المجلس
We are trying. We have held several meetings here at the National Library with local civil society organizations, which are better positioned to reach people than the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry’ s role comes at a second stage: re-establishing a presence, preserving heritage, and restoring part of it. Unfortunately, the war broke out just as we had begun work on a major ten-year project, which has been postponed but not canceled. It is called“ National Memory,” and I expect to announce it before the end of this year. We have secured some funding to get started, and work is underway. One component we have already begun implementing is the Cinémathèque, dedicated to preserving, collecting, restoring, screening, and studying Lebanon’ s film heritage. We have reopened the Cinémathèque and are gathering Lebanese films one by one. Next year is significant because it marks the centenary of the first Lebanese film, shot in 1927. This is part of the National Memory project, but we will pursue other initiatives.
The second component we have started is the archive, which focuses on preservation and restoration; we have not announced it yet.
You often say that culture is a space for dialogue and a source of peace. Do you see a role for culture in Lebanon, particularly in addressing the aftermath of war?
We have played, and continue to play, that role. I don’ t want to make extravagant claims, but we are the first government to take important steps in this regard and the first to say that we are responsible for the civil war— that no one imposed it on us. In this context, we organized a major exhibition at the National Library marking the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war. The aim was to address the war objectively and confront it head-on. We also worked on the theme of citizenship and devoted a full-
National Museum of Beirut
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