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Dalloul Art Foundation
GINANE MAKKI BACHO GINANE MAKKI BACHO

GINANE MAKKI BACHO, Lebanon (1947)

Bio

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...

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

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

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CV

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2019

Interminable seasons of Migration, Agial Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

2018

Exodus, Meem Gallery, Duabi, United Arab Emirates

2017

Civilization, Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
Exodus, Meem Gallery, Duabi, United Arab Emirates

2013

Afterimage, Ayyam Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

2010

Art Cirle Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

2005

Retrospective, French Cultural Center, Beirut, Lebanon

2004

Agial Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

Selected Group Exhibitions

2019

How to Reappear: Through the Quivering Leaves of Independent Publishing,Beirut Art Center, Beirut, Lebanon
Out of Context, Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
Syria, Then and Now: Stories from Refugees a Century Apart, Brooklyn    Museum, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

2018

Syria, Then and Now: Stories from Refugees a Century Apart, Brooklyn    Museum, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
You + Topia, Ayyam Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Face Value: Portraiture (A Gallerist's Personal Collection), Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

2014

Ginane Makki Bacho & Fathallah Zamroud: Material Remains, Ayyam Gallery,     Beirut, Lebanon

2013

The Lebanese Association of Artists and Sculptors in Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

2012

The Lebanese Association of Artists and Sculptors in Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Fa Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait

2010

The Lebanese Association of Artists and Sculptors in Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

2009

The Road to Peace: Paintings in Times of War, 1975-1991, Beirut Art Center, Beirut, Lebanon
The Lebanese Association of Artists and Sculptors in Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

2007

The 13th edition of The Biennale Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt

2006

Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon

Awards and Honors

2002

Second Prize at The Hariri Foundation’s exhibition , Beirut, Lebanon

2001

Third Prize at the Independence Day poster competition, Beirut, Lebanon

1987

Shaffer Prize, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

1983

First Prize in engraving, 5ème Salon de Printemps, Académie des Beaux-Arts, Chaville, France

1982

Sheikh Zayed Ben Sultan Prize, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

Publications

2009, Makki Bacho, Ginane, Dichotomie en Blanc et Noir

1998, Makki Bacho, Ginane, Extraordinary People

1986, Makki Bacho, Ginane, Ginane: Diary of a Woman

1985, Makki Bacho, Ginane, Face to Face: The Artist as Woman and Mother

Collections

Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
The French Cultural Center, Beirut, Lebanon
The Museum of Digne les Bains, France
Cabo Frio Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The Arab League, Washington DC, United States of America
The Hariri Foundation, Washington DC, United States of America

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Documents
Civilization
Nathalie Gasparian, Yara Damaj, Zeina Meskawi, Pierre Abi Saab
Saleh Barakat Gallery, English/Arabic, 2016

Catalogue

Interminable Seasons of Migration
Agial Art Gallery, English/Arabic, 2019

Catalogue

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Press
توحيد «الشارع البيروتي»: حلم يجسّده طلّاب «الأميركيّة»
Lebanon Files, Arabic, 2007
حوار / التشكيلية جنان مكي باشو: ما زلت أرسم حياة الماضي الصعب!
Ismail Fakih
Al Rai Media, Arabic, 2009
Forces of Change: Artists of the Arab World
ICWA/ NMWA, English, 1993
EXPOSITIONS « Insolites mondes d’artistes » à Expo Beyrouth(photos)
Zeina Zalzal
L'Orient Le Jour, French, 2002
جنان مكي باشو أبجديّة الألوان
Sanaa El Khoury
Al Akhbar, Arabic, 2010
معرض للفنانة اللبنانية “جنان مكي باشو” بعنوان “تذكار”
Lebanon today, Arabic, 2015
جنان باشو تستعيد ذكريات الزمن الجميل في معرضها الفني بالدوحة
Taha Abdelrahman
Al Sharq, English, 2015
معرض للفنانة اللبنانية “جنان مكي باشو” بعنوان “تذكار”
Ashraf Mustafa
Arts gulf, Arabic, 2015
جنان مكي باشو دلقت ذاكرتها على الكانفاس
Rawan Ezzeddine
Al Akhbar, Arabic, 2015
فنانة لبنانية تحول شظايا القذائف لأعمال فنية فريدة
Al Ghad tv, Arabic, 2017
شظايا قذائف اسرائيلية تشيّد 'حضارة' في معرض لبناني
Middle East Online, Arabic, 2017
"جنان مكي باشو.. تصهر الحرب كـ"حضارة
Nizar Othman
Al Modon, Arabic, 2016
الطاعون الأسود تحت مجهر جنان مكي باشو
Zeinab Hawi
Al Akhbar, Arabic, 2016
معرض فني يؤرخ للدمار العربي بالحديد والجليد
Mimosa Arawi
Al Arab, Arabic, 2017
جنان مكي باشو نحتاً بالحديد وتجهيزاً في "صالة صالح بركات" كم أحببتُ "حضارة" هذه المشهدية التشكيلية القيامية!
Akl Al Awit
An Nahar, Arabic, 2017
جنان باشو تواجه عنف الحرب بشظاياها
Dr. Maha Sutlan
Al Hayat, Arabic, 2017
جنان مكي باشو: تلك «حضارة» داعش
Nicole Yones
Al Akhbar, Arabic, 2016
جنان مكي باشو «داعش» في دبي
Al Akhbar, Arabic, 2017
هل هناك حياة بعد الكارثة؟
Pierre Abi Saab
Al Akhbar, Arabic, 2019
جنان مكي باشو.. العالم بوصفه خردة
Al Arabi, Arabic, 2019
Ginane Makki Bacho, foule sentimentale...
Colette Khalaf
L'Orient le Jour, French, 2019

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جنان مكي: “فصول الهجرة اللامتناهية” نهاية لقصة سردتها على مراحل بالحديد والبرونز والخشب
Zahra Merhi
Alquds, Arabic, 2020
جنان مكي باشو تطوّع الفولاذ على وقع التراجيديا العربية
Rawan Ezzedine
Al Akhbar, Arabic, 2019
معرض جنان مكي باشو.. الهجرة التي لن تنتهي
Mustafa Dib
Ultrasawt, Arabic, 2019
Lebanese artist and refugee Ginane Makki Bacho's elegy to Syrian asylum seekers
India Stoughton
The National, English, 2019
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Videos
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Exhibitions

GINANE MAKKI BACHO Artwork

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