People visit the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 26, 2023. The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
BEIRUT, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020.
The Sursock Museum succeeded in raising around 2.4 million U.S. dollars to complete the restoration work through financial assistance from the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas, the French Ministry of Culture, and a 1-million-euro donation from the Italian government under UNESCO's LiBeirut initiative.
"Under the LiBeirut initiative, UNESCO and its partners have accomplished much, including rehabilitating 280 educational institutions, jumpstarting the revival of the city's cultural life with the TERDAD Festival, restoring and preserving art and architecture, reinvigorating the city's cultural and creative industries, and now reopening the beloved and emblematic Sursock Museum," said Krista Pikkat, director of UNESCO's Culture and Emergencies Entity.
Two huge explosions rocked the Beirut port on Aug. 4, 2020, killing more than 200, injuring thousands and destroying a large part of the Lebanese capital. ■
People attend a reopening ceremony of the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 26, 2023. The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
People visit the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 26, 2023. The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
People visit the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 26, 2023. The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
A woman visits the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 26, 2023. The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
A visitor looks at a painting at the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 26, 2023. The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Zongya)
People visit the Sursock Museum in Beirut, Lebanon, on May 26, 2023. The Sursock Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art reopened on Friday after three years of repair to its building and collections damaged by massive port explosions in Beirut in 2020. (Xinhua/Bilal Jawich)
