Culture

The survival of the National Museum of Lebanon is a miracle. Located on the demarcation line that divided the capital between the warring parties, the building was the target of gunfire and shells. But the country's main archaeological museum, which houses exceptional collections ranging from prehistory to the Mamluk period, was able to be reborn just after the war. The museum’s construction The idea for the museum emerged in the early 20th century, when plans were made to bring together in one place the collection of Raymond Weill, a French officer stationed in Lebanon. The building was constructed between 1930 and 1937 during the French Mandate, thanks to the efforts of the Friends of the Museum Committee led by Bechara El Khoury, then Prime Minister and Minister of Education. It was officially inaugurated on May 27 1942, following the designs of architects Antoine Nahas and Pierre Leprince Ringuet, in a monumental ochre-stone style inspired by antiquity. The museum during the war The National Museum of Beirut stood on what was a frontline during the Lebanese War — an area ravaged by heavy fighting. Protecting the collections from both looting and bombardments became a matter of urgency. This task was undertaken by Emir Maurice Chehab, then the museum’s chief curator. First of all, he secured transportable artifacts inside reinforced vaults. As for the monumental pieces, he protected them with sandbags, walled off certain rooms, and encased huge sculptures in reinforced concrete. This evokes the story of Jacques Jaujard, who saved the treasures of the Louvre Museum during World War II — a reminder that sometimes one person’s goodwill and determination can alter the course of the inevitable. After the war, beginning in 1993, an extensive restoration campaign was launched, allowing the museum to reopen in 1997 thanks to devoted patrons such as Mona Hraoui, then First Lady and president of the National Heritage Foundation. Since then, the modernization of the museum’s displays and infrastructure has continued unabated. Collections and major pieces The museum houses around 100,000 artifacts, of which 1,300 are on display in chronological order — from the Paleolithic era to the Mamluk period. Among its most iconic pieces is the sarcophagus of Ahiram, King of Byblos — a masterpiece of both art and epigraphy, bearing one of the earliest known inscriptions in the Phoenician alphabet. Another remarkable ensemble includes 31 anthropoid Phoenician sarcophagi from the “Ford Collection.” Aligned like an “army of the dead,” these stone coffins borrow from Egyptian and Greek models while preserving a distinctly Phoenician identity. At the entrance to the central hall stand magnificent Greco-Roman and Byzantine mosaics — some damaged during the war and still scarred today. They beautifully illustrate the flourishing mosaic art that once thrived in Lebanon during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Their themes range from Greek mythology and biblical scenes to folk beliefs and philosophy: such as the famous “ Seven Sages ” mosaic depicting philosophers including Socrates; that of “ the Good Shepherd ” or “ Europa Abducted by Zeus ”; or the one celebrating “ the birth of Alexander the Great”. Lebanon’s soil, in fact, abounds with mosaic masterpieces. Excavations in downtown Beirut revealed over 1,000 sqm of mosaics that may one day form a museum of their own. The museum recently renovated basement is devoted to funerary art and thematic exhibitions. For the Phoenicians, the tomb served both as an eternal dwelling and as a physical vessel for dynastic and family memory. The museum’s upper levels continue this narrative through smaller objects — statuettes, jewelry, coins, and ceramics — shedding light on daily life, economy, and religious practices across the ages. Many terracotta female figurines are displayed there, originating from temples dedicated mainly to Baalat Gebal and Astarté. These pieces reflect an ideal of beauty tied to fertility and social status — adorned with feminine attributes, jewelry, and elaborate hairstyles — showcasing the central role of women as embodiments of the divine. A bridge between past and future Though the National Museum of Beirut is a temple of the past, it also looks firmly to the future. A testament to this vision is the Nuhad Es-Said Cultural Center, a new annex to the museum — which we will explore in our next article.

