N°2
Main Exhibition
Qamīs: Fragments of Dress
Kassem Sugar Refinery, Zalka
28 November 2026 – 3 January 2027
Qamīs takes the shirt as a point of departure to explore craft, gesture and identity. From fibre and thread to textile, cut and assembly, contemporary works bring the knowledge of making into view.
At Kassem Sugar Refinery, design, art, architecture and material research enter into dialogue with a building shaped by industry and exchange. Designed by architect Edgard Sisto and built in stages from the 1950s into the mid-1960s, the refinery becomes part of the exhibition: its scale, architecture and traces of molasses connect contemporary making to the site’s working history.
Five threads of making
Weaving & Fabric · Components & Details · Geometry of Making · Hand and Workshop · What the Shirt Remembers
Curated by Nour Najem and Guilaine Elias. Scenography by Tessa Sakhi. An architectural intervention by YTAA leads visitors towards the sea, alongside Shades of Red by Anna Arena × Terrapods and The Salon of Those Who Left by Flying Submarine.
Free admission. Comfortable shoes are recommended.
Kassem Sugar Refinery, Zalka — the setting for Qamīs: Fragments of Dress. Designed by Edgard Sisto and built in stages from the 1950s into the mid-1960s, its architecture, scale and material traces become part of the exhibition. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
A window towards the sea at Kassem Sugar Refinery. Qamīs brings this place back into use, connecting works by more than 50 designers, architects, artists and collaborators with a building shaped by industry, exchange and the knowledge of making. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
Nour Najem and Guilaine Elias, co-founders and co-curators of Fragmenta, approach the shirt as a way to explore craft, gesture and identity. Qamīs follows the relationships between materials, makers and memory, from fibre and thread to cut and assembly. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
Scenography by Tessa Sakhi brings contemporary works into dialogue with Kassem Sugar Refinery. The building’s structure, material traces and industrial history form part of the encounter, connecting the exhibition’s exploration of making with the place that hosts it. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
YTAA by Youssef Tohme contributes an architectural intervention at Kassem Sugar Refinery. Leading visitors towards the sea, it becomes part of the exhibition’s arrival sequence and its encounter with the site’s architecture, landscape and history of exchange. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
An architectural intervention by YTAA by Youssef Tohme extends the experience of Qamīs beyond the refinery’s interior. The approach towards the sea connects contemporary architectural practice with a place whose scale and material traces remain central to the exhibition. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
Installations by Anna Arena × Terrapods, Charbel Samuel Aoun, Creative Space Beirut, Mirna Maalouf × Roger Moukarzel and Yasmina Hilal, alongside a projection by Flying Submarine. Together, these contributions extend Qamīs across different materials, scales and ways of interpreting dress. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
The Qamīs boutique brings together fashion, jewellery and objects by participating designers and labels. From garments and accessories to pieces for everyday use, this selection continues the exhibition’s conversation about the relationship between design, materials and the knowledge of making. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
Mark Achkouty, Antoine Guekjian, Kelly Halabi and booq contribute to Qamīs: Fragments of Dress at Kassem Sugar Refinery. Their works sit within a wider dialogue between design, craft and material research, taking the shirt as a shared point of departure. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
Richard Yasmine, Tara Sakhi, Nadeen Rouphael, Tara & Maya, May Beydoun, Youssef Bassil and Christina Battikha contribute to Qamīs. Their different practices open multiple ways of reading dress through materials, construction, memory and the gestures that give form to an object. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
Karen Chekerdjian, Rudy Faissal, Nareg Krikorian and Iwan Maktabi are among the contributors to Qamīs: Fragments of Dress. At Kassem Sugar Refinery, their works enter a conversation about the shirt and the relationships between design, making and everyday life. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
Georges Mohasseb for Studio Manda, Marc Baroud & Marc Dibeh, SPOCKDESIGN, Nada Debs, Toufic + Bruna and Tracy Jabbour contribute to Qamīs. Their works join an exhibition that considers how materials, construction and craft knowledge can be reinterpreted through contemporary practice. Graphic design: Studio Safar.
![Olivier Guillemin & Olivier Védrine [o,o], Charbel Saade, Hass Idriss, Raed Abillama, Editions Levantine, Ghyda Kanaan Studio, Rat d’Hotel × Jihan Azzam and Tamar Hadechian contribute to Qamīs, exploring the shirt through different creative practices](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a533d0823127a77129024d8/057b41e8-3b31-46c6-8395-883abbfb5919/main-post-76-1.jpg)
Olivier Guillemin & Olivier Védrine [o,o], Charbel Saade, Hass Idriss, Raed Abillama, Editions Levantine, Ghyda Kanaan Studio, Rat d’Hotel × Jihan Azzam and Tamar Hadechian contribute to Qamīs, exploring the shirt through different creative practices and approaches to making. Graphic design: Studio Safar.