Born in 1972, Lamia Joreige is a Beirut-based visual artist and filmmaker. She first earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States after studying painting and filmmaking.
Joreige uses archived documents and fiction to reflect on history and the relationship between individualism and collective memory.
In her creative practice, Lamia’s inspiration is rooted in her experience in Lebanon, as she explores the aims of representing Lebanese wars and their aftermath while recording their traces and their effects.
Joreige’s artworks were presented in several international exhibitions, including MAXXI and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Italy; Centre Pompidou and Musée Nicéphore Niépce in France; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the USA, among others.
The Lebanese artist has directed and produced many movies, including Here and Perhaps Elsewhere (2003), Embrace (2004), A Journey (2006), and Full Moon (2007).
She presented her films at international film festivals like Medfilm Festival in Rome, where her work was awarded Best Film; FID Marseille; The Mediterranean Festival of Cinema, Festival du film Libanais, and Beirut Cinema Days.
Lamia Joreige has several publications in her name, namely Lamia Joreige, Works 1994-2017, Kaph Books, Beirut; Records for Uncertain Times, Taymour Grahne Gallery; Time and the Other, Alarm Editions; and Ici et Peut-être Ailleurs, HKW, Berlin.
Her work does not stop there. She was also a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, and was shortlisted for Artes Mundi 7, one of the United Kingdom’s largest biennial art prizes.
Lamia Joreige is a co-founder and board member of Beirut Art Center, a non-profit association dedicated to Lebanon’s contemporary art, which she co-directed from 2009 until 2014.
It is easy to say that artists just like Lamia Joreige are proving to the world that no matter the circumstances, Lebanon has great potential in the artistic field.
