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2025painting series 

Feral Magueys – Inhuman Intimacies 

Feral Magueys – Inhuman Intimacies 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. Back
©larasaab