BEIRUT: “Diva: From Umm Kulthum to Dalida,” a multimedia exhibition put together by the Arab World Institute in Paris, arrived in Beirut after a run in Paris, Amsterdam and Amman, to pay tribute to the legacy of the greatest divas of the Arab world and to celebrate their enduring impact.
The exhibition at the Sursock Museum is divided into four main parts charting musical icons in the 1920s, 1940s, 1970s and the contemporary era.
Renowned singers including Umm Kulthum, Warda, Fayrouz, Asmahan, Laila Mourad, Samia Gamal, Sabah, Taheyya Kariokka, Hind Rostom, and Dalida are featured.
The black-and-white photographs of these divas, from women’s meetings and social and cultural activities, reflect their status during a period of artistic and intellectual vitality. They presented a new image of femininity and participated in political renewal in their countries from the 1920s —especially in Egypt — until the 1970s.
Through these divas, the exhibition sheds light on the social history of Arab women, the emergence of feminism in traditionally patriarchal societies, their roles in the defense of Arab nationalism and the struggle for independence, and their central contribution to artistic fields they helped to revolutionize.
Director of the Sursock Museum Karina El-Helou told Arab News: “In the 1960s, Beirut, alongside Cairo, was a capital of Arab music. Here, divas such as ‘the Star of the East’ Umm Kulthum, who gave an unforgettable performance at the Baalbeck Festival, and Fayrouz, ‘the Ambassador of Lebanon to the Stars,’ who attained worldwide renown, played a decisive role in shaping modern Arab music. Artists such as Warda and Asmahan, both of Lebanese origin, also helped bring this music to the international stage.
“Beirut has consistently affirmed the vitality of its cultural life despite the conflicts it has endured — through music, theatre, and festivals. This exhibition evokes the memory of a glorious past while underscoring a living heritage that continues to inspire and merits renewed attention,” she added.
The Beirut edition of the exhibition distinguished itself through its specific scenography and the addition of archival spaces featuring costumes, videos, and photographs, displayed in the main gallery dedicated to the divas and in the section devoted to contemporary artists.
In the area dedicated to the Lebanese diva Fayrouz, original dresses worn by the star in the play “Qasidet Hub” (“A Poem of Love”), performed at the Baalbeck International Festival in 1973, are on show. The costumes were designed by the Lebanese Armenian couturier Jean-Pierre Delifer, one of the most emblematic figures in fashion in the 1970s.
In addition to the costumes, rare video footage documenting Fayrouz’s South American tour in Rio de Janeiro in 1961 is screened, along with an excerpt from a documentary produced by Parker & Co about her US tour in 1972. The exhibition also features an exploration of Lebanese icon Sabah’s lasting impact on popular culture, as well as the 2011 film “The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni” that charts the life of the revered actress from the early 1960s into the 1990s.
