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The art fair dedicated to modern and contemporary artists from the region ME.NA.SA. (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia), BEIRUT ART FAIR prepares its third installment, at Beirut International Exhibition Leisure Center (BIEL), with forty galleries amassed by Laure d'Hauteville, Pascal Odille and Jean-Marc Decrop, from July 5 - 8, 2012.

The fair will, as well, be enriched by a cultural program that promises wonderful discoveries branded 'ME.NA.SA.' in the fields of street art, VJing, comic strip, video, sculpture and installations. To these 'events in the event,' a series of lectures are added which reaffirm the role of Beirut as the cultural capital for the Arab world, Iran and Turkey.

'Located in the heart of the Fertile Crescent, BEIRUT ART FAIR reflects the dynamism ... and diversity of ME.NA.SA. Mirror of a future in construction, the fair is in tune with the times, present and future, to reveal and highlight the emerging trends. It is an authentic showcase of a continent that has made its mark in the history of art,' states Laure d'Hauteville, Fair Director. It is in this intended spirit of sharing and discovery that a cultural program is proposed to collectors, journalists, artists, amateurs, art professionals in the world of art and visitors of BEIRUT ART FAIR.

? The Comics Corner BEIRUT ART FAIR

This year BEIRUT ART FAIR presents for the first time, an exhibition dedicated to the ME.NA.SA. comics with thirty original drawings. The Comics Corner offers through the 'ninth art' an overview which runs from Maghreb to Asia via the Middle East, and shows how comic creators seize the political, social and economic situations of their native countries as from Lebanon, Zeina Abirached, Mazen Kerbaj, and Jorj Mhaya; from Tunisia, Nadia Khiari; and from Egypt, Mohamed El Sharkawi.

- Video box

An awaited engagement since the last installment, the VIDEO BOX of BEIRUT ART FAIR, invite a watch and re-watch of videos by the most remarkable video artists of the ME.NA.SA. region: notably from Lebanon Ali Cherri, from Algeria Halida Boughriet and from China Qiu Zhijie.

- From Street Art to VJing: the urban creation of Beirut

BEIRUT ART FAIR dedicates a space for the artistic creation born in the heart of the city and makes the walls speak revealing five years of archives offering a journey through Beirut, its tags and graffiti, and its performances in urban areas. Links with the hiphop culture will be shown throughout the fair with a mix of images of VJs (video jockeys) in succession while a performance is planned by a group of Lebanese artists: Ashekman. Other street artists in the spotlight include Yazan Halwani.

- 'This is not wonderland': monumental sculptures and installations

Lined with monumental sculptures, visual and sound installations, this exhibition is designed as a labyrinth, an initiation journey to the discovery of contemporary Lebanese creations with only guides, the artists themselves; among them include Amine Boulos and Samar Mogharbel.

- BEIRUT ART FAIR TALKS

As part of the panel discussions, 'BEIRUT ART FAIR TALKS', proposed to visitors of the fair, the organizers invite professionals from the art world to exchange ideas on various topics in order to understand contemporary art from the ME.NA.SA. territory in all its richness and diversity.

The program under development will seek to involve known personalities in the international art scene and to debate topics at the heart of transformations in the art market, while putting them into perspective in the ME.NA.SA.context.

Thus, these panel discussions will focus as much on the status of immigrated artists as the development of foundations and patronage in Lebanon and in the Middle East; or on matters relating to the role of media in the artistic sphere...