Researchers

Gregory Buchakjian

PhD. Transdisciplinary artist and art historian, Associate Professor and Director of the School of Visual Arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand).

Sabine El Chamaa

PhD. Filmmaker, artist and researcher, holding a PhD in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths, University of London. Member of the Research Committee since 2026-2027. Semester 1

Gaby Issa El Khoury

PhD. OLY, Associate Professor at the School of Architecture of the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand).

May El Koussa

PhD. Assistant Professor at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand), where she was appointed Director of Studies in 2021 and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs in 2023.

Ricardo Mbarkho

PhD. Artist, Director of Research and Director of the Centre for Research and Creation at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand).

PhD. Architect, researcher and teacher. In these different occupations, she favours a multidisciplinary approach that seeks to reconnect architectural practice with the different moments of social reality: economic, political and cultural.

Rabih Machaalany

PhD. Art historian and critic, consultant, archaeologist and designer, Rabih Machaalany is a Senior Lecturer at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA – Koura Campus, University of Balamand); he received his doctorate from Université Paris IV – Sorbonne in 2006 for “l’architecture religieuse au Liban XIX & XX siècles” [religious architecture in Lebanon, 19th & 20th centuries].

Danielle Davie

PhD. Filmmaker, anthropologist-filmmaker and Director of the School of Cinema and Audiovisual Production at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand). Former member of the Research Committee

Joëlle Chaftari

PhD. Architect and researcher, holding a doctorate and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Tokyo.

Find out more

Carine Chelhot Lemyre

PhD. Writer and historian of visual culture based in Beirut. She holds a doctorate in art history from the University of St Andrews (2023).

Patricia Cortas

PhD. Interior architect and teacher-researcher with a doctorate in art history.

Find out more

Michael F. Davie

PhD. Professor Emeritus, retired. His research focuses on the urban geography of Arab countries, geopolitics and cartography.

Christiane Sfeir

PhD. Architect, specialising in landscape and environmental architecture.

Abbas Sibai

PhD. Product designer and researcher specializing in the integration of additive manufacturing technologies (3D printing) in industrial design.

Find out more

May Davie

PhD. Holds a doctorate in History from Paris-Sorbonne University; Professor and Research Director at the University of Balamand.

Antoine Fischfisch

Co-leader of the research and creation project “Faceted-Vault Churches of Beirut”; ALBA Architecture departments.

Samer Eid

An architect since 2002, he set up his own professional practice, “Search”.

Johan Eid

Researcher and entrepreneur, teaching Interior Architecture and Design at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand).

Kabalan Samaha

Teacher and coordinator of the Graphic Arts and Advertising (Multimedia) Section of the School of Decorative Arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand).

Zareh Sarabian

Director of the Design Section of the School of Decorative Arts at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA, University of Balamand).

Alexandre Gurita

Artist, Director of the École nationale d’art de Paris (ENDA) and of the Biennale de Paris, founded in 1959 by André Malraux. He coined the term “invisual art”.

Aline Manoukian

Photographer; she studied the history of photography in California. In 1983 she covered the Lebanese conflict as a photojournalist for the Lebanese daily The Daily Star.

Corina Mila Chutaux

PhD. A specialist in digital humanities, she has taught art and literature at Sciences Po and computing applied to the humanities at the Sorbonne. She wrote the first book on invisual art, Esthétique de l’art invisuel, a reference work published in 2021 and launched at the Palais de Tokyo in 2022.