Take the stairs

Have you ever soaked up the bohemian vibe around Gemmayzeh Stairs? Thank Joseph Raidy, the man behind its renaissance.

What’s your favorite place in Lebanon?

Ehden. It’s my village and that of my ancestors. It’s the village of patriarchs and saints.

We all know you because of the printing press, but your contributions are greater than that…

The press is a business, and a culture in itself, but my role in culture also came through the Gemmayzeh Stairs, the goal of which was to bring out the more artistic side of Lebanon. I’m one of the founders and I’m currently president of its committee.

How was the Stairs project born anyway?

In the 1980s Gemmayzeh was a war zone. The residents of Gemmayzeh, myself included, got together and wanted to create something, anything, that would get the place moving again artistically and culturally. And we had that beautiful staircase. So we renovated it and started organizing events around it and carnivals. The Beirut Carnival is in fact, a product of our labor.

And your events got popular very quickly…

They were for free. You didn’t have to pay to attend and you only paid a symbolic sum as an exhibiting artist, a sum that helped them take the exhibition more seriously. The artists would bring in their work, sell them and keep all the profit. But we’d take care of the artists that didn’t sell.

How so?

Well, if the artist had paid $50 to exhibit and had sold nothing, we’d buy back $50 worth of his work. There were no monetary goals behind these events; we just wanted to help the many local artists launch themselves into the wide and rather difficult world of art.

And you did…

It worked, of course. You only have to look at its current fame to realize that. It’s in every tourist book about the country and has received an incredible amount of media. Which is fitting.

Why’s that?

It’s the St Nicholas staircase. Its original name might not be as well known. It means ‘Father Christmas’s staircase’. It’s a cultural space, on a cultural street. It is still a small yet uncorrupted location in Beirut. Who knows how long it’ll remain intact, though.

You’re referring of course to the constant ‘upgrades’ the area enjoys. Is the staircase in any real danger?

There’s no organization. We don’t have officials, we have traders in this government. Already you can see monstrous constructions around it, although the entire area is ‘under study’ and constructions there shouldn’t be allowed, yet here we are.

Despite your organization’s efforts…

The Association for the Development of Gemmayzeh (ADG) has put a lot of effort into this matter, efforts that were backed by the French External Ministry. We paid €90,000 for studies and created what we thought was an excellent plan for the stairs and its surrounding areas.

A plan without monstrous constructions…

It would be surrounded by small, quiet cafés. Each would have exhibition spaces for artists and musicians without speakers or microphones. The establishments would be complementary rather than competitive and the area would become a clean, calm and quiet space for students and youngsters. But people continue to miraculously source building licenses, and until the government shapes up, places like this are in constant peril.

You sound tired…

It’s my last year with the committee. Hopefully we’ll find someone to lead it with more energy and renewed interest. Maybe they’ll succeed where we couldn’t.

Gemmayzeh is one of the few remaining, supposedly protected historic locations in a country that was once overflowing with culture. For every (illegal) modern high-rise you see in that area, we as a people have lost a few centuries of our history. You might not be able to stop the rich from getting richer, but you can certainly give them some food for thought. Start complaining.