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Philippe Jabre carried Lebanon with him on his travels around the world, like a pain that doesn't subside and a nostalgia that doesn't cool down. Forty years of exile, between New York, Paris, and Geneva, didn't extinguish his passion for a country he loves like one's first love... with violence and without conditions. He wasn't attracted only by professional glory, but continued to search for Lebanon's beautiful face through time, gathering fragments of his memory, piece by piece.

Today, in a quiet corner of the National Museum of Beirut, part of his vast collection of travel posters is exhibited in the "Nihad Said for Culture" wing. There, the old posters don't just decorate the walls... they whisper like spirits returning from a glorious era, telling the story of a country called the "Switzerland of the East".

From the 1920s to the 1970s, this invaluable visual archive extends, because it's not just an art collection... but a silent pulse of nostalgia, written by Jabre through images so that Lebanon wouldn't be forgotten. And through reservations at the museum he owns in Beit Chabab, one can see thousands of paintings, drawings, photos, and more.

Philippe Jabre was born in 1960 in Beirut, at a time when Lebanon was still playing the symphony of life with its beauty and uniqueness. When he turned sixteen, fate took him far away... to a different world, under different skies, but he carried with him the image of Lebanon as he loved it, and decided to redraw it, piece by piece, in everything he accomplished during his long exile.

Philippe, who received his education between Lebanon, Canada, and the United States, saw that immigration melted humans into a mold of equality. "In exile, there are no privileges for anyone. We all start from scratch," he says. But despite his successes that followed him from New York to Geneva, nostalgia for Lebanon remained an ember under his skin that didn't cool down.

Art in the language of the homeland

"The lucky merchant is the one who collects maybe Picasso's paintings, then witnesses a market explosion. But if he didn't collect them with love, he wouldn't have benefited"... that's how Jabre tells his passion for art. But he didn't collect for profit, but for memory. For Lebanon, which he wanted to keep alive, not just in images, but in people's souls.

Jabre's art collection isn't a museum. It's a ribbon of life. Travel posters, film posters, old advertisements for Middle East Airlines and the Ministry of Tourism, tell a story of a time when Lebanon was the destination of dreamers. Beirut, Baalbek, Jeita, the sea, the cedars, the evenings... all of this appears behind the paper as if it's saying: we are here, don't forget us.

When he returned to the family villa in the village of "Bwa de Boulogne" or "Boulonia", the walls were screaming in pain. The villa, which had been occupied by the Syrian security regime and turned into a surveillance headquarters, seemed like a miniature image of the wounded country. But Philippe didn't pay attention to the destruction, he saw a seed of life in it. Seven years of renovation, more than $10 million, and 120 artisans brought the pulse back to a stone heart.

"I wanted to say that Lebanon can rise again," he whispers.

And today, the villa, surrounded by a thousand pine trees, jasmine, and lavender, houses art, tranquility, and prayer.

Almaza... roots don't die

Among the projects closest to his heart was the acquisition of the majority stake in the company "Almaza", the historical Lebanese brewery. He didn't do it out of greed for gain, but out of a desire to return the institution to the family after ninety years. "Almaza is not just a beer... it's a memory," he says.

From Jeita to Qobayyat, from summer concerts to supporting tourism, Philippe doesn't hesitate to say: "Our country must remain open to the outside world, and must return to being a destination for the world."

Since the establishment of the "Philippe Jabre Charitable Association" in 2001, hundreds of educational grants and medical and social assistance are provided silently, without spotlight. "Helping others is the most important success you can achieve," he once said, and it continued to light the way.

He loves helping youth, believes in social justice, and confirms that society is not built on salaries alone, but on culture, education, and dignity.

Despite his brilliant financial career, which earned him the nickname "hedge fund legend," Professor Dakash chose to give him another title: "missionary of social solidarity."

Perhaps because Philippe Jabre resembles the beautiful Lebanese, the one who still believes in love, light, and dignity. A man who sees that tourism, culture, and institutions are all links in one chain: "If one member of the body becomes sick, the whole becomes ill."

And perhaps for this very reason, Jabre remained, despite everything, trying to repair what was broken. To gather what was scattered. To redraw the homeland, anew, poster after poster... and nostalgia after nostalgia.

Source: annahar.com

Impressions of Paradise: A visual memory of Lebanon between dream and reality

At the Nuhad Es-Said Pavilion for Culture in Beirut, the exhibition Impressions of Paradise revisits the construction of Lebanon’s national image through a medium often dismissed as merely decorative: the poster.

