July 12, 2006 marks the first day of the July War in Lebanon and the start of Kerblog, a daily blog journaling the war through the eyes, ears and heart of Lebanese artist, Mazen Kerbaj. As the war became increasingly more violent, friends and visitors around the world read Kerblog with an urgency that could only be matched by that of the artist to post his drawings and thoughts.  Kerbaj posted daily, or sometimes as much as three times a day.  It became a way to keep track of a friend’s safety and well-being during a brutal time. In only a few weeks Mazen’s blog received close to 10,000 comments from visitors.

Unlike a political cartoon found in a periodical, the works by Mazen Kerbaj speak of a very personal experience with war.  Using his wit and intellect he articulates an array of sincere emotions in his drawings. For Kerbaj creative action, whether it was drawing, making music or blogging, became a means of saving himself. He describes in his own words this experience:

During the (July) war, I recorded around nine hours of music and bombing from my balcony. I used to go out with my trumpet and record music while bombs were falling on Beirut. It was very clear for me that if I play music while the bombs were falling, my brain will shift from fear to action, and I end up analyzing the bomb as a sound like any other that you have to work with and around.

It was also a very tricky experience in the sense that I am making music while people are dying at the same time, but I felt it was necessary for me to do it back then.

Mazen Kerbaj was born in 1975, the first year of the Lebanese Civil war. The Civil War of 1975 (1975-1990) changed everything for Lebanon and its people, and the effects of this war can still be felt today. Contemporary Lebanese artists in their 30’s have become known by important international exhibitions as the Postwar Generation.  Using art as a way to respond to a lifetime of war, these artists work in various experimental mediums, including video, installation, sound and performance art.

Kerbaj has participated in numerous experimental music festivals around the globe. He has published several books featuring his drawings and shown in many international exhibitions.

LEBANON
Beirut is one of the oldest cities in the world. Prior to the 1970’s Beirut was a hub of international trade and prosperity, it was known as the “Paris of the East” or the “Switzerland of the East”. Lebanon’s strategic location has led to many invasions over the course of seven thousand years by the Phoenicians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and, until its independence in 1943, by the French. In more recent history Lebanon has been occupied by its neighbors Syria and Israel. The recent conflicts in Lebanon are fought along very complicated sectarian and political lines.

The population of Lebanon is a diverse one with various religious and cultural groups represented. The current population is estimated at 3.9 million and the Lebanese Diaspora is around 16 million