Where Art, Music, and Legacy Converge
Born in Baissour, Lebanon (1992), Ribal Molaeb moved to Salzburg at 17 to study at the Mozarteum and later earned a Master’s with distinction from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Raised in the studio of his father, acclaimed artist Jamil Molaeb, he absorbed painting early. Eight years in Vienna performing the viola at international festivals sharpened his colorist’s sense of rhythm and harmony.
Ribal is the Artistic Director of the Swiss “SUMITO” Art & Music Association and the founder of the Molaeb Festival for Chamber Music and Fine Arts in Lebanon. His work has shown in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Geneva, Basel, and Zürich, among other cities; a painting has been acquired by the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris. Highlights include solo presentations at VOLTA Basel 2024 and Zürich Art Fair 2024, and features at Art Paris 2022 and MENART Paris. He lives and works in Zürich and is represented by Saleh Barakat Gallery (Lebanon) and Mizoe Art Gallery (Japan).
Rooted in Lebanese 20th-century abstraction—Saliba Douaihy, Aref el Rayes, Shafic Abboud—and shaped by early training with his father, Ribal’s paintings pursue essentials: daybreak light, undulating mountains, open horizons. He focuses on balance between line, form, and finely graded color. Informed by musical training, his compositions carry a distinctly musical logic—harmonic, melodic, and poised.
Established in the tranquil village of Baissour, Mount Lebanon, the Jamil Molaeb Museum is a celebration of Lebanese art and culture. Founded between 2011 and 2015 by the acclaimed artist Jamil Molaeb, the museum preserves and promotes Lebanon’s rich artistic heritage.
The museum houses an extensive collection of Jamil Molaeb’s own work—ranging from paintings and mosaics to large-scale sculptures—alongside historical pieces from iconic Lebanese artists such as Shafic Abboud, Paul Guiragossian, Aref El Rayess, and Daoud Corm.
“I take refuge in painting, eliminating all what is unnecessary; a clear horizon, a world of warmth and serenity, nothing to worry about apart of the immaculate mystical beauty of life and nature.”
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