Gregory Buchakjian

Gregory Buchakjian is a Lebanese art historian, visual artist, and academic based in Beirut. He is a faculty member and Director of the School of Visual Arts at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA), and completed his PhD at Université Paris IV Sorbonne. His work bridges scholarly research and artistic practice, focusing on urban memory, architectural decay, and contemporary Arab art.

• Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) – Faculty, Director of School of Visual Arts
• Université Paris IV Sorbonne – PhD in Art History

His research centers on the transformations of urban space in Beirut, particularly through abandoned dwellings as sites of memory, conflict, and cultural identity. He explores how war, political instability, and social change reshape the city’s architectural and social fabric. His interdisciplinary approach integrates photography, installation, archival research, and writing.

Buchakjian’s artistic and scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on postwar urbanism, memory, and visual documentation. His publications and exhibitions analyze the material and symbolic lives of derelict buildings, using them as lenses to understand broader historical and cultural narratives in Lebanon and the Arab world.

Selected Scientific and Artistic Contributions:

• Author of War and Other (Impossible) Possibilities (2012)
• Co-editor of Abandoned Dwellings: A History of Beirut (2018)
• Exhibitions at Sursock Museum (Beirut), Villa Empain (Brussels), and Venice Biennale of Architecture (2018)
• Participant in the Atelier de Recherche ALBA (1997–2004)
• Member of the advisory committee of the Saradar Collection

Buchakjian has advised on academic and artistic juries, including the Boghossian Prize and Beirut Art Center’s Exposure. His work has been featured in international media and academic platforms. He leads long-term research projects involving mapping, architectural exploration, and narrative reconstruction of Beirut’s urban landscape.

He has been involved in curatorial and research teams such as the Atelier de Recherche ALBA and has contributed to major exhibitions and publications on Lebanese visual culture and urban heritage.