Committed Cultural Politics in Global 1960s Beirut: National Identity Making at Dar el Fan

This paper explores cultural politics as a site of identity making in pre-war Lebanon. It focuses on Dār al-Fann wa al-Adab (House of Art and Literature), a space active in Beirut between 1967 and 1975. Initiated by art advocate Janine Rubeiz, Dar el Fan was a hub for creativity and an avant-garde catalyst for artists, writers, and political activists. Often defined as “the first Lebanese cultural centre,” it is suggested that Dar el Fan’s role extended beyond exhibiting art and supporting culture, being an active subject in the production and circulation of ideas. With clear leftist leanings, the centre was a place of encounter, dialogue, and debate in a panorama where different ideologies were at play. Drawing on the notion of iltizām (engagement), the paper discusses how events at Dar el Fan manifested their protagonists’ commitment to regional and global issues at a time of deep historical and political transformations, such as the defence of the Palestinian cause following the defeat in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the delicate dynamics of the Cold War, and the establishment of a network with Non-Aligned Countries. Through the study of archival material, interviews, and the reconstruction of selected exhibitions, the paper examines traits considered as politicized. In particular, the socialist political commitment of the founder Janine Rubeiz is analysed, indicating that it was crucial for the birth of the space and the development of its cultural program. The latter will be read assessing the interplay between exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, and readings in order to understand the social and political implications of Dar el Fan’s character. It is argued that Dar el Fan came to constitute an arena for understanding a social and historical landscape where a new Lebanese identity was negotiated between processes of decolonization, debate between Lebanese Nationalism and Arabism, and a cosmopolitan environment.