Schizopoésie

April, 2018

"Schizopoésie" is a novel experiment in Arabic lettering that took form as an exhibition of 20 visuals at the French Institute in Beirut, Lebanon, from April 5 till April 28, 2018. The title of the exhibition "Schizopoésie" is a wordplay mixing two words: schizophrenia and poetry (in French). In "Schizopoésie" I utilized the French language in visual typographic explorations that reproduce French poetry verses, written by Lebanese Francophone poets, in Arabic through a transliteration process, hence the "schizo" part. Every artwork transmits to the viewer an image that illustrates the verse from my point of view without necessarily conveying the dimensions of the original meaning. I believe that language, images, thought, and imagination would eventually be useless if one does not innovate them every day through a new vision.

The Artworks
La Goutte d'Or
La Goutte d'Or
Byblos
Byblos
La Colline Sacrée
La Colline Sacrée
Les Fenêtres
Les Fenêtres
Vide Plein
Vide Plein
Ton Corps
Ton Corps
Soleil Nouveau
Soleil Nouveau
Sagesse
Sagesse
Grain Céleste
Grain Céleste
Indifférence
Indifférence
La Nuit
La Nuit
Enfance Suspendue
Enfance Suspendue
Promesse du Matin
Promesse du Matin
Silence
Silence
Solitude
Solitude
Genèse
Genèse
La Virgule
La Virgule
Liberté
Liberté
Nostalgie
Nostalgie
Noblesse
Noblesse
The Opening Night
SCHIZOPOÉSIE in switzerland!
January, 2019
"Schizopoésie" was presented to the Swiss audience as part of "Yalla Habibi!" a cultural Lebanese weekend organized by "Collectif Fattouch" in cooperation with Nouveau Monde. The weekend featured the launch of the exhibition, a crazy Lebanese oldies disco night, an architecture conference by MAD Architecture, an oriental jazz concert by Sari & Ayad Khalifé, cooking classes, an Arabic lettering class that I gave, a traditional Dabké dance class by Amanda Abi Rached and a film screening + brunch on the last day.
The overall reaction of the Swiss audience was amazing and made us realize how lucky we are to have our heritage while thinking of ways to pass it to other cultures.

Un week-end de culture libanaise | La Liberté Newspaper
The catalog of the exhibition in the Swiss snow
The catalog of the exhibition in the Swiss snow
Article in La Liberté Newspaper
Article in La Liberté Newspaper
Collectif Fattouch live DJ performance
Collectif Fattouch live DJ performance
MAD Architecture conference
MAD Architecture conference
Sari & Ayad Khalifé concert
Sari & Ayad Khalifé concert