An old woman, an olive tree and a kaak seller

© Celine khairallah

Saturday midnight on Mar Mikhael Vendôme stairs in Beirut

 This Saturday night in Beirut, by the end of the program of Nehna wel Amar wel Jiran, a few where still hanging on, drinking beer and wine on the Vendôme stairs.

While people are busy with the escalating "situation", event cancellations in the country due to foreign safety measures, closing businesses (here and here), Obama's latest thought of action, the honking, the pollution, the immigration, the visas, the job hunt, school starting again, the weather becoming milder, the latest bomb and speculation about the next one, ... One kid played Derbakeh.

The old man sitting next to him seemed like he was singing to him making the rhythm (teb teb teb, teb teb teb, teb tetebdeb tebdebdeb), minutes later, and the kid was really playing good and improvising, so one man stood up and started dancing and pulled the older man out of the stairs to dance with him.


There it was, the perfect moment around midnight that lasted 10 minutes or an eternity: 3 generations connecting through music and dance on the street. And, there was nothing else in the world more important then this rhythm and the movement it created.

Urban views of Beirut - stairs and balcony curtains

Beit Waraq Artist Community

Waraq is a group of artists and creative people from different disciplines working together making  

interesting and beautiful things for the community around them.
While I had stumbled upon some of their work online, it is only lately, at an Iftar diner they had organized that I finally made it to their "Beit" (Home), a hidden old lebanese house with a garden, tucked in Ras El Nabaa.

They organize workshops, events, film screenings and much more always setting the bar higher and wanting to provide the best possible. 

I especially loved multi-disciplinary approach to things, though I first thought they were interested mainly in animation and illustration.

Make sure to check their Facebook page here as they are an active lovely bunch with new events and more workshops coming soon.

at Beit Waraq - The Hully Gully trope poster 

Worshop Poster

Iftar Poster

Films in the beautiful garden