For several decades, Sharjah has distinguished itself as the cultural capital of the Arab world, a title officially bestowed by UNESCO in 1998 in recognition of the emirate’s commitment to art, culture, and education, as well as its cultural landscape. Under the guidance of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, who has ruled the emirate since 1972, Sharjah has developed a unique artistic ecosystem in the Middle East, establishing itself as an essential destination for art lovers and cultural professionals alike. The modern history of art in Sharjah is closely tied to the founding of the Sharjah Art Foundation in 2009, under the leadership of Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi. This multidisciplinary institution supports both local and regional artistic creations while fostering connections with international artists. The foundation regularly stages major exhibitions, organizes workshops in collaboration with partners, and offers research grants and mentorship programs aimed at empowering young artists, women, and innovative creators. The foundation is also responsible for the world-renowned Sharjah Biennial , launched in 1993, which attracts thousands of visitors and showcases works reflecting social and artistic transformations across the Arab world and beyond. The latest edition, in 2025, titled “To Carry,” brought together more than 200 artists from diverse backgrounds, who addressed pressing contemporary issues and engaged in cross-cultural dialogue. Sharjah has also invested heavily in preserving and revitalizing its architectural heritage. The historic Al Mareijah district hosts several museums and art spaces nestled within beautifully restored traditional houses, offering visitors the chance to engage with contemporary works while immersing themselves in the emirate’s historic urban architecture. At the heart of the cultural scene stands the Sharjah Art Museum , one of the Gulf’s largest museums. It provides free access to a wide range of exhibitions, from classical Arab paintings to contemporary photography, making art accessible to all audiences. Beyond these key institutions, Sharjah is home to many other notable landmarks, such as the Barjeel Art Foundation , founded to showcase the private collection of Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi; the Maraya Art Centre , dedicated to visual and digital arts; and the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization , which highlights the richness of traditional Islamic art. Complementing these are dozens of independent galleries and studios that further diversify the emirate’s cultural landscape, fostering exchanges between artists, curators, and the public. A steady flow of events and project calls reflects Sharjah’s proactive cultural policy, which promotes innovation, training, and artistic experimentation. Sharjah’s cultural vision strives to democratize access to art and shape an open and engaged society. Art initiatives are often complemented by conferences, concerts, film screenings, and retrospectives on prominent Arab artists such as Tarek Al Ghoussein or Hassan Sharif, while consistently welcoming European, American, and Asian creators. While deeply rooted in local and Arab traditions, Sharjah’s artistic influence resonates internationally. Close collaborations with global cultural institutions—including UNESCO—and the involvement of artists from the Arab diaspora amplify the emirate’s cultural outreach. The UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture , created in 1998, epitomizes this partnership by rewarding two personalities, groups, or institutions each year for their exceptional contribution to the promotion of Arab arts and culture. The emirate’s relentless vitality in cultural promotion has earned it global recognition, including the title of Islamic Culture Capital in 2014 by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and World Book Capital in 2019 by UNESCO. Balancing tradition and modernity, East and West, Sharjah has taken on the challenge of shaping a dynamic and innovative artistic hub. Its ambitious programming, celebration of diversity, and collaboration with international artists and institutions continue to cement its role as a global pioneer in Arab culture.

The entire Gulf region, and especially Saudi Arabia, is currently experiencing major social and economic transformations. These countries, whose economy once relied solely on oil production, are rapidly opening up to new technologies, AI, global sporting events, and most importantly, art and culture. From Jax, the cultural district of Riyadh, to the AlUla Oasis, Saudi Arabia—the largest country in the Middle East—is investing huge sums to promote art and culture. For the Saudi government, in a society undergoing profound changes, art helps preserve the country’s cultural heritage, transmit traditions and ancestral know-how, while opening the door to cutting-edge artistic projects. Among these ambitious projects, Riyadh Art holds a special place. Launched in 2019 by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, it is part of Vision 2030, the grand development plan of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The project aims to beautify Riyadh, enrich its cultural landscape, and make artworks accessible to all, by turning the city into an open-air art gallery. Since its launch, Riyadh Art has showcased more than 500 artworks created by more than 500 local and international artists. It organized as well more than 6,000 events, and engaged more than 6 million visitors. Ultimately, the project seeks to install over 1,000 iconic