“Don’t Get Me Wrong” An installation by Nabil Nahas Nada Ghandour Commissioner and curator
Photo: Nicolas Fayad, H.E. Mrs. Laura El-Khazen Lahoud, Nabil Nahas, Dr. Nada Ghandour, H.E. Mrs. Carla Jazzar, and Charles Kettaneh. Photo by Celestia Studio ©️ LVAA.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and organized and produced by the Lebanese Visual Art Association (LVAA), the Pavilion of Lebanon at La Biennale Arte 2026 was inaugurated on the 6th of May. Featuring an immersive installation by artist Nabil Nahas titled “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and curated by Dr. Nada Ghandour. The scenography was conceived by Charles Kettaneh and Nicolas Fayad, EAST Architecture Studio.
The inauguration was held in the presence of the Lebanese Minister of Tourism, H.E. Mrs. Laura El-Khazen Lahoud, the Ambassador of Lebanon to Italy, H.E. Mrs. Carla Jazzar, and representatives of partner institutions, as well as many Lebanese and friends of Lebanon.
La Biennale Arte 2026 will open to the public on May 9 and remain until November 22, 2026.
H.E. Mrs. Laura El-Khazen Lahoud highlighted, “As Minister of Tourism, I see culture as central to how Lebanon welcomes the world. A visitor who comes to Lebanon will see a beautiful country, a country that thinks, creates, remembers, argues, and offers the world something irreplaceable.”
In her speech, Dr. Nada Ghandour stated, “Today, we are gathered here in Venice under the cedar of Lebanon—a powerful symbol of a country whose name is mentioned many times in the Bible, reflecting a land that has existed and been recognized since antiquity, embodying continuity and rooted identity.
In these challenging times, Lebanon’s presence on this international stage carries particular significance and deep meaning. Far from being disconnected from reality, this Pavilion asserts our very existence and contributes to the preservation of our identity.”
As for the artist Nabil Nahas: “I am proud to represent Lebanon at la Biennale Arte 2026. My artistic practice is deeply rooted in the country’s rich and layered heritage. For thousands of years, this land has been remarkably eclectic. Long before the Phoenicians, Lebanon was already multicultural and cosmopolitan; this diversity is embedded in who we are.”
Spanning forty-five linear metres within the Arsenale, Don’t Get Me Wrong consists of twenty-six acrylic-on-canvas panels, each three metres high. The paintings are arranged side by side to form a monumental enveloping frieze that invites visitors to navigate within it.
Don’t Get Me Wrong engages the eye before the intellect, offering a visual and spiritual experience that transforms the spectacular into a vehicle for introspection.
The works explores the relationship between humanity, nature, and the cosmos through a rich visual language, where different types of geometric abstraction—drawn from both Islamic and Western traditions—intersect figuration and fractal patterns, forming an unexpected continuum.
Drawing on Mediterranean influences and beyond—Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, Byzantine, and Islamic—Nabil Nahas creates a language that expresses pluralism, where past and present intertwine within a dynamic and evolving identity. These elements reflect Lebanon’s multicultural distinctiveness; complex, layered, and shaped by successive civilizations, yet vibrantly alive.
Through a symbolic framework, Nabil Nahas connects earth and sky, the microcosm, and the macrocosm. Islamic geometric forms—polygons and Sufi spirals—evoke infinity and cosmic movement. The tree, drawn from biblical text, represents in the Judeo-Christian tradition the axis linking heaven and earth.
Fractal forms suggest a universe structured by repetition and infinity. A system where each part reflects the whole. An idea that resonates across both scientific and spiritual thought, echoing Islamic geometric patterns and Sufi philosophy
Inspired by Persian miniatures, the paintings resist linear narrative. They coexist, they interact, they overlap. The result is a composition that is dense, open, and coherent—and completely open to interpretation. Hence the title: Don’t Get Me Wrong.
In this body of work, Nabil Nahas brings together diverse visual and spiritual traditions into a unified, living expression. This synthesis reflects Lebanon itself—not as juxtaposition, but as a crossroads. A place where cultures meet, interact, and merge, without erasing one another, celebrating unity in diversity.
Don’t Get Me Wrong can be read as a sensitive topography of the country. For the artist, the memory of his homeland is a polyphony, composed of echoes and resonances that extend into his own life: after growing up between Lebanon and Cairo, Nahas settled in New York. Following an 18-year absence, he returned to Lebanon for a brief visit after the civil war—a visit that marked the beginning of increasingly frequent returns.
A major figure in the contemporary art scene, Nabil Nahas is a Lebanese-American painter born in Beirut in 1949. His works are featured in major institutions around the world.
He is represented by Saleh Barakat Gallery (Beirut), Lawrie Shabibi (Dubai), Tanit Gallery (Munich), Ben Brown Fine Arts (London, Hong Kong).
About LVAA
The Lebanese Visual Art Association – LVAA is a non-profit association whose main aim is to organize and produce the Pavilion of Lebanon at the Biennale Arte Venezia.