Feral Magueys – Inhuman Intimacies (2025) unfolds as a long-term visual journal and study of the maguey plant – also known as agave or the ‘century plant’ –a species native to Mexico that blooms once in its lifetime. Introduced to Lebanon through the ornamental plant trade and planted to mark property lines, the maguey now grows ferally. Over the past six years, Lara Saab has revisited maguey patches across Beirut and Lebanon, tracing their migrations and material life in varied landscapes. By holding fast to a single subject, the artist’s painting practice becomes a field guide in process: an evolving research method attentive to the plant’s gestures, silences and speculative potential. Presented for the first time at the biennial, Saab’s project shifts from situated fieldwork into more transfigurative, world-building gestures; it offers viewers a space for learning with, rather than merely about.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Lara Saab (b. 1991, Montreal) is a cultural practitioner based in Beirut, working across painting, video, performance and text. Her projects engage with methods of making and observation, often in collaboration with both human and non-human participants, focusing on forms of learning and knowledge production. Saab is the Program Coordinator of the Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan, a member of Time Tides Cooperative, and holds a BA in Fine Arts from the American University of Beirut and an MFA in Social Documentation from UCSC.
EXHIBITED WORKS
Lara Saab (b. 1991)
Feral Magueys – Inhuman Intimacies, 2025
Variable materials
Variable dimensions
Courtesy of the artist