works by world-renowned artists throughout the city’s public spaces: residential neighborhoods, parks, bus and metro stations, intersections, bridges, city entrances, touristic sites...etc. To achieve this goal, Riyadh Art encompasses a multitude of projects that deserve attention. Just to cite a few, for example Urban Art Lab installs art galleries in public squares to exhibit works by well-known artists and foster dialogue between artists and residents. Jewels of Riyadh, Art on the Move, and Art in Transit advocate installing award-winning artworks near tourist attractions, major intersections, and bus and metro stops. Among well-known artists artworks already installed in the city, “Janey Waney” by American Alexander Calder, “Love” by artist Robert Indiana, and “When the Moon Is Full” by Saudi artist Zaman Jassim. On the other hand, Riyadh Icon encourages artists to create an emblematic monument of Riyadh, akin to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Statue of Liberty in New York, or Christ the Redeemer in Rio De Janeiro. The Joyous Gardens commissions famous artists to create playgrounds in neighborhood squares, while Welcoming Gateways installs impressive gates at the city’s entrances. Garden City places artworks in a central city garden, while Urban Flow and Hidden River projects promote artistic lighting on viaducts and bridges. The Saudi government also plans annual cultural events such as the Noor Festival , an interactive light art festival, and the Tuwaiq Sculpture symposium , which invites artists from around the world to create large-scale sculptures in an open-air workshop. Art Week Riyadh , supported by the Saudi Visual Arts Commission, brings together over 50 local and international galleries, cultural institutions, artists, and art lovers worldwide. This flourishing of artistic projects helps the Saudi state embellish the city, diversify the economy, attract new investments, and gradually transform Riyadh into a premier destination for art enthusiasts worldwide.

From the past tragedies to the dramatic arts. The infamous locations from the era of the Assads, father and son, are now hosting cameras and other film equipments. Whether in Saydnaya or Mazzeh, actors and directors have replaced the torturers who zealously served the interests of the former Syrian regime. Many series currently in production have chosen to film scenes at military sites or security service headquarters that symbolized the reign of terror. Like the Mazzeh airfield, which housed a detention center for the Air Force intelligence service, notorious for its cruelty. The Air Force's "Mukhabarat" were the main pillar of the regime of former pilot Hafez al-Assad, who became president of the Syrian Arab Republic for several decades. Returns from exile At the air base once off-limits under Bashar al-Assad, a crew films a TV series about the final months of the ousted leader's rule as seen through the eyes of a Syrian family. "It's hard to believe we're filming here," director Mohamad Abdul Aziz said from the Mazzeh base, which was once also a notorious detention centre run by Assad's air force intelligence branch, known for its terrible cruelty. The site in the capital's southwestern suburbs "used to be a symbol of military power. Now we are making a show about the fall of that power," he told AFP. Assad fled to Russia as an Islamist-led offensive closed in on Damascus, taking it without a fight on December 8 last year after nearly 14 years of civil war and half a century of Assad dynasty rule. The scene at the Mazzeh base depicts the escape of a figure close to Assad, and is set to feature in "The King's Family" filmed in high-security locations once feared by regular Syrians. The series is to be aired in February during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, primetime viewing in the Arab world, when channels and outlets vie for the attention of eager audiences. Dozens of actors, directors and other show business figures who were opposed to Assad have returned to Syria since his ouster, giving the local industry a major boost, while other series have also chosen to film at former military or security sites. "It's a strange feeling... The places where Syria used to be ruled from have been transformed" into creative spaces, Abdul Aziz said. "This was impossible to do before," he said. Elsewhere in Damascus, his cameras and crew now fill offices at the former military intelligence facility known as Palestine Branch, where detainees once underwent interrogation so brutal that some never came out alive. "Palestine Branch was one of the pillars of the security apparatus -- just mentioning its name caused terror," Abdul Aziz said of the facility, known for torture and abuse. Outside among charred vehicles, explosions and other special effects, the team was recreating a scene depicting "the release of detainees when the security services collapsed", he said. Thousands of detainees were freed when jails were thrown open as Assad fell last year, and desperate Syrians converged on the facilities in search of loved ones who disappeared into the prison system, thousands of whom are still missing. Assad's luxurious, high-security residence, which was stormed and looted after he fled to Russia, is also part of the new series. Abdul Aziz said he filmed a fight scene involving more than 150 people and gunfire in front of the residence in Damascus's upscale Malki district. How long it would last ? The series' scriptwriter Maan Sakbani, 35, expressed cautious relief that the days of full-blown censorship under Assad were over. The new authorities' information ministry