Talking about art in Isil times

“What does it mean to be talking about art when we have Daesh [Isil] and Hezbollah around us?” asked Christine Tohmé of Beirut’s Ashkal Alwan at last month’s March Meeting, posing a fundamental question not just for the art world of the Middle East.
To a packed room, this founder of a very influential community centre that runs art seminars, workshops and scholarships in Beirut went on to say: “Here we have 20 museums, 15 foundations, collections—how d