This blog is about Arabic typography, so how come there’s so much politics on it? Last month I was in Stockholm and I was interviewed by a magazine. The editor asked me, does the situation of Lebanon (past and present) affect my views on Arabic typography, and I quickly said,”of course.”
I am Lebanese, and I grew up in Beirut in the middle of a bloody civil war. Is there any chance that I could have grown up without any traces of that? My views on Arabic type very much echo my views in politics. Is it any surprise that all my work is about dialogue between opposing entities? About creating harmony so that there’s no more fighting? It was quite a thoughtful thing to ask and I had not expected it. Still, it’s true. We don’t live in a vacuum. Ideas have to come from somewhere. Is it possible to be an Arab, a Lebanese, and a woman today, and not be affected by the tragedies that unfold every day?
To be Lebanese is a very difficult thing. It’s a tiny country with a very sad story. If I were of another nationality, I might have thought that politics is about health care and pensions and taxes and whatelse. But to be an Arab today, politics is about life, and its destruction. Look at Iraq, at Palestine, at Lebanon… How much worse will it get before it gets better? Is it possible to be Lebanese and not to feel the pain of an Israeli invasion? Is it possible to speak about typography, which is essentially about communication, when the Lebanese are engaged in screaming matches rather than dialogue? Could there be beauty amongst all the fear and the rage and the despair and the madness?
Typography is means to an end. Arabic typography is half Arabic and half typography. It is not possible to seperate letterforms from the reality in which they will appear. To understand Arabic typography is to understand first what is Arabic.
Funnily enough, the entire trouble with Lebanon is a question of identity.
Are we Arabs? Are we involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict? Do we support the States or Iran? France or Syria? Apples or oranges? On which side do we break the egg? This last bit is from Gulliver’s Travels. The one thing that the Lebanese *do* agree on is that our cuisine is the finest in the world. And our weather. And our beaches and mountains. And our accent, our fun-loving way of life, our fashion, and definitely our women. The list goes on. Funny thing, if the Lebanese are so proud of being Lebanese, then why the hell do they keep fighting each other like this?
Tonight we are on the brinks of a new civil war. You’d think the first time was bad enough, but no… Why learn from past mistakes when we can just do them all over again? We have almost the same “equipe” that brought us the first one so why not? Shu warana? Drinks are on the house…