Beirut Re-Store: The art & design market rebuilding life in Lebanon

In a world where hope seems to take a fresh hammering each week, every time people come together and do something amazing for the greater good is a cause for celebration. It’s a reminder that it is possible to make a difference – and an incentive to try to do more ourselves.

In August, one of the worst explosions in history destroyed the port of Beirut, killing more than 200 people, wounding around 5,000 and leaving 300,000 homeless. This didn’t just cause an immediate crisis, with thousands of people requiring emergency aid in the face of inaction from the Lebanese Government, but has created long-term humanitarian and economic challenges that the people of Beirut must face as they regroup, rebuild their city and restore their livelihoods. Beirut Re-Store is a new online art marketplace set up to help them do this.

Launched at the beginning of October, Beirut Re-Store is co-founded by three French-Lebanese creatives, the art director Laura Tabet, her sister writer-director Sophie Tabet, and the UX designer Ulysse Sabbagh. Together, they have conceived the online marketplace, and amassed a collective of volunteers to get it running and source art and design donations. You can now order from a vast and wide-ranging curated collection of paintings, design objects, photography, fashion, sculpture, jewellery and more, from an international roster of incredible artists – including the likes of Gavin Turk, Julie Verhoeven, Jean Paul–Gaultier, the Yohji Yamamoto Archive, and more than 120 others. 

Prices start at $20 (for a terrycloth face mask by Erika Maish Apparel), reaching up to $12,800 (for Slatend Brown, a mixed-media artwork by Mexican artist Adriana Lara , donated by Mariana Frahm). All sales proceeds go directly to the Beirut Emergency Fund 2020, which dispersed funds to vetted NGOs leading the relief effort. 

Zetteler’s founder Sabine is delighted to have been involved in the early stages of Beirut Re-Store’s formation, dipping into her extensive contacts book and convincing a number of artists to donate to the cause. 

“I was beyond happy to support the brilliant Laura Tabet on the launch of this incredible volunteer-created platform to raise funds for Beirut's journey to recovery. With designers such as John Pawson, artists like Gigi Rose Gray and other creatives including Bethan Laura Wood on board, there is something for everyone and it's a brilliant cause... go see!” – Sabine Zetteler

Have a browse of the 169 artworks currently available at beirutrestore.com, buy something if you can, follow @beirutrestore on Insta, and please be sure to spread the word about this wonderful and important initiative.