Public health

Contemporary art interventions for the American University of Beirut Medical Center, Halim and Aida Daniel Academic and Clinical Center

Project by TAP (Temporary Art Platform) in collaboration with AUBMC.

Public health is a series of site-specific commissions to eight contemporary artists who were invited in 2017 to consider and challenge the medical center setting as a non-place, defined by Marc Augé as a space individuals pass through without forming lasting social connections or a sense of belonging.

TAP (Temporary Art Platform) commissioned Tamara Al-Samerraei, Catherine Cattaruzza, Hatem Imam, Lara Tabet, and artist duos Rayya and Zeina Badran, and Nadim Mishlawi and Sharif Sehnaoui to reflect on the different understandings of the medical center space; on the sounds that inhabit it, the people that infiltrate it, and the bodies that constitute it.

By proposing this site-specific commission as part of its newest facility, AUBMC is fostering medical-oriented research in the contemporary art field; catalyzing collaborations between artists, curators, and AUBMC’s staff; and granting AUBMC’s patients and visitors access to experiencing contemporary art made specifically for the hospital environment.

AUBMC and TAP are very grateful to Dina Zameli for having instigated this idea which we hope will lead to more  collaborations between the contemporary art and healthcare fields in the region.

The project has been made possible through the generous support of AUBMC, Hamzah Dayyeh, Nafiz Mustafa Jundi, Michel Khallouf, Elie Khalil Khoury, Henrietta Abela Nammour, Mohamad Ali Zameli and Dina Zameli, and Commercial Insurance. Additionally, the artwork insurance policy has been kindly donated by Commercial Insurance.

Curator: Amanda Abi Khalil

Associate Curator: Nour Osseiran

Artwork images: Tamara Saadé