still reviews scripts but the censor's comments on "The King's Family" were very minor, he said from a traditional Damascus house where the team was discussing the order of scenes. Sakbani said he was uncertain how long the relative freedom would last, and was waiting to see the reaction to the Ramadan productions once they were aired. The seizure of power by current Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa continues to fuel fears and questions. The jihadist past of the man formerly known as "Abu Mohammed al-Julani," and especially the massacres of civilians belonging to religious minorities, contribute to the controversy surrounding him. But for the moment, both the government and the population seem to be hoping for an economic recovery to rebuild a country ravaged by civil war since 2011. "Human slaughterhouse" Several other series inspired by the Assad era are also planned for release at that time, including "Enemy Syrians", which depicts citizens living under the eyes of the security services. Another, "Going Out to the Well", directed by Mohammed Lutfi and featuring several prominent Syrian actors, is about deadly prison riots in the infamous Saydnaya facility in 2008. Rights group Amnesty International had called the facility a "human slaughterhouse". "The show was written more than two years ago and we intended to film it before Assad's fall," Lutfi said. But several actors feared the former authorities' reaction and they were unable to find a suitable location since filming in Syria was impossible. Now, they plan to film on site. "The new authorities welcomed the project and provided extensive logistical support and facilities for filming inside Saydnaya prison," Lutfi said. As a result, it will be possible "to convey the prisoners' suffering and the regime's practices -- from the inside the actual location," he said.

For several years, the Gulf States have been investing enormous resources to transform the region into a world-class artistic, technological, and educational hub. Qatar is no exception and has been doubling its efforts to attract talents from around the globe while nurturing local skills. The Qatari state continues to launch ambitious projects, whether artistic, architectural, or sporting such as the FIFA World Cup held in Qatar in 2022.To achieve this goal, the government collaborates with internationally renowned artists, high-level cultural and educational institutions, and top local and international talents. One of the landmark projects scheduled in Doha in 2026 is Art Basel, the global gathering of contemporary art. After Switzerland, Miami, Hong Kong, and Paris, Doha will host Art Basel from February 5 to February 7, preceded by two preview days on February 3rd and 4th. The event will take place at the creative hub M7 as well as the Doha Design District in Msheireb’s city center. As the world leader in contemporary art, Art Basel was founded in 1950 in Basel, Switzerland, to provide a prestigious platform for artists, galleries, and collectors from around the world. It sets the tone for the art market, influencing prices, artistic movements, and global trends. The Qatar edition of Art Basel 2026 was made possible thanks to a partnership between QSI (Qatar Sports Investments) and QC+. It holds tremendous importance for the country and the region as it highlights the cultural and artistic landscape not only of Qatar but of the entire Middle East. It also consolidates Qatar’s place on the global contemporary art scene. According to Vincenzo de Bellis, Chief Artistic Officer and Global Director of Art Basel Fairs, Doha offers an ideal environment for a fresh perspective on art. The country stands at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. With its rich and complex history, Qatar strongly encourages innovative artistic experimentations. The chosen theme for the Art Basel Doha, 2026 edition is “Becoming”. It perfectly embodies this part of the world, where ancient oral traditions blend with cutting-edge technologies, and centuries-old trade routes have evolved into vast networks of cultural and financial exchange. In such context, art becomes the most faithful witness of Qatar’s history and it clearly reflects the living forces shaping the region’s identity. For the 2026 edition in Qatar, Art Basel has appointed Wael Shawky, an Egyptian-born artist based in Doha, as Artistic Director. Shawky is recognized for his intellectual rigor and his deep knowledge of the region, qualities that led to his appointment in 2024 as Artistic Director of the Doha Fire Station. There, he launched the Art Intensive Studies Program (AISP), designed to foster critical thinking, hands-on learning, and professional development for emerging Qatari and international artists. Shawky has exhibited in prestigious venues such as the Tate Modern London and the MoMA New York. In 2024, he was acclaimed for his work Video Drama 1882 at the 60th Venice Biennale. He is currently exhibiting at LUMA in Arles and at the Talbot Rice Gallery at the University of Edinburgh. On the other hand, the fair’s selection committee includes representatives of prestigious local and international galleries such as Lorenzo Fiaschi, co-founder of the renowned Galleria Continua Italy; Daniela Gareh, director of White Cube London; Mohammed Hafiz, co-founder of Athr Gallery Riyadh; and Sunny Rahbar, co-founder of The Third Line Dubai. Hosting Art Basel in Doha represents a major event that will undoubtedly reshape the artistic landscape of the entire region, offering participants an international visibility and a unique opportunity to engage with the global art scene.

