biography - MutualArt.” Mutual Art. Accessed February 6, 2024. www.mutualart.com.

Haffar, Dana K. “Alumna Ginane Makki Bacho Exhibits at Brooklyn Museum.” LAU, November 8, 2019. www.news.lau.edu.lb.

Kadi, Samar. “History Written in Metal at Beirut Exhibition.” The Arab Weekly, October 2019. www.thearabweekly.com.

Rabbat, Nasser. “Mounting Resistance: New Art in Beirut.” Artforum, March 2017. www.artforum.com

Stoughton, India. “Lebanese Artist and Refugee Ginane Makki Bacho’s Elegy to Syrian Asylum Seekers.” The National News, August 11, 2019. www.thenationalnews.com.

زينب حاوي، الطاعون الاسود نحن مجهر جنان مكي باشو، 2016. جريدة الاخبار

^[1] Haffar, Dana K. “Alumna Ginane Makki Bacho Exhibits at Brooklyn Museum.” LAU, November 8, 2019. news.lau.edu.lb.

Notes:

¹ “Ginane Makki Bacho | Biography - MutualArt.” Mutual Art. Accessed February 6, 2024. www.mutualart.com.

² Afterimage: Ginane Makki Bacho. Ayyam gallery, 2013. Beirut; Ayyam Gallery.

³ Ginane Makki Bacho’s LinkedIn Profile. LinkedIn, October 2009. www.linkedin.com/in/ginane-makki-bacho.

⁴ Afterimage: Ginane Makki Bacho. Ayyam gallery, 2013. Beirut; Ayyam Gallery.

⁵ “Lebanese Artist Turns War Shrapnel into Sculptures.” Scroll.in, June 14, 2017. www.scroll.in/video.

⁶ “Ginane Makki Bacho. Afterimage.” Meer, April 11, 2013. www.meer.com.

⁷ Afterimage: Ginane Makki Bacho. Ayyam gallery, 2013. Beirut; Ayyam Gallery.

⁸ Gasparian, Nathasha. Damaj, Yara. Meskawi, Zeina. Abi Saab, Pierre. Civilization, 2016. Saleh Barakat Gallery.

⁹ Rabbat, Nasser. “Mounting Resistance: New Art in Beirut.” Artforum, March 2017. www.artforum.com

¹⁰ Stoughton, India. “Lebanese Artist and Refugee Ginane Makki Bacho’s Elegy to Syrian Asylum Seekers.” The National, August 11, 2019. www.thenationalnews.com.

¹¹ Rabbat, Nasser. “Mounting Resistance: New Art in Beirut.” Artforum, March 2017. www.artforum.com

¹² Rabbat, Nasser. “Mounting Resistance: New Art in Beirut.”

¹³ Gasparian, Nathasha. Damaj, Yara. Meskawi, Zeina. Abi Saab, Pierre. Civilization, 2016. Saleh Barakat Gallery