ALFRED BASBOUS SYMPOSIUM

Symposium

Iraqi sculptor Mohammad Ghani
felicitating Alfred Basbous, at the closing
ceremony of the first Rachana
International Sculpture Symposium,
1994.

THE SYMPOSIUM

Alfred was fully dedicated to converting Rachana- the small mountain village - into an artistic lab for modern sculpturing and a place for cultural and revived gatherings. And, he achieves one of his greatest dreams: creating a symposium in Rachana. People come from all over the world, to carve, discuss and make a toast over dinner. Everybody, from the most initiated to simply the curious, is hosted in a spirit of brotherhood.

THE IDEA

We were three brothers who sculpted in the yard near the old house, defying the rocks, the rain and the mud with patience and obstinacy, but especially with the faith that Rachana, this quite village with such kindness will come out of anonymity one day.
Our work spread everywhere in Lebanon, as well as in far away countries. That's when my older brother Michel began to dream to create spaces in Rachana for all other forms of artistic expression.

Michel passed away in 1981 with his dream, leaving my brother Joseph and I in Rachana with the statues on the road and in the yard of the house !

Why waiting? I was wondering one day in 1994. Many ideas abounded in my mind in the evenings. One day, at dawn,

while I was in my room watching the snow falling for the first time since fifty years covering the olive and almond trees along with the statues, they looked to me as if they were a group of people chatting with each other, screaming, dancing and singing, etc.
I said to myself, why not starting to sculpt as the three of us used to do sharing the yard? From that moment on, I got the idea of inviting oriental and occidental sculptors to Rachana in order to create sculptures in our yard and add them to our artworks. Why not creating an international museum for sculptures bridging the gap that Lebanon is suffering from in this field?

I shared my idea with some friends who hailed it with enthusiasm. Thanks to their financial assistance, this project could see the light and continue with the same spirit as it was since the day of its establishment, the spirit of Art.

Alfred Basbous

THE EVENT

it has become an annual tradition since 1994, over two weeks, the village of Rachana hosts several sculptors from different countries; they meet to exchange their love of life through the art of stone, to sculpt memorable artwork. In addition to this annual meeting, participants and visitors take pleasure in being in the cultural events organized by the committee in a friendly spontaneous atmosphere.

1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004

1994 SCULPTORS

FRANCE - Jérôme Aramis
IRAK - Mohammed Ghani
SYRIA - Mustapha Ali
TUNIS - Omar Koreim
LEBANON - Sayed Abou Mehrez
ITALY - Roberto Alessandria

1995 SCULPTORS

GERMANY - Barbara Neuhaser
ENGLAND - Simon Thomas
FRANCE - Jean-François Demeure
HUNGARY - Joseph Paulini
ITALY - Massimo Arzilli
JAPAN - Keiji Ujiie
JORDAN - Samer Tabaa
LEBANON - Rudy Rahmé
TCHEQUE REPUBLIC- Joseph Klimes
TURKEY - Meriç Hizal

1996 SCULPTORS

SWITZERLAND - Fred Perrin
ROMANIA - Dimitru Serban
NORWAY - Hugo Frank Wathne
LEBANON - Rodolphe Chamoun
SPAIN - Jose Maria Guijaro
EGYPT - Assayed Abdo Slim
ARMENIA - Ara Chiraz
AUSTRIA - Gérard Bretterbauer

1997 SCULPTORS

SENEGAL - Tafsir Momar Gueye
ROUMANIA - Dinu Campeanu
POLONIA - Marta Branicka
LEBANON - Charbel Farés
CHILI - Francisco Gazitua
COSTA RICA - Domingo Ramos
BRAZIL - Irinya Garcia

1998 SCULPTORS

BELGIUM - Serge Gangolf
CUBA - Thomas Lara Franquis
JORDAN - Mona El Saoudi
LEBANON - Pierre Karam
MOROCCO - Ikram Kabbaj
RUSSIA - Gennedi Panko
UKRAIN - Mikhaïl Gorlovyy

1999 SCULPTORS

LEBANON - Nada Raad
HONGARY - Varga Geza
FRANCE - Jean-Paul Chablais
- Raymond Jacquier
BELGIUM - Patrick Crombé
KSA - Ali Mohammed el-Takhis
ARGENTINA - Julia Farjat

2000 SCULPTORS

ENGLAND - Colin Figue
BULGARY - Velislav Minekov
FRANCE - Robert Pierrestiger
JAPAN - Koike Mitsunori
LEBANON - Nabil Helou
MEXICO - Horacio Castrejon Galvan
JAPAN - Koike Mitsunori

2001 SCULPTORS

SERBIA-MONTENEGRO - Giorgie Cpajak
FRANCE - Jiri Kovanic
USA - Jon Barlow Hudson
BELGIUM - Bernard Verhaeghe
LEBANON - André Nammour

2002 SCULPTORS

SCOTLAND - Kate Thompson
SPAIN - Mariano Andrés Villela
ITALY - Fabrizio Dieci
FRANCE - Yves Banchelin
JAPAN - Hironori Katagiri

2003 SCULPTORS

LEBANON - Nabil Helou
ITALY - Fabrizio Dieci
MOROCCO - Ikram Kabbaj
BELGIUM - Patrick Crombé

2004 SCULPTORS

BULGARY - Jivko Sedlarski
COLOMBIA - Fernando Pinto
EGYPT - Nagi Farid Tadrous
NEW ZEALAND - Hamish Horsley
SERBIA-MONTENEGRO - Goran Cpajak

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