Lebanon - Antiquing in Beirut Written and Photographed by Christopher J.
Varady
Antiquing in most countries usually conjures images of quaint
shops in historic villages. In Beirut, antiquing is concentrated
in the Basta neighborhood just to the south of
the newly rebuilt downtown. In Basta, you won’t find quaint
shops; in fact, it is a neighborhood with a history interspersed
with violence, both in the past and up to the present. To visitors
willing to move beyond the cliché, the neighborhood offers
wares that are not only stunning but also pieces of the country’s
storied past. And pssst, it’s perfectly safe to go to.
Most visitors race between the entertainment districts of Hamra
and Ashrafieh along the Basta bridge without noticing the shops
below. Many others in the city dismiss the district as a flashpoint
of sectarian violence. However, for those in the know, including
some of the most prominent families in Beirut, Basta remains the
go-to district for antiques. Though the city is racing headlong
architecturally and culturally into the future, Basta is holding
on to its past by remaining the center of antique shops and the
place to go for finding relics. One shop keeper explained, “Since
the turn of the century when the city started to expand and the
rich began to move out of their homes in the downtown, Basta has
been home to Beirut’s best stocked antique shops”.
Lebanon’s history and geography make antiquing in Basta
especially fruitful. Sitting at the crossroads of regional trade,
the finest wares and their artisans of the region have passed
through Lebanon since ancient times. Lebanese merchants and families
have always been collectors of these pieces and their homes have
been a repository for them. Its history as part of the Ottoman
Empire, French Mandate, and finally as an independent country
has endowed Lebanon with antiques that are particularly varied
and rich.
Unlike other cities in the region, the antique shop owners of
Basta usually acquire their wares directly from the families who
have owned and guarded them for generations. Most come from estate
sales. One shop owner proudly directed shoppers towards two mirrors
with mother of pearl inlaid in them, noting that they were held
by the same family since the Ottoman period. Although some wares
do come from Syria and Turkey, the majority are part of the heritage
of Lebanon. All the antique shop owners will tell clients that
most of their items date from 50 to 200 years old. As unique pieces
of the rich design history, they are particularly noteworthy for
the heavy oriental influence and beautiful examples of mother
of pearl. Although many cities around the Middle East offer such
wares, the antique shops of Basta hold an unusually large and
high quality repository of these items.
Most clients are a mix between Beirutis and visitors, mostly
from Europe and the Persian Gulf. Most Gulf travelers come from
Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and in fact many of them already know
that Basta is the district for antiquing. Although business has
slowed due to the world financial crisis, prominent families are
still searching for one-of-a-kind items which are not only aesthetically
beautiful but have special significance as part of the national
patrimony.
A neighborhood of mixed Shia and Sunni residents, Basta has long
been a point of violence. During the civil war, several battles
were fought in the neighborhood as the still pock-marked buildings
attest. Bordering the former Green Line, Basta survived through
militias, labor strikes, and Syrian troop presence. As recently
as last year, Basta was often a flashpoint of sectarian street
brawls in the political tension that lead up to the fighting in
May 2008. Like the rest of the city, the situation has returned
to normal and Basta welcomes visitors and bargain-hunters in search
of unique pieces.
It’s tempting to think that new developments closer to
upper class neighborhoods of the city, such as Saifi
Village, would start to seek to establish such shops closer
to the homes of clients. Already some sanitized versions of antique
and artisanal shops have begun to pop up. However, for both shop
owners and well-established clients, Basta remains the place to
go for antiques and remembrance of the city’s rich design
history.
Christopher Varady
is a humanitarian relief worker currently based in the Middle
East. He contributes travel articles on destinations experiencing
social change that we all can appreciate and encourage.