The Muscat Opera House is one of the most iconic landmarks in Oman. It was built in 2011 at the request of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Great lover of art and opera, the Sultan wanted to create a cultural exchange center between Oman and the rest of the world, as well as a platform to promote both global and local artistic performances. A symbol of Oman’s cultural diplomacy since its inauguration, the Royal Opera House Muscat is an architectural masterpiece which cleverly combines the classical style of opera houses with Omani architectural tradition. It successfully blends Islamic influences with contemporary design and high-tech requirements needed for such a building. By using Omani architectural details both inside and outside the building and merging them with contemporary elements, the architects succeeded in creating a typically Omani edifice endowed with timeless elegance. To achieve this result, they used locally sourced typical materials such as limestone and adorned the facade with delicate masonry work that showcases the craftsmanship of Omani artisans. The interior of the building is both refined and authentic. It is entirely decorated with marble, finely carved wood, luxurious tapestries, crystal chandeliers, and delicate arabesque patterns. As for the auditorium, it has a capacity of around 1,100 seats. It is equipped with cutting-edge sound and lighting technology. The movable stage is entirely designed to provide the artists as well as the audience with perfect sound quality and an unobstructed view, no matter where they are seated. This advanced technology and great versatility in configuration make it technically possible to hold all kinds of artistic events, placing the Royal Opera House Muscat among the most high-tech and refined art spaces in the world. Since its inauguration, the Royal Opera House in Muscat has welcomed performances from all over the world. Well known jazz musicians like Igor Butman and Randy Brecker have performed at the Royal Opera House Muscat as well as the world’s leading symphony orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra or the Russian National Orchestra. The greatest soloists have graced its stage, such as Andrea Bocelli, Renée Fleming, and Plácido Domingo, to name just a few. The most renowned ballet companies, including the Bolshoi and the American Ballet Theatre, have also performed at the Royal Opera House in Muscat. Regional music is not left out. Well known arab musicians have performed in Muscat and the opera house regularly presents plays from different countries around the world and the region, highlighting both Omani and international cultural heritage. These eclectic programming choices have transformed the Royal Opera House Muscat in a privileged and essential venue for high-quality artistic events, attracting international as well as local audience. Besides the wide range of programs, the Opera House does not neglect its educational mission and offers workshops and programs for aspiring artists and special discounts for young students in order to boost cultural development in Oman. Years after its construction, the Royal Opera House Muscat has perfectly fulfilled its primary mission, set by Sultan Qaboos, which was to promote both local and international artists, raise awareness among the population about classical music, and encourage cultural exchanges among artists worldwide. Well done.

