Al-Fawwāra
Renoz
14 November - 30 December, 2026
Galerie Janine Rubeiz, in collaboration with Difaf, presents Al-Fawwāra, an exhibition in two parts by Renoz, opening on Saturday November 14, 2026.
Part I: Paintings, drawings, and prints, from 11:30am to 9pm, at Difaf.
Part II: Ceramics and drawings, from 3pm to 9pm, at Galerie Janine Rubeiz.
“I still recall my geography lesson from sixth grade: “Lebanon’s water resources, a renewable Resource”. We learned about precipitation, springs, rivers, freshwater resources, and the reasons behind this natural abundance.
In the South, where I grew up, I hadn’t experienced Lebanon’s water crisis. It wasn’t until I moved to Beirut -a city whose name is said to be associated with the wells found there, that I was struck by a very different reality to the image that was painted for us at school, especially when I moved to Ain el Remmaneh, anarea whose name is derived from water springs, like numerous areas in Lebanon.
The first time I went up to my rooftop was during the Covid-19 lockdown, seeking a space to escape and a place to draw. The first thing I drew was a water tank, and upon closer observation, I began to notice the sheer number of water tanks scattered across the rooftops of the city. We had grown so accustomed to their sight that they had become an integral part of the urban landscape. Yet, each container is a component of an entire water system, supplied by water trucks that deliver at ground level.
What a contradiction between what I had learned in books and what I was seeing every day! Rivers turned into caravans of water trucks, pumping water to people living in concrete boxes, while private wells operate within a network run by the business interests of water overlords.
An alternative water system based on the cycle of storage, pumping, and distribution, somehow mirroring the ancient water system of Al-Fawwāra.”
Renoz
About the artist
Ahmad Ghaddar, known as Renoz, is a multidisciplinary artist from Cadmous, in southern Lebanon. He currently lives and works in Catalonia, Spain. Rooted in his practice of graffiti and street art, Renoz develops works that explore public space as a site of expression and intervention, and as a means of understanding the political and social currents that shape our everyday realities.
He majored in Fine Arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture at the Lebanese University I, graduating in 2019, coinciding with the October 17 uprising. This period influenced the development of his artistic practice and his interest in the relationship between the city, authority, and everyday life.
In 2022, he held his first solo exhibition, Where to? (Lawen Wassel), at Artlab Gallery in Beirut. Since then, he has participated in several group exhibitions, including Home Works with Ashkal Alwan at the Sursock Museum, and 30 Years of Color at Galerie Janine Rubeiz.
In recent years, he has completed several artist residencies, during which he further developed his ongoing project, Al-Fawwāra. These include a residency at the Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation in Spain, Air Beirut with the Saradar Foundation in Beirut, and a residency programme at Beirut Printmaking Studio.
In Al-Fawwāra, Renoz draws on everyday observations of the city to trace informal water distribution systems, from rooftop water tanks to delivery trucks, examining them as part of an infrastructure that reveals imbalances in resource management and access. He continues to explore public space as a site where infrastructure intersects with economic interests and social and political relationships.