History
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Built in 1935, located in the heart of Beirut in Spears Street, in the Sanayeh district, this charming traditional house was the family home of Moustapha Yamouth (alias Zico). Lover of the arts and culture, he started using available spaces in the building for performance rehearsals. Soon, he realized the necessity for artists to have a space where they can create and express themselves and decided to promote and help emerging artists with interesting ideas and projects, especially those who didn’t have the means to produce their own work. After the civil war, during the early 1990’s, Zico decided to transform this spacious building from a family house into an alternative space that housed contemporary art.During this period was a time when a number of individual initiatives emerged and where Lebanon became a prime cultural location for the Arab region.
Encouraged by Zico, a number of artists decided to organize a large collective exhibition in the building, making visible the work of many artists for the first time. Among others, these artists included Marwan Richmawi, Flavia Codsi, Gilbert Hage and Elie Khalife, who later became established in the field of contemporary art and film. Following this event, Zico set up a production house with friends and colleagues, “Beirut Media Production,” with their offices based in Zico House. BMP produced the first theatre performance written by Boutros Rouhana, dedicated to Zico house. This poetic and feverish work, « Al Haris », which was closer to a form of human installation than theatre, provided Zico House with its main mission: to defend experimental Lebanese art.
How was Zico House given its name?
During one of his first exhibitions « Chorba », Rafic Majzoub wrote on the outside wall of the building: “Zico House” as a marker or address so that people would understand where the exhibition was taking place. This was the first time that the name was evoked.
Since the establishment of Zico House:
In 1999, Beirut was selected to be the Cultural Capital of the Arab World; this was when Zico House, the civil society organization for culture and development,was officially born. Zico’s home was increasingly associated with the arts and soon, by word of mouth, it became the place where cultural events took place. The whole building became a house for ecological, social, youth and cultural organizations.
Since 1999, hundreds of activities have been hosted in Zico House such as: exhibitions, poetry readings, installations, story telling, debates, video screenings, dance performances, theatre plays, concerts, ciné-club, workshops, etc...
The impact of Zico House as a center for artistic creativity and experimentation is not only due to the quality of the works and innovative ventures, but to its unique cultural atmosphere and a constant inflow of people and ideas. The cultural endeavour initiated by Zico was to support both artistic creations and development work by civil society organizations, all conjoined in the same place: experimental artwork, students’ projects, small theater rehearsals, painting exhibitions, site-specific installations, as well as providing a space for social development projects, social associations and civic institutions.
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Selected Events
1994 Opening Exhibition
A large exhibition opened the doors of Zico House, defining it as a cultural space. This exhibition uncovered the work of Marwan Rishmaoui, Flavia Codsi, Gilbert Hage, Elie Khalife, artists who later became esteemed internationally.
1995 « HARIS »
« Haris », written by Boutros Rouhana, is the first performance to be presented at Zico House. This play had been especially created for the space, highlighting the fact that Zico House is a space dedicated to artists working in unusual sites.
1995 « CHORBA »
« Chorba » is an exhibition by Rafik Majzoub; it was the first time that the name Zico House was employed.
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1996 « Al Khat Al Moubachar » or Direct Line
This youth association operated at Zico House for few years. They presented a number of weekly events, such as Libération Cinéma and yearly events like conferences, film festivals, etc… It was a very active association, and its members invited well-known persons from different fields, like Moustapha Barghouti from Palestine.
2000 In Concert
At first, “In Concert” was a musical project created by Zico. Its main idea was to enable emerging, small-scale, and unknown bands to perform in front of an audience. It also aimed at encouraging new groups and singers to move from the amateur stage to the professional one. The singularity of the concerts at Zico House was the intimate atmosphere shared by the audience and the musicians.
Soon the project grew up into an association and separated from Zico House.
2006 Zico House during the Israeli attack
In 2006, during the Israeli invasion, Zico House was automatically transformed into an aid centre for refugees. A number of individual volunteers and of social organizations gathered in the building, creating a major support system for the country. In two days, Zico House was able to welcome refugees, associations, and volunteers; the space was transformed, adapted to the emergency and to the necessity to react.
In this context, a number of civil associations were born, namely:
Samidoun network refer to: http://samidoun.blogspot.com
Aid Lebanon began as a project during the war and and soon became a Lebanese non-governmental organization, founded on principles of culture and human rights. It is dedicated to providing relief to victims of war and deprivation in Lebanon as well as to raising awareness and promoting values in citizenship, democracy, education, and community-building. For more info, please consult: http://www.testdriveyourwebsite.com/aidlebanon/
