From Venice to Beirut: The Land Remembers

As part of the From Venice to Beirut program, the Nuhad Es-Said Pavilion for Culture presents The Land Remembers, the Lebanese Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2025), curated by the Collective for Architecture Lebanon (CAL).

Following its presentation in Venice, the exhibition returns to Beirut, re-situating the project within Lebanon’s cultural, social, and environmental context and extending the life of the pavilion beyond the international stage.

About the Exhibition

The Land Remembers introduces a fictional activist institution, The Ministry of Land Intelligens, dedicated to confronting ecocide, documenting the land’s wounds, and imagining pathways for ecological regeneration.

Grounded in CAL’s research on memory, land, and environmental justice, the project affirms that before architecture, there is land. The exhibition transforms the pavilion into a space of reflection and action, inviting visitors to consider healing, accountability, and the future of our shared environment.

The Ministry of Land Intelligens

The fictional ministry is structured around four departments:

• Ecocide Reports – documenting environmental destruction as an act of remembrance and accountability
• Counter-Mapping – uncovering erased landscapes and challenging dominant narratives
• Endemic Species – safeguarding biodiversity through seed preservation
• Strategic Healing – developing restoration strategies rooted in indigenous knowledge

The pavilion’s structure is built from compacted soil bricks embedded with wheat seeds, which gradually sprout over time—symbolizing the land’s capacity for regeneration. Visitors are invited to actively engage by signing a petition, turning the exhibition into a platform for activism.

Exhibition Credits

Curated by: Collective for Architecture Lebanon (CAL) –  Edouard Souhaid, Shereen Doummar, Elias Tamer, Lynn Chamoun

Organized by: Lebanese Federation of Engineers — Wael Debs

Commissioned by: Ministry of Culture — Jad Tabet

This program is made possible by the support of our members and partners.