A quick glance at the developing cultural and artistic landscape in the Gulf countries reveals the colossal resources devoted to a wide range of often lavish and avant-garde projects aimed at promoting art and culture, on bases that may vary from one country to another. A similar enthusiasm is evident across the board, reflecting a shared desire for openness and exchange with the world of culture and art. All of these projects undoubtedly serve to promote a kind of "cultural diplomacy"—if one can call it that—and to boost the cultural influence of these countries on an international scale. However, it would be a mistake to reduce the achievements already made and those already planned to a mere marketing exercise. Beyond the somewhat grandiose scale of the projects underway, other, far more important motivations are at play. In societies undergoing profound upheaval, art and culture are drivers of social and political transformation. But they are also, simultaneously, a means of protecting and transmitting a country's know-how, traditions, and cultural heritage. They contribute significantly to strengthening national pride and cementing a sense of belonging. The leaders of the Gulf countries are perfectly aware of this. And their concern for preserving and promoting this cultural identity is perfectly clear in all the projects implemented or under development. Beyond the issues that could be described, by extension, as geopolitical, art, in societies in transition, is a guardian of memory. It also allows for a smooth and profound change in society. It is the thread that connects the past to the present and the future. To this end, leaders are encouraging avant-garde artistic and cultural projects, while simultaneously emphasizing the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, traditions, and ancestral know-how. In a series of articles dedicated to this topic, Levant Time examined the main projects that clearly reflect a desire to transform the Gulf countries into a global cultural and artistic hub and a place for exchange among diverse cultural actors in fields as varied as painting, music, dance, film, and literature. These projects are ambitious and numerous, but the stakes are equally high. In the current context prevailing in this part of the world and internationally, will these rapidly changing societies succeed in finding a suitable balance between the Islamic-Arab heritage, on the one hand, and the realities of the 21st century, on the other? Will they be able to make a spectacular entrance into the world of tomorrow and initiate an era of artistic and cultural renaissance, like the Italian Renaissance, for example? Will they succeed in their transformation without losing their identity and soul along the way? These are some of the questions that Levant Time will attempt to answer in its series of articles dedicated to major cultural and artistic projects in the various Gulf countries. Next article: The Royal Opera House of Muscat

Is it true that a filmmaker essentially explores a single theme—or a single universe—through the whole of their work, in the sense that everything ultimately forms a coherent whole, as Jean-Luc Godard suggested? Guillermo del Toro seems to fit this theory perfectly. The Mexican director, who has just delivered (on Netflix) his own version of one of cinema's most exploited figures—Mary Shelley's Frankenstein —appears driven by a foundational, almost obsessive, even prophetic intuition that is indeed detectable throughout his entire body of work and gives him a rare coherence. For del Toro, the monster is never the monster. Deformed otherness, scarred flesh, unnatural anatomy are never synonymous with actual monstrosity in his work. Quite the opposite: in the Mexican director's vision, the monster is the most human figure of all—one bearing the weight of suffering, loneliness, rejection, humiliation, but also love. Admittedly, he is far from the first to venture onto this terrain. But in an increasingly dehumanized world, his project rings with an even more striking truth. The real monster? It is man, when he abandons his own humanity, when he allows himself to be possessed by the desire for domination, narcissism, cold science, war, or the fear of death and the will to substitute himself for the Demiurge. In this sense, del Toro's entire body of work appears as one long indictment against monster-makers: regimes, armies, laboratories, scientists, tyrannical fathers and glacial moralists who claim to stand on the side of Good, Reason, or scientific modernity—but who ultimately produce only destruction. There are no monsters, del Toro tells us. There are only torturers who believe themselves invested with a grand project, but who are, in fact, merely delusional figures seeking to repair their narcissistic wound. In El laberinto del fauno ( Pan's Labyrinth —2006), undoubtedly one of the most beautiful films of the 21st century, the supposed monster—the unsettling faun, half-shadow half-light, messenger from an archaic world—is in reality nothing but a spiritual response to Franco-ist barbarism. The true monster is Captain Vidal, prototype of the cold, mechanical fascist, free of doubt, obsessed with posterity and the myth of the father. Against Ofelia's innocence and her salvific imagination stands the methodical cruelty of power. The mythological monster becomes a refuge, a regulating figure, a last bastion against moral devastation. What Del Toro is trying to say here is essential: the monster is not terror, it is the antidote to terror; the last refuge of innocence to avoid and ward off horror. The saving sanctuary where the soul can still breathe. The same logic runs through The Shape of Water (2017), this masterpiece in which an aquatic creature, imprisoned in a military laboratory and tortured in the name of science, proves capable of loving with a purer, more complete, more absolute love than the humans