In the Name of Identity
Artist Book (EN + AR)
2022
BFA Thesis | American University of Beirut
Advisor: Yara Khoury
150 x 225 mm
Coptic stitch
Lyon Text
In the form of an artist book, my final year project was a bilingual visual interpretation of Amin Maalouf’s essay, In the Name of Identity, Violence, and the Need to Belong. He argues that we as individuals can accept our many allegiances and still fit in without abandoning who we are. Maalouf writes from the standpoint of someone with an array of allegiances, experiences, and backgrounds.
As a Lebanese living in the diaspora with multiple allegiances, to me, this seemed to be the most touching story. “For it is often the way we look at other people that imprisons them within their own narrowest allegiances. And it is also the way we look at them that may set them free.” Maalouf’s book, often described as a heartfelt meditation on identity, quintessentially sums up my experiences and beliefs.
The central concept of this artist book is duality, indicating that we have no definite connection to one place or another. This duality is weaved into the book through two entities placed across one another, depicting cities, currencies, photographs, and identity cards.
This duality is not just portrayed through images, but also through the various mediums utilized in the book. Digital photography versus analog photography and Digital type versus Transfer type. These entities appear and disintegrate into the spreads.