Lebanon will not be taking part in this year’s Venice Biennale, possibly due to the collapse of the government:
…political instability has led [Lebanon] to withdraw from the event entirely. The curator was to have been Georges Rabbath, who had titled the pavilion “Lebanon As a State of Mind.” Ten artists were to have been featured: Annabel Daou, Etel Adnan, Marya Kazoun, Cornelia Krafft, Ricardo Mbarkho, Samer Mohdad, Jacko Restikian, Shawki Youssef, Camille Zakharia, and CPS (Chamber of Public Secrets). Daou, who grew up in Lebanon and moved to the United States at age 18, told ARTINFO that she received a letter from the culture minister about 10 days ago stating that Lebanon would not participate in the Biennale. Daou said that “I thought possibly there might be issues… obviously these things are difficult,” but that she didn’t expect the pavilion to be canceled after plans were so advanced.
Had it taken place, this would have been Lebanon’s second participation having first entered in 2007 (for some reason, Lebanon skipped the 2009 exhibition). Lebanon’s website for its 2007 participation is still online.
Photo from Lebanon's Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2007