Sursock Museum DIVAS: From Oum Kalthoum to Dalida, an exhibition by the Institute of the Arab World

The Sursock Museum is pleased to present “DIVAS: From Oum Kalthoum to Dalida”, an exhibition conceived by the Institute of the Arab World.

Following successful presentations in Paris, Amsterdam, and Amman, the exhibition now arrives in Beirut to honour the legacy of iconic female singers of the Arab world and the enduring impact of their art. In the 1960s, Beirut, together with Cairo, was a major centre for Arabic music. Figures such as Oum Kalthoum, who performed memorably at the Baalbek Festival; Fayrouz, who achieved international recognition; and Warda and Asmahan, both of Lebanese origin, played a defining role in shaping modern Arabic music and propelling it onto the global stage. Despite periods of conflict, Beirut has consistently affirmed its cultural vitality through art, music, theatre, and festivals.

From Oum Koulthoum to Warda Al-Jazairia, Asmahan, and Fayrouz, and from Laila Mourad to Samia Gamal, Souad Hosny, and Sabah, and of course the young Dalida, the exhibition takes visitors on a wonderful journey into the heart of the lives and art of these legendary singers and actresses, and also explores the profound changes they initiated.

Timeless icons, powerful women, and idols who were revered in the post-war Arab societies, these divas with their exceptional careers were acclaimed from Cairo to Beirut and from the Maghreb to Paris, embodying a period of artistic and intellectual effervescence, a new image of women, as well as national political renewal, expressed from the beginning of the 1920s, particularly in Egypt, until the 1970s. The exhibition thus highlights, through these divas, the social history of Arab women and the birth of feminism in these male-dominated societies, their contribution to a cultural pan-Arabism and the fight for independence in the context of colonisation and decolonisation, and above all, the key role they played in the various artistic fields that they helped to revolutionise.