Bacchanalia: Celebrating art and wine at the IXSIR domain

04 September 2014

BEIRUT: Bacchanalia a group art exhibition showcasing the works by established Lebanese artists was inaugurated over the weekend at the IXSIR Winery in Batroun. The exhibit is the fruit of IXSIRs partnership with social enterprise Pidraya, which focuses on promoting sustainable development.

The partnership between IXSIR and Pidraya marks the winerys strong desire to become increasingly involved with exquisite art and creation and to promote artists, as part of its social awareness and social responsibility program, according to a joint statement.

Bacchanalia features selected works by Lebanese artists Laudi Abilama, Yazan Halwani, Leila Kubba Kawash and Bassam Kyrillos, and is curated by Iris Kritikou, vice president of the Museum of Greek Childrens Art and independent art curator.

Organizers hope that it will be the first of a series of art events organized by Pidraya at the prestigious estate of IXSIR, in the Batroun town of Kfifan, north of Beirut.

The goal of the exhibition, according to IXSIR and Pidraya, is to promote established as well as emerging Lebanese and international artists in an exceptional environment, thus creating a festive and multidimensional creative platform, accessible to all art lovers.

Bacchanalia is a mythological festival in honor of Bacchus, the God of wine. By co-exposing selective works with differing material, scale and symbolic approach, Bacchanalia aims to provide a creative dialogue both between the four artists as well as between them and the viewer, the organizers said.

The four participating artists express different trends of the contemporary Lebanese art scene attempting to create a fruitful dialogue between various media and forms of artistic expression and to discover common points of interest.

The exhibition is also an opportunity to reaffirm IXSIR and Pidrayas partnership with the Beirut Marathon Association and promote the 2014 Banque du Liban Beirut Marathon, where a bronze statue titled the Positive Running Energy PRE is on display.

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