Curated and designed by Beirut-born and based designer Rana Salam,‘Brilliant Beirut’ is the first in a new annual series of Iconic City exhibitions that explores the impact of local urban dynamics in the areas of design, production and creative culture, and attempt to document the development of design – across architecture, education, graphic design, fashion, furniture and cultural trends – in the Lebanese capital over the past seven decades since independence (1950s-2015).
The curator Rana Salam has assembled documents and illustrates how the city, with its blend of diverse cultures, produced world acclaimed designers and reflects on the reasons it remains at the forefront of design in the region. Brilliant Beirut looks at architecture and interior design as well as product and graphic design, continuing through to design education and the process of creating cultural trends in the region and all in a graphic colourful, multi-layered style.