The buzz of excitement was palpable at Galerie Janine Rubeiz on October 29, the night of the presentation of the book "Janine Rubeiz et Dar el Fan". There was more to the eagerness with which copies were grabbed than admiration for this great woman: what most of the visitors, advanced in years, were carrying a way was a cherished part of their own past long buried or scattered, the golden years of Dar el Fan.

Dar el Fan was Janine Rubeiz' brainchild. Born in 1926 to physician parents, licensed in mathematics, she nevertheless studied architecture, her husband's profession, and worked in his office with a French decorator. She took to art, poetry and theatre, but also became an active member of associations for women's rights. It is in 1967 that she spearheaded a group of intellectuals to create Dar el Fan, which would until its destruction due to war in 75 be a hub of cultural activity.

The current generations may not appreciate the significance of Dar el Fan, or even have heard of it, but those who remember its heyday do so vividly. Set (quite deliberately) in a large, old Lebanese house that happened to look out onto Bechara El Khoury Avenue, it was an avant-garde crossroads for Beirut's artists and intellectuals. As it was the fruit of a private initiative, unattached to any official body, it enjoyed a unique freedom that fostered unfettered expression in creativity and debate. There artists, intellectuals, thinkers, researchers, politicians could socialize, debate, exhibit or discuss their work. Presentations and lectures took place, as well as performances, poetry readings and other artistic events. When the original Dar was destroyed during the war, Rubeiz continued its activities from her home until her death in 1992. Due to this richness and diversity it was less a place than an entity, one that has lived on during many silent years if only as a spark in the hearts of some.

One who carried this spark with at least as much passion for the safeguard of Lebanon's art and culture as Rubeiz herself was Ghassan Tueni. The latter's role in bringing this book into existence was considerable, as for over three years he sent his teams to search for the necessary documentation – archives and works from Dar el Fan that had been mostly scattered or destroyed in the conflicts. The result is a collection of testimonies about Rubeiz and Dar el Fan, portraits of participants, and works that had been part of it. Bilingual (French and Arabic), "Janine Rubeiz et Dar el Fan" is available for $40.

The collective exhibit is symbolic, and only a handful of the works are for sale: they had all been exhibited in Dar el Fan between 68 and 75. Lent by their owners, they are presented to us mixed in genre and technique. Along with the projected interviews of Rubeiz, they contribute in recreating a bit of the period. However, neither they nor the book are meant to bring back the past but, says Ghassan Tueni, "to recreate something born of a new context. A homage to Janine, yes, but also a message to the new generations". Nadine Majdalani Begdache, owner of the gallery, echoes this: "This book is placed under the sign of reconstruction. It is not a biography, that would be too difficult, but we are restructuring an effort of creation of a new Lebanon, secular, progressist, open to the letters and to debate." She goes on: "Dar el Fan was set in a time when the Lebanese could express themselves freely. We wish the young generations to grow conscious that the country's only riches is its cultural diversity and intellectual elite."

The book itself will be marked by an unusual incident, as two pages dedicated to poet Samia Toutounji, tragically killed during the war, were forbidden from publication by the artist's daughter after the book was already printed: "These are museum pieces," Tueni jokes. "It's the first time in Lebanese history that a book has two pages pasted together."

The presentation was followed by a specially written musical interlude by Zad Moultaka, who flew in from Paris to interpret it live, and a play written by Rubeiz in 1949, Lamia et Antoine, directed by Antoine Boulad and presented by IC students.

The exhibit and projection will go on at Galerie Janine Rubeiz until November 15. For more information call 01-868 290.

Article by Joumana Medlej