"Tell Me, South" invites visitors to listen as the walls speak, narrating the stories and memories of southern Lebanese residents and their villages at an exhibition in Beirut's Sodeco district. The exhibition, displayed across two floors of Beit Beirut, presents an archive of visual and audio material documenting the deep connection between southerners and their land. The project was organized by the "Tell Me" initiative at Beit Beirut in collaboration with photographer Adib Farhat.
The exhibition brings together artworks and research from different perspectives centered on the collective memory of southern Lebanon's inhabitants. It includes home archives and family photographs from southern villages, alongside artistic and research works, films, audiovisual installations, documents, letters and rare historical photographs. Some works explore maps and digital archiving, while interactive spaces invite visitors to contribute their own stories and memories to the exhibition.
Artists participating alongside Farhat include Batoul Faour, Farah Barro, Rabab Shams al-Din, Rowan Maze and Sama Bayydoun. Elements displayed include household objects, keys, painted works and broken coffee cups gathered from the region itself, arranged to tell stories of daily life alongside the history of the places themselves.
The exhibition covers a long period of conflicts in the region since the 1980s to the present. Distinct sections explore themes including estrangement, pomegranate harvesting season and homes rendered unreachable, with one installation displaying a collection of keys in reference to houses whose owners can no longer return. Artist Rabab Shams al-Din dedicates a section to pomegranate harvest season using photographs of residents harvesting the fruit, while artist Farah Barro created a sitting room with simple furniture and items brought from her southern home, displaying decorated Arabic coffee cups and photographs of her house with its arched facade, alongside images of her village Kafrkila.
A dedicated corner focuses on the southern Lebanese kitchen, with household items and tools evoking the rural character of Lebanese village kitchens. The exhibition includes an interactive component allowing visitors to contribute stories, letters and details of life connected to their villages and hometowns. A program of guided tours, meetings and dialogue activities is being announced progressively to expand participation and gather additional voices and stories.
