The Sacred Thread: A Personal Journey Between Silt, Shadow and Sky

The Sacred Thread: A Personal Journey Between Silt, Shadow and Sky is a solo exhibition by Roger Moukarzel at Mark Hachem Gallery in Beirut, from 18 to 27 September 2026.

Working across photography, sculpture and three-dimensional architectural elements, the exhibition, in the words of its text, "creates a dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary, nature and human intervention, fragility and resilience". It is anchored by a series of statues sculpted entirely from natural sand. "Defined by elongated, biomorphic silhouettes and soft, monolithic contours, these figures evoke archaic idols and wind-eroded landscapes," the text continues; their porous, unrefined surfaces strip the human form back, and they stand "as silent totems of memory".

Roger Moukarzel was born in 1962 and spent his childhood in Beit Chabeb, Mount Lebanon. By the age of fifteen he was selling photographs to the Sygma and Reuters agencies, and he worked for a decade as a war photographer before moving into fashion and art photography, working as a fashion photographer in Paris. Mark Hachem Gallery lists him among its artists.