Why Solidere Removed the Art Installation on Burj El Murr
The reason is that they didn’t expect Jad Khoury’s (aka Potato Nose) installation would generate this much of a buzz. Solidere is infamous for not only their land-grabbing of the Central District, and forcing the rightful owners out of their lands to build empty, expensive ghost-towns they thought Gulf rich folks would buy, they’re also extremely vain.
Solidere LOVE the attention, even for things they had nothing to do with, either financially or logistically. Anyone who ever wanted to shoot something in the Central District, knows that they charge you thousands of dollars for each hour, even though it’s a public space in our very own capital.
Why The Burj El Murr Installation Butthurt Them
The artist obviously had the necessary permits, given he was even allowed in to the former snipers’ nest which now has a Lebanese Army base the first few floors. As anyone who ever tried to go into such buildings, you’d know how hard that is. So, permits and permissions obviously aren’t the problem here.
The same artist painted the Holiday Inn hotel a few years back, and even though that one wasn’t as well-received as the Burj El Murr one, with a lot of people furious at what they felt “defaced” Beirut’s most famous war-time remnant right in the middle of Beirut’s fanciest resorts and hotels, he still was allowed to execute the huge mural. This indicates that this artist has always had the necessary permissions, given the Holiday Inn is also a Lebanese Army base on the first few levels.
Solidere wants credit for everything done in the plot of land they occupy in the Lebanese capital. If you want to organize something there, without making money from it, you just need to slap their logo on it, and you’re good to go. If you’re making money from it, then the process is obviously much more difficult.
It seems that even though Solidere didn’t object to the artwork, and waited many days before they did, indicates that they were upset the artist didn’t mention them as a sponsor or organizer, even though they had absolutely nothing to do with it. This explains their tight-lipped responses to the media, and why their “cease and desist” letter to the artist had no specific reason, just “safety reasons”. It also explains why they waited this long, and sent mixed signals, before sticking to their guns at the end.
Now, unless curtains can murder someone if they fall on your head, I don’t see where the risk is. As for the risk to the artist, the concern should have been preemptive, not asking him to scale the entire dangerous building again for no reason but their vanity and pettiness.
Where’s the Government?
It seems Solidere is more powerful than the Municipality of Beirut and the Ministry of Culture. All of these governmental bodies and institutions gave their blessings, and expressed their support for the art installation even. But, as usual, private evil corporations seem to be more powerful than the government’s local and national authorities.
Shameful. Too bad we’re back to that heinous dildo from the Civil War days…Here’s hoping Solidere will figure out how to make money from it and turn it into something useful, or at least pleasant to look at.
Till then, let’s all make sure everyone sees this artwork, and knows Solidere stopped it.
