“Art will save us” … It is in these terms, taken from the great author Fyodor Dostoevsky, that the artist, illuminator and calligrapher, Bernard Sader, expresses himself to explain his relationship to art. His exhibition “Tribal Rugs” is a confirmation of the veracity of this quote. Inspired by Kilims and tapestries from tribes of different cultures, the exhibition took place from May 24 to May 29, 2021, at Chez Paul, in Gemmayzeh street. His next exhibition will be held from June 7 to 12, 2021, at Chez Paul too, but this time at its Ghazir branch.
Art has indeed “saved” Bernard Sader from the dullness of the lockdown under which Lebanon has been for several months, due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has been striking the world, since 2019. Through his own relief (induced by art), the artist insisted on sharing his consolation and comfort with the ones that need it most. Thus, part of the income generated by the sale of the fifteen paintings that are exposed at Chez Paul, will go to Beit El Baraka association, founded, and chaired by Maya Chams Ibrahimchah. In 2018, the main objective of the NGO was to support retirees in a country where the retirement allowance and medical insurance system does not exist, which prevents people of a certain age from enjoying a decent end of life. Since the explosion of August 4, 2020, Beit El Baraka has broadened its mission: it is now working to rescue these people by helping them to restore what has been destroyed and devastated by the blast.
This positive energy that Bernard Sader succeeded to generate, the artist owes it to his “manual intelligence”, as he likes to describe it. Graduated in Business Management, Sader worked for a long time in the marketing field in Middle Eastern countries … “Anti-consumer by nature (I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I regret my master’s degree in Business Management), I consider that life has given me the opportunity and the chance to escape this world! Since then, and for about twenty years now, I have devoted myself to what I love”, says the craftsman… Guided by his heart and by his fascination for illumination and ancient manuscripts, especially those dating from medieval times, his hands know how to skilfully manipulate quills, pens, papers, colours…
“Throughout the ages, Man has been looking forward to embellishing his places of residence, of worship … Having travelled a lot around the world and having always been enchanted by the ornamentations and patterns, I have succeeded in building up a nice collection of reference books related to this art,” declares Sader. His inspiration? The artist draws it from his ancestors – all these painters and creators who extracted it from Mother Nature, from her trees, landscapes, geometric shapes, animals … “Nature is an inexhaustible source of imagination and dreams… the most difficult part for an artist is to find the technique that suits him most and that allows him to translate this inspiration into works of art”, explains Bernard Sader, adding that “regarding the illumination, that are the books in my library that stimulate me. The copyist monks have left us wonders, and that’s a thing that must be perpetuated”. With his altruistic personality, Bernard Sader seeks to pass his know-how on, especially through his calligraphy workshops, that have been taking place weekly for nearly 10 years. In fact, Sader strongly believes that “by not transmitting your experiences to others, you are castrating the future” (a quote by the French director Marin Karmitz…
And since “art, in general, is the answer to the future”, go ahead and search for the key to a dreamlike world by discovering the world of Bernard Sader, through his exhibitions and his art studio located in Nahr Ibrahim…
To check Bernard Sader’s Facebook page : www.facebook.com/bernard.sader.1