who dissect it. Here too, the true monster is not the one displayed in the aquarium: it is the empathy-free scientist, paranoid Cold War America, social normality obsessed with appearance, conformity, control. This film is fundamentally a manifesto from del Toro, asserting that humanity does not reside in man but in the capacity to love. Loving is the only engine of survival, as Leonard Cohen said in his song about the monstrous future he had foreseen in the early 1990s, with the end of bipolarity. Yet man is often incapable of loving. That is what makes him a monster. The monster, in inverse dynamics, accepts the most painful but also most beautiful learning—that of learning to love. This theme is brought to incandescence in Frankenstein , del Toro's dream project for thirty years, which finally finds its form. This is the foundational story of many monsters: the creature that never asked to come into the world, born from the whim of a narcissistic creator, a father intoxicated with power, a man who wants to steal from God the secret of life without assuming ethical responsibility. Frankenstein is the absolute condemned: one who has no place, no identity, no language. One whose only desire is to love and be loved. "I am alone," he says in Mary Shelley's novel. Frankenstein is nothing other than this monster in each of us, seeking love, so that we might finally fully access otherness, connection, humanity. Yet the world insists on designating him as a monster, regardless of facts, desire, will, or heart. He is condemned to rejection, without appeal. Yet Del Toro overturns the entire cinematic tradition here. The great James Whale had already given the monster a tragic, almost Christlike dimension in the earliest films about this figure brought to the screen— Frankenstein (1931), then the magnificent Bride of Frankenstein (1935), before the character became a staple of Hammer horror films; brilliantly parodied by Mel Brooks ( Young Frankenstein , 1974) or poorly theatricalized by Kenneth Branagh in 1994, with a major casting mistake—De Niro in the title role! But del Toro innovates: he offers the monster's perspective, its subjectivity, its stifled cry. He finally gives it a voice. The creature becomes a mirror—a mirror that man refuses to look into. Because he would see the truth—that the monster is him. This leitmotif is present throughout del Toro's work. In Hellboy (2004), where the child of the devil's inevitable trajectory is to lead the world to destruction, yet he chooses to rebel against his biological destiny—and conquer his freedom. In Nightmare Alley (2021), where the real monster is not the carnival beast but the man who sinks into the illusion of absolute power and mutilates himself psychically until he becomes what he believed he dominated: the beast. In Pacific Rim (2013), it is not the colossal creatures emerging from abyssal rifts that are monstrous, but the technological arrogance of a world believing it can control everything. Even Pinocchio (2022), in del Toro's hands, does not escape this law. As in Steven Spielberg's A.I. , the wooden boy is more human than the adults around him. The father, however, is imprisoned in his grief—wounded but tyrannical—and fascist society instrumentalizes the child as cannon fodder. Then there is El Espinazo del diablo (2001), a spectral and deeply moving film in which the ghost of a murdered child comes to haunt an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War. The ghost is not a specter of terror but a guardian of memory, the voice of justice against barbarism: killed innocence, literally. The ghost is here a witness. It does not constitute a threat. Del Toro's haunting is clear: the monster is a symptom of human violence. And if it comes into the world, it is because a tyrant, a scientist, a soldier, a father—has created it. It is impossible not to read this work in the light of psychoanalysis, insofar as what del Toro stages is nothing other than the rejected son, the sacrificed son, the impossible child, condemned to permanent misunderstanding. One thinks of course of Lacan and the foreclosure of the father's name. It is the figure of the child without place, crushed by the deadening paternal Law, the one that knows not love but only performance, discipline, or inheritance. It is also difficult not to think of Plato's Cave. The creature dares emerge from the shadows to seek humanity, but those who see it murder it. Del Toro is in fantasy cinema, but he is deeply rooted in his time and in reality. He tells us, through his fabulous images, the horror in which we live daily—as if he were delivering nothing less than a tragic meditation on our era. More than ever today, the world is filled with monster-makers and monster-traffickers: populists, fascists, fear engineers, scientists without ethics, gnostics of all kinds, propagandists who transform peoples into machines of hatred. The monster now doesn't even need to be created in a laboratory: it is manufactured through discourse, manipulation, social networks, closed identities, resentment, and purifying fantasy. Even artificially now, and always with our agreement, our legitimation, our participation. Strangely, the final season of the series Stranger Things seems to evolve around this same theme… In this sense, Guillermo del Toro is much more a political thinker, a dark prophet than a filmmaker—similar to what Cohen already announced in The Future in 1990, namely that humanity is in danger. But not because of monsters, but because of those who live off the need to manufacture them through hatred, violence, humiliation, exclusion. Del Toro whispers an urgent truth to us: it is time to look monsters in the eye. That is, to conduct our own examination of conscience before it's too late, to win within ourselves the most important battle: our last chance to remain human. So we do not all end up, like little Ophelia from the Pan's Labyrinth .