Private struggles and cultural impact of women behind golden age of Arab music and cinema in new exhibition

Beirut display goes beyond the public lives of Fairuz, Umm Kulthum and more

Popular singers and film stars from Egypt, Lebanon and beyond are the subjects of new exhibition in Beirut. Photo: Sursock Museum

From Fairuz and Asmahan to Umm Kulthum and Sabah, the stars of the Arab world’s golden age of cinema and music remain treasured cultural icons. But how much is really known about the women behind the fame?

Diva: From Umm Kulthum to Dalida, showing at Beirut’s Sursock Museum, celebrates legendary singers, actresses and dancers while also unpacking the personal struggles they faced in a post-war, postcolonial Arab world.

Organised by Paris’s Institut du Monde Arabe, the multimedia exhibition arrives in Beirut following iterations in Paris, Amsterdam and Amman. The Beirut edition expands the show with new sections and material spotlighting figures including Sabah, Fairuz and Soad Hosny.

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“In the 1960s, Beirut, alongside Cairo, was a capital of Arab music,” says Sursock Museum director Karina El-Helou. “Here, divas such as ‘Star of the East’ Umm Kulthum, who gave an unforgettable performance at the Baalbeck International Festival, and Fairuz – ‘Ambassador of Lebanon to the Stars’ – played a decisive role in shaping modern Arab music.

“Artists such as Warda and Asmahan, both of Lebanese origin, also helped bring music to the international stage, so it feels important that this show comes to Beirut,” she adds.

Entitled Divas, the exhibition includes many of the singers' personal effects. Photo: Sursock Museum

The exhibition is structured into four sections. The first traces the pioneering women and avant-garde feminists of cosmopolitan Cairo in the 1920s, whose activism and cultural work laid the foundations for the artistic boom that followed. These include Huda Sha’arawi and Siza Nabrawi, founders of Egyptian Women’s Union, alongside actress and theatre producer Fatima al-Youssef, who helped revive Egyptian theatre during the interwar period.

The second section focuses on divas with golden voices from the 1940s to the 1970s – Umm Kulthum, Warda, Fairuz and Asmahan. In Beirut, this section has been expanded, particularly around Fairuz, with newly added archival material including costumes, videos and photographs.

Among the highlights are original dresses worn by Fairuz in The Days of Fakhreddine (1966) and Qasidat Hob (Poem of Love) (1973), both staged at Baalbeck International Festival. The garments spotlight the work of Lebanese-Armenian couturier Jean-Pierre Delyfer, alongside Lebanese designers Marcel Rabez and Samia Saab – all pioneers of Lebanese fashion.

Rare video footage from Fairuz’s South American tour in Rio de Janeiro in 1961, a documentary excerpt produced by Parker & Co about her US tour in 1972, and previously unseen photographs have also been added.

Original costumes worn by Umm Kulthum are among the exhibition's highlights. Photo: Sursock Museum

“All these come from the archives of Sabri Cherif, son of the late film director Mounjed Cherif, who was also the right-hand man of the Rahbani brothers and contributed significantly to the history of Lebanese folklore at Baalbeck,” El-Helou says.

The section devoted to Sabah further explores her cultural impact on both the arts and fashion, celebrating her daring elegance and costumes infused with Arab identity. Photographs and original dresses by the late designer William Khoury – who created about 400 dresses for her over the course of their long friendship – underline her role as a regional trendsetter.

“We’ve also included three dresses worn by Sabah, designed by Babo Lahoud Saade,” El-Helou says.

The exhibition’s third section turns to the golden age of Egyptian cinema, often dubbed Nilewood, examining how musicals helped establish the divas as screen icons. Films starring performers such as Laila Mourad, Samia Gamal, Taheyya Kariokka, Hind Rostom and Dalida are showcased.

The final section brings these legacies into the present, examining how the influence of the divas continues to shape contemporary artistic practice. Through collages, video installations and paintings, modern artists pay tribute, and reinterpret their lives and work.

The exhibition traces the life and career of Fairuz through costumes, videos and photographs. Photo: Sursock Museum

“We’re showing a film by Rania Stephan on Soad Hosny, which uses archival footage from her films, edited into a three-act tragedy narrated by the star herself,” El-Helou says. “There are also photographs by Mohamad Abdouni and an installation by Lamia Ziade, inspired by her graphic novel revisiting the lives of these divas.

“We know that many younger DJs now remix their music, so it’s important to show that these women remain deeply relevant today,” she adds. “The exhibition attracts about 20,000 visitors per month – a record number for Sursock – which alone demonstrates the lasting impact of these artists.”

More than a tribute, the exhibition humanises women whose celebrity status often eclipsed their private lives. By foregrounding both achievement and adversity, it offers a more intimate understanding of the figures who helped build the cultural foundations the Middle East continues to celebrate today.

Diva: From Umm Kulthum to Dalida runs until January 11 at Beirut's Sursock Museum