But by 2020, deep into the economic crisis and in the aftermath of the devastating port blast on August 4^{th<\/sup>, he was at the point where he was questioning whether to remain in Lebanon or return to France, the country where he\u2019d advanced his career and to which he remains strongly connected. Then one day, while on a walk in a Beirut still bleeding from the wounds of the explosion, the photographer came upon a building that caught his attention. Right there on Gemmayz\u00e9 Street \u2014 in a landmark neighborhood of traditional Lebanese architecture bearing scars of the port blast \u2014 he happened upon a space perfectly suited to host his dream project. He contacted the owner, who agreed to rent it to him with easy payment terms. Attar rehabilitated it, and within a month, the gallery was up and running, with the mission of being an incubator of talent.<\/p>\n}

This space, with its ancient stonework, high ceilings and quiet atmosphere is the perfect embodiment of the essence of Beirut Square, a rare platform for expression and diversity in the Arab world. By offering an exhibition space, Maher Attar hopes to encourage Lebanese photographers to embrace their visions and express themselves \u2014 even in politically incorrect ways \u2014 which is especially important in a country where freedom is increasingly compromised. The works of Lebanese artists rub shoulders with those of their Syrian, Iraqi, Qatari and Jordanian peers, who each have something unique to say about the status quo in their countries, as well as about life and freedom more broadly, many of them having lived in different countries around the Arab and larger world. The artists exhibited in Attar\u2019s gallery include photographers as well as sculptors, such as the Syrian Badie Jahjah with his whirling dervishes; the Iraqi Rim Al Bahrani with her buildings; Lina Lotfi, a Lebanese living in Qatar; and Myrna Maalouf with her busts of women \u2014 dedicated to women with breast cancer. The latter\u2019s works were targeted by religious extremists when they were exhibited in a public square as part of an awareness-raising campaign. But Attar is no stranger to championing social causes, having seen and experienced war and its madness up close. From such a point of view, art can only be engag\u00e9 or political, even in its discretion and silent elegance.<\/p>\n