While employing over 120 artisans in Lebanon during a severe economic crisis, BEIT is an ambitious brand whose objective is to restore the image of Lebanese crafts, highlighting rare know-
how and precious materials
MODERNISING CRAFT
With the presence of foreign designers, Lebanese artisans can explore new techniques and can adapt their know-how to a wider market.
CREATING JOBS
As demand grows, BEIT aims at outsourcing as many different artisans as possible to create a wider impact.
FOCUS ON LEBANON
A wider interest in Lebanon’s aesthetic and culture is also emphasised by our few of our pieces made abroad by Lebanese designers or with a Lebanese theme.
In the recent years, Lebanon has been suffering from a deep economic crisis. More than half the population has become below the national poverty line, with the majority of workers suffering from a drastic change in purchasing power.
With the unemployment rate on the rise, an increasing share of households is facing difficulty in accessing basic services, including health care.
It is now, more than ever, that local workers and artisans need to continue working on their craft.
BEIT will do its best efforts to perpetuate the well being of its team of artisans and workers.
We create for each other to invest in each other.
In creating a healthy working environment, BEIT can improve the wellbeing of our artisans and help them get through these difficult times.
‘Craft’ is known also as artisanal handicraft, a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools.
Traditional Lebanese handicrafts are considered to be a major sector of the living cultural heritage in the rural areas of Lebanon. Transmitted from one generation to another, traditional rural Lebanese handicrafts have been able to persist from the Phoenician and Roman periods until the present day. Rural regions have particular focus when talking about traditional handicrafts because of their rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage. When resources were limited and scarce, rural communities had nothing but to sustain their heritage and integrate handicrafts into their daily life. For rural communities, traditional handicrafts are considered an art of living; craftsmen use local materials to create objects for practical, everyday use. The cultural and historical significance of handicrafts creates a sense of pride among artisans and people living in the rural areas of Lebanon.
UNIQUE TECHNIQUE
The handicrafts produced by artisans working in rural areas in Lebanon are unique since artisans use a mix of old production methods and modern techniques. The latter was developed and maintained by local artisans in the rural regions of Lebanon to incorporate handicrafts into modern life as well as to allow for more variations.
BEIT honours the giant, La Maison de l’Artisan (the House of the Artisan), a gallery created by the Lebanese architect Pierre Neema in 1963, in collaboration with the architect Jacques Aractingi and the engineer Joseph Nassar.
A building which, at the time, made people dream, because it was a symbol of art, beauty and modernism with respect for oriental culture and heritage. In order to give the building a “character of Lebanese inspiration” arched columns supported the flat roof. This project was “a clever evocation of tradition”. With a subtle suggestion of the familiar arch, the design resolved the paradox of compliance with the wishes of the CEGP (Conseil Exécutif des Grands Projets) to have a “Lebanese” building, yet allow for maximum transparency, lightness and polyvalence of exhibition space, all modernist attributes.
Colourful glass on display in Ain El Mraisseh, 1974.
The interior of La Maison de l’Artisan in 1963.
Architectural Drawings from la Maison de l’Artisan, highlighting the traditional Lebanese Arches.