A City and Its Port

Curated by Hala Younes, Mona El Hallak, and Hadi Mroue, and produced by Hkeeli, Beirut al-Marfa’ reflects on the city’s enduring, complex bond with its harbor — a site of exchange, ambition, and collective memory. -scope Ateliers developed the exhibition’s visual identity, including the logo, typographic and color systems, and the design of the exhibition panels, with a particular focus on the two timelines: the history of the port from 1830 to 2020, and “The Battle of the Silos” from August 4, 2020 to today. These visual narratives transform archival and contemporary material into a layered reading of the city’s evolving relationship with its port: resilient, fractured, and continually reshaped by circumstance.

Set within Beit Beirut’s Urban Observatory, the exhibition unfolds through the lenses of Preserve, Repair, and Share. Through documents, models, installations, and speculative proposals, Beirut al-Marfa’ invites reflection on how rebuilding the port extends beyond infrastructure. It is an act of reconnection between Beirut and its sea, its history, and its future.