Born in Egypt in the 1960s, raised in Lebanon and then Vancouver, artist Marie Khouri traveled the world as her family was forced to move. An interpreter – she speaks five languages – she discovered sculpture by chance, while taking drawing classes at the École du Louvre. This discipline appeared to her as a new mode of expression enabling totally different communities and cultures to meet and exchange.
As part of a collaboration with the Institut du Monde Arabe on the theme “Écrire ou calligraphier, l’alphabet arabe sublimé”, the Cité presents its travelling exhibition “Baheb”, under the lexical sky of the Cour du Jeu de Paume, until August 30, 2026.
A universal message
“Baheb” means “I love” in Arabic. The exhibition is made up of refined pieces representing Arabic calligraphic characters. At first glance, the works appear to be art and design. However, they have a function. You can sit on them, curl up, rest, touch them, meditate on them, and open yourself up to all kinds of sensations.
Marie Khouri creates works in a variety of materials, sometimes reaching heights of up to 5m.
When I immerse myself in my work, it’s a feeling of purification, of liberation, a meditative moment that I get out of it, and I leave a part of myself behind every time. And yet, once finished, the work is simple and beautiful. It confirms what I want to believe. That at the end of every tunnel, there is a light.
says Marie Khouri. The artist sends her own message of hope and peace.