Drawn from the rare archives of Philippe Jabre—including travel advertisements, airline posters, vintage film and festival designs—the exhibition offers a visual journey into Lebanon’s collective imagination, as it was shaped, projected, and often idealized throughout the 20th century.

Lebanon as a promise

Golden beaches, cedar forests, Roman ruins, hilltop villages: the imagery in the exhibition’s early rooms reflects a deliberate mythology. Designed between the 1920s and 1970s, these posters constructed an idealized vision of Lebanon as a land of beauty, harmony, and openness. They depict not so much a place as the promise it carried—for foreign visitors, but also for Lebanese citizens themselves.

This “postcard Lebanon” was a strategic showcase. Yet embedded within it lies a deeper narrative: one of a nation presenting itself to the world at the height of its modern ambitions.

A contemporary reading

Curated by Nour Osseirane, with content edited by historian Marie Tomb, the exhibition pairs this visual archive with a critical, contemporary gaze. Lebanese artists Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, Lamia Joreige, Said Baalbaki, and Caline Aoun revisit and deconstruct the graphic codes of advertising and mass communication.

Their works do not illustrate—they challenge. The stylized image of Lebanon is refracted through new lenses, exposing tensions between fantasy and reality, memory and myth, visual seduction and political complexity. Beauty becomes a language for loss, fragmentation, and resilience.

Posters as shared memory

For Philippe Jabre, a long-time collector of cultural memorabilia, these posters were never just ephemera. Originally created to grab attention in public space, they now serve as living documents—embedded with emotion, history, and identity. By bringing them into the exhibition space, the show reclaims their narrative power.

Organized into four thematic sections, Impressions of Paradise becomes less a history lesson than a meditation on how images shape the way nations are seen—and see themselves. Between what is shown and what is lived, a silent tension runs through the exhibition, inviting reflection rather than resolution.

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Who is Philippe Jabre?

Philippe Jabre is one of the most prominent collectors of artistic works related to Lebanon’s cultural memory. A Lebanese businessman based abroad for many years, he began in 1989 a passionate search between Paris and London to document Lebanon as it was perceived by the world before the outbreak of the civil war in 1975.

Over the decades, he amassed an extraordinary archive of promotional posters, paintings, photographs, and rare books that capture the country’s cultural and touristic golden age. What began as a personal passion evolved into a shared artistic endeavor with his friend Gaby Daher: together, they set out to trace, acquire, and classify the earliest promotional posters created for Lebanon abroad. To them, these posters are not just graphic relics—they are unique artistic documents that express how Lebanon was etched into global visual memory.

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The exhibition is open until October 30, 2025, at the Nuhad Es-Said Pavilion for Culture, within the National Museum of Beirut.

Invited to speak at his former school, Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour, Philippe Jabre delivered a powerful message about leadership.

According to him, success isn’t just about building a career abroad — it’s also about giving back, returning, and contributing to Lebanon’s growth.

Drawing on his personal story — that of a young man who left Lebanon during the civil war — he emphasized the importance of mobility: leaving to study, to fight for opportunities, to build something new. “Those who succeed the most,” he said, “are often the ones who step away from their familiar environment.” At the same time, he cautioned against leaving by default: “You don’t have to go abroad if the career you want exists here.” His message: choose consciously, not reflexively.

Speaking to a generation that will enter a fast-changing job market, he urged students to stay curious. Half of today’s jobs will disappear — and half will be created. Fields like artificial intelligence, crypto, computer science, and quantum engineering — including a $1 billion contract he cited between Qatar and the U.S. — will drive many of tomorrow’s transformations. “Look at all the jobs that exist, and try to guess which ones will matter in the future,” he advised.

He also stressed a key, often overlooked, skill for getting into the right university or career path: the ability to present oneself fully and authentically. Beyond technical know-how, what matters is who you are as a person. Music, sports, art, personal projects — “Do what you love, and do it well: it will help you later.”

Jabre also warned against overvaluing what’s said online, pointing out that anyone can post anything — what he called “the revenge of the idiots.”
Finally, he reminded students of a truth that will shape every career: whether you become an engineer, a doctor, or an artist, you will have to work with technology and AI. Not to suffer from it — but to understand it, master it, and use it as a tool. Being flexible, open to change, and constantly moving forward — that, he said, is one of the keys to the future.