Huguette Caland: A Life in a Few Lines
Huguette Caland (1931–2019) captivates through the extraordinary resolve with which she made her own life the starting point of her art. »The media I used for art is mostly my own life. (…) Every single exchange, a look, a smile, a brief encounter.« Across painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, textiles, and writing, the Lebanese artist explores how the self takes shape in relation to others. In her art, these relationships emerge at once playful and fraught, unabashedly erotic yet deeply profound.
Developed in collaboration with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the retrospective A Life in a Few Lines offers the first comprehensive presentation of Caland’s work in Europe. Structured in ten chapters, the exhibition narrates a journey across cultures and continents that led Caland from Beirut to Paris, on to Venice, California, and finally back to Beirut. While her work received only limited recognition during her lifetime, it is today represented in the world’s most renowned museums.
-
About the artist
Huguette Caland (1931–2019) grew up within the cosmopolitan milieu of the Lebanese elite. Her father, Bechara El Khoury, was the first president of the independent Republic of Lebanon. In 1964 she began studying fine arts at the American University of Beirut. In 1970 she moved to Paris to devote herself fully to her artistic development; in 1987 she relocated to Venice, California, before returning to Beirut in 2013. In 1969 she co-founded the non-governmental organization INAASH, which continues to support Palestinian women in Lebanese refugee camps by helping them sustain and market the traditions of Palestinian embroidery, known as tatreez. Today, her works are represented in major museum collections, including SAMoCA, the Centre Pompidou, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Tate.
-
Catalogue
A catalogue accompanying the exhibition has been published by Distanz Verlag, produced by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in collaboration with the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. The detailed essay section provides a precise classification of the artist's life's work and traces biographical lines. With texts by Hannah Feldman, Alessandra Armin, Alex Aubry, Maite Borjabad López-Pastor, Brigitte Caland, Rachel Haidu, Aram Moshayedi, Kaelen Wilson-Goldie and the artist. Softcover, 20.5 x 26 cm, 288 pages with 200 illustrations, in English, retail price: 45 euros.
Press Information
-
Press releaseAdd to downloads
Huguette Caland – A Life in a Few Lines
Stand: 19.09.2025
-
Press releaseAdd to downloads
Huguette Caland - A Life in A Few Lines
Stand: 19.09.2025
Press Images
Welcome to the press area of the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. Here you will find current press releases, press photos and other material on our exhibitions and projects. The use of all media-relevant information is free of charge in the context of current reporting.
For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at presse@deichtorhallen.de.
Contact persons
- Astrid Umbreit
- Head of Communications
- +49 (0)40 32013-250
- umbreit@deichtorhallen.de
- Caroline Huzel
- Assistant of Press and Marketing
- +49 (0)40 32013-262
- huzel@deichtorhallen.de