[ti:Artists in Lebanon Keep Creating During Conflict]
[al:Arts and Culture]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-11-20]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Charbel Samuel Aoun is a working artist in the Middle Eastern nation of Lebanon. 
[00:08.58]As the Israeli military launches a deadly attack against the militant group Hezbollah in his home country, Aoun asks, "Does art still have a place in such a crisis?"
[00:20.21]Lebanon has long played an important part in the Arab world's artistic community. 
[00:33.30]It has been a center for arts, music and theater, combining traditional and modern influences.
[00:43.77]Now, Lebanese artists are using their work as a way to express the anger and loss they feel after a year-long Israeli offensive that has killed more than 3,200 people, most of them since September.
[01:04.39]Aoun's works of art are directly connected to the conflicts Lebanon has seen. 
[01:12.20]In 2013, he began gathering dust from Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon to create a series of paintings before moving on to explore other materials.
[01:27.89]Now, he says the darkness and hopelessness of the war and the waste left behind by Israel's intense bombing campaign have renewed his desire to create art from dust.
[01:44.74]"You either stop everything or keep going with the little that still has meaning," he said.
[01:53.92]Two of his exhibitions have been canceled due to the war. 
[02:00.02]While he once made money from selling art, he now also relies on selling honey from his beehives, which he first set up as a project to create art from beeswax.
[02:16.80]"I can no longer rely on the art market," he said.
[02:22.45]Exhibition spaces across Beirut have closed in recent months. 
[02:29.22]Their owners told Reuters there is no demand to buy art at this time.
[02:36.95]Even Lebanon's famous Sursock Museum has stored its collections underground.
[02:45.84]Lebanese singer and musician Joy Fayad has also struggled with the emotional cost of the conflict. It has made it difficult for her to perform for months.
[03:02.38]"It limited my creativity; it was like I shut down. I couldn't give to others, nor to myself," Fayad, 36, said.
[03:14.89]Instead, she threw her energy into songwriting.
[03:21.00]One line in a new song reads: "You are from the downtrodden people, whose word has been silenced, and by their weapons, you are paying the price with your blood."
[03:36.01]She recently began performing again, singing for displaced and refugee children in Lebanon at an event north of Beirut.
[03:49.49]"They're changing the atmosphere, having fun after such a difficult period," she said, especially for those who became used to the sound of bombs instead of music.
[04:04.95]I'm Andrew Smith.