The poster for the 'Impact Play' introductory workshop, which was to take place on Saturday Feb. 10 at KED Beirut. (Image courtesy of Beirut Midnight)
“It breaks my heart, really,” said Beirut Midnight, a 29-year-old Lebanese erotic artist. Under her artist name, the young woman has been drawing erotic pictures for several years, using a minimalist style to “tell the story of what happens in Beirut at midnight.” She declared herself a pioneer of this art genre in the Middle East.
It’s a way of reconciling her passion for drawing and her interest in “kinkiness,” a term used to describe unconventional sexual practices such as BDSM (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism), role-playing and shibari, or “Japanese rope bondage.”
After an exhibition in late 2022 in Beirut and another in Barcelona in the summer of 2023, the artist received a lot of feedback and interest in Lebanon’s kink scene. This prompted her to organize an event to raise awareness of these practices, which remain little known in the country.
After eight months of preparation, KED Beirut was due to host an exhibition of Beirut Midnight’s work last Friday, followed by a shibari performance, then two days of introductory workshops for adults over 25, in the presence of René de Sans, a visual artist who co-founded the Karada House in Berlin.
“The time has come,” she wanted to believe, after having postponed the event due to the outbreak of war in Gaza. But censorship decided otherwise, banning the two workshops scheduled for last Saturday — one on an introduction to BDSM, the other on “impact play.” All activities were canceled.
Unclear decision
The cancellation was the result of a decision that was opaque, to say the least, and taken at the last minute by authorities. “What we do know is that on Thursday Feb.2, the General Security agency summoned Gaby Markarian, manager of KED, to show up and sign a document the next day,” said Fadi Hashem, Beirut Midnight’s lawyer, who said he was not present at the hearing.
Contacted by L’Orient-Le jour, Markarian did not respond. According to Hashem, Markarian signed an agreement stating that the two workshops scheduled for Saturday would not take place.
“The decision was justified on two grounds. The first was common decency and public order. This is not the first time that the General security has censured on this pretext,” said the lawyer.
Beirut Midnight press release distributed on social networks. (Image courtesy of Beirut Midnight)
The second reason given in the document is spurious, according to the lawyer. “They would have mentioned that the person conducting the workshops is transsexual, which would constitute an offense against public and personal freedom, as the artist’s gender identity is none of their business.”
General Security and the Ministry of Interior did not respond to our request for comment.
How did the authorities come to this decision? “It seems that someone photographed a poster inside KED and then they found a legal justification for banning it,” said Raymonda Chamoun, producer and events manager at KED.
“We’re used to having to negotiate with the authorities, but this time the document submitted to Gaby had already been signed by the Ministry of the Interior,” she added. “This is alarming, because while censorship in itself is not surprising, at least discussion was possible in previous cases,” said Hashem.
Increasing threats
When Beirut Midnight learned that the workshops scheduled for last Saturday had been banned, she decided to cancel everything. “Safety comes first. Mine first of all, because it seems that the security forces were trying to find out my identity. But by holding the exhibition, there was a chance that they would identify me, and I want to keep my personal life separate from my work as an artist,” she said. The visit by René de Sans was also canceled “so as not to put him in danger,” she added.
An appropriate precaution, given that events centered on queer sexuality have increasingly become the target of threats and even direct violence in Lebanon.
In August, the Om bar in Mar Mikhael was attacked by Jnoud al-Rab when it hosted a drag show, featuring Lebanese drag queens Latiza Bombé and Emma Gration.
According to Hashem, the ban on these workshops “only legitimizes and encourages pressure groups such as Jnoud al-Rab, by suggesting that what they are doing is reasonable.”
However, everything had been designed so as not to “shock anyone’s sensibilities,” said Beirut Midnight, aware of the Lebanese context. “It was reserved for adults over 25. Participants were not allowed to film so that the workshops remained private,” she said.
On the other hand, these sessions aimed to empower participants by teaching them the key values of Kinkiness. “Consent, limits and the presence of a safe space, to avoid any possible excesses,” she said.
The exhibition, organized with curator Lynn Modallal, focused on the relationship between suffering and pleasure. “I don’t do porn, just sensual art, with each drawing carrying a message about gender clichés and sexual taboos, using humor and play on words in Arabic to leave an effect in the minds,” said Beirut Midnight.
Despite the censorship, the number of people who registered for the event shows that the phenomenon is attracting people. “We had 300 people registered for the exhibition and 31 for the workshops. Some people had even planned to come from the Gulf States,” said the artist.
Chamoun is also resentful but for another reason. “The speed with which they canceled this event fascinates me. Because at the end of December, when the floods destroyed our premises and took away our cars, we didn’t receive the slightest hint from the authorities.”
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.