Hala Matta

Biography

Hala Matta was born in Beirut in 1970. Her career is quite atypical. After a Master’s degree in banking and finance at the Sorbonne University, she worked in the banking sector, then in the luxury industry, for 20 years. She worked for Louis Vuitton, as marketing director for the Middle East and India; she also opened the Louis Vuitton store in Beirut. After this experience in the corporate world, Hala Matta decided to change direction to become a ceramicist. In this perspective, she took several training courses with renowned ceramicists and participated in workshops in Denmark, Paris, Greece and Egypt. Her favourite firing technique is the Raku developed in Japan from in 16th century. Initially developed to make bowls for the tea ceremony, this delicate creative process is based on particular firing techniques, which make each object created a unique piece. She opened her workshop in Beirut in 2015 and in Paris in 2021.

After first making utilitarian objects (bowls, vases, lamps), Hala Matta oriented her production related to the arts of fire towards decorative objects and art objects that appeal as much to the talent of the sculptor as that of the potter. She creates decorative wall panels and colourful glazed stoneware totem poles with clean lines, masks, decorative plates with refined graphics. She has long since left the craft field for artistic creation. By renouncing any ornamental overload, the artist reconnects with the centuries-year-old tradition of pottery as preserved by archaeological museums in the Middle East. However, the Raku technique allows her to free herself from a geographically or temporally marked aesthetic, to reach a more universal dimension.

Hala Matta’s works have been exhibited in Paris, Brussels, London, New York and Beirut. They are listed in European public sales catalogues.