Emperor Elefteriades speaks
Michel Elefteriades - guerrilla fighter, artist, musician - doesn't even consider himself Lebanese, rather the Emperor of Nowheristan, a state with no land and where everyone is welcome. Provided they pass the test. Where do we sign up?
The folks back in the office kept calling you the gypsy, why is that?
It might be the look that I used to have when I came back to Lebanon after my exile, or maybe it's the fact that I don't really have a home country. I'm as much Cuban as I am Lebanese. I'm French in my thoughts and writing. I used to move around a lot, with a plane as my caravan and I just changed countries as soon as I get bored of a place.
And professions I hear; you've been everything from an artist to a guerrilla fighter, really? Have you managed to find yourself?
It's not like that. I've been all those things all the time. When I was fighting with a machine gun in my hand I was still a musician. After the fight, the machine gun was replaced by a guitar. I'm into music, sure, I have had projects lined up for ten years. Music for me is the best way to express my ideas and make money.
And it seems you're passionate about it.
Yes, of course. I inherited that from my father who's a great musician. My mother also plays piano. But it only became a viable career in my late twenties, when there was little else to do. I've wasted a lot of time and only got into politics in my early teens.
And you've held many successful events...
I have. I remember my Wadih al Safi and Jose Fernandez tour was a huge success worldwide. We sold so many albums, it was almost a shock. The press-book was huge. People for and against the combination had a lot to say about it. I love contrasts - in food, in relationships, aesthetics. I love surprises: whores who look like saints and saints who look like whores, bankers who wear earrings and artists who dress up as bankers. A gypsy and a conservative singer is a lovely contrast, and we traveled all around with it. People loved it.
Media mystic
Known for her strong presence and edgy talk shows, not to mention her immensely popular astrology books, Maguy Farah shares a bit of her past and future.
You started off on the renowned Sawt Lubnan radio station, didn't you?
I was in university and I joined a station that we thought would be temporary. It was a time of war and political parties and I knew nothing about any of that.
And you learned quickly...
I started hosting talk shows in colloquial Arabic, something that was unheard of. They were very successful and eventually I was asked to lead the news. I initially refused as I was afraid. I had every right to be. It was a very politically turbulent time, but it was also a golden age for the media. Sawt Lubnan was a statement unlike any other; we had over 90 per cent of the market. It gave me a lot of confidence and I put a lot of myself into the news. I once improvised an entire news broadcast.
You did what?
I read the brief and there was someone in the station who didn't read the news and he didn't like that I did. He removed the entire Bachir Gemayel brief from my desk so I wouldn't find it, wouldn't read it and would be criticized for that. I'm on the air and there's nothing there, so I closed my eyes and read it from memory, summarizing it again in my own words. It was great practice.
Star light, star bright
With her book breaking all local sale records, I revisit Maguy Farah to see what all this astrology business is about.
You were a media student...
I started off studying media in university. It was my first year and a war-time station was born. I joined ‘Sawt Lubnan', and I was a student with no political views whatsoever. I wanted the practice really, and the experience. When I graduated I became a presenter.
And the horoscopes?
It was a hobby really, something I was interested in. A guy I knew guessed my horoscope (Libra), and that of a friend of mine. I asked him how; remember I never believed in this prediction nonsense, and I still don't. I asked him how he knew, and he told me it was a science. He gave me some reading material, and I took it up as a hobby.
But it eventually became much more than that...
Sometime later the station asked us for ideas for new shows, and I had one. I'd done quite a bit of reading by this time, and I'd tried my hand at the calculations involved. I proposed a show about horoscopes, and everyone loved it. People asked about it so often, and asked for reruns and recording that I was pretty much forced to publish it; and that's how the first book was born. It was a coincidence, and I believe that coincidences change your life.
I agree...
Half your life is a coincidence; your choices are perhaps the second half, but at least half your life is a coincidence. I was working in media, how does that lead to horoscopes? You're an Aries, aren't you?
I am; how'd you guess?
It isn't a guess; Aries was the first thing that came to my mind. Some people wear their horoscopes well; you have a strong, lighthearted presence, one that I can get along with. But where were we?
Cultural blender
Writer and cultural editor of Al Safir, Abbas Beydoun talks about the effect of war on literature and on the Lebanese.
 
You don't seem to like my Dictaphone...
It's not that I'm afraid of machines but these things immortalize your mistakes. A recorder is something that can perpetuate your mistake. Not that what I say is infallible, but everything one says tends towards mistakes, as a lot of what is said is said for impact.
What kind of impact have you had on the local culture?
It's a confusing question essentially because it is difficult to understand what the country's culture is. Even more confusing is the country itself, its movements and politics. All these are a mystery to me. But despite this, Lebanon has produced a culture suitable to its role. It's one of the few countries in the world that was forced into having a role through its imposed social structure.
A unique social structure? What do you mean?
Its role is that of a mediator between two worlds. This role has kept both worlds intact. What I'm saying is the locals know as much Arabic as they do French or English and they know all these languages well. Furthermore, the foreign languages we learn actually strengthen our Arabic. We have the capacity to overcome educational tradition. We're certainly a traditional country in our everyday life but when it comes to our minds we can face tradition down with ease. We're a bit snobbish actually but that's still better than conservatism.
Stairing contest
Have you ever soaked up the bohemian vibe around Gemmayzeh Stairs? Thank Joseph Raidy, the man behind its renaissance.
Translated from its original Arabic
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 contribution are greater than that...
The press is a business and a culture 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.
Posts
Help me, I’m linear!
Recent love, or not
- Chirine: Are these names real? Are they? Really? Teenage years man… what WERE we thinking? (and the scarier...
- Joanna: Oh wow, I remember her. When I was a kid I used to say she was my mom. Somehow, I had lots and lots of moms....
- Agénor: Final dot missing. Also, could you translate the top cartoon, please?
- Agénor: Outstanding! Both the style and content. You asked questions and didn’t comment at the start of any...
- Joanna: Can I call you Kaal? I could never master the English “arl” sound, and I have to pronounce it the...
- Agénor: It’s not enemies of the environment that they are, it’s just that they don’t care about it,...
- Ants: I was crying of laughter! Wo Ai Ni ya Helo! hehe
- roupen: Ohhhhhh am bored so bored!
))) - Sukoon: hahaha! Wei ni hao? Oh man, at first, I thought you were just being out of control with your need to break...
- Agénor: How come your number ended in their database? Anyhow, thank you for the emotions swing. I’ve felt the...
Linearity is overrated
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