Sculpture Commemorating Beirut Port Blast Draws Criticism

On August 2, Lebanese artist Nadim Karam’s 25-meter-tall steel sculpture The Gesture (2021) was unveiled to the public on ground zero of the 2020 Beirut port explosions, marking the one-year anniversary of the disaster. The sculpture has already stirred mixed public reactions—while some are embracing the memorial, others are criticizing its timing as too soon and questioning the ethics of its production.

• Lebanon