Cultural Identity
“The Imaginative Place”
“The Imaginative Place”
My project is focused on cultural identity. It is about my experience of leaving my home country, Lebanon, and migrating to Scotland, leaving behind my past, my people, and bringing only myself and my chaotic memories. During this period of relocation, and facing a new life and unpredictable fresh challenges, lots of mixed feelings have floated to the surface.
Research 1
“The Two Cities”
I started to collect photos, videos and sounds to unpack the fundamental differences specifically in architecture and the consequent rhythm and spirit of both cities.
Who Am I?
Moving to a new country and a different culture can change us forever! We spend our entire lives working ourselves out. Cultures, traditions, history, locations (in terms of geography, climate and architectural heritage), religions, languages, have shaped us in many different ways and have a powerful impact on our decisions and behaviour. Our subconscious has been fed on all this and is an extremely effective tool that plays an important role in our daily lives. However, how can an individual like myself be affected by relocating to a new place, and how has a new culture changed me?
Research 2
Street Posters
I found the street posters most interesting as they show and reflect the cultural aspects of both cities through music, plays etc. Here are some examples.
Since street posters are significant in representing culture in both cities, my idea is to create my design fused with street posters from each city: a creative mash-up that questions the culture clash with thought provoking detail and abstract.
Final Outcome
The idea of my project is to create an abstract fusion of Edinburgh and Beirut. This will be an imaginative place which combines the character of the two cities, by comparing and contrasting infused with some stories from my childhood and adolescence.
First Outcome
A collection of posters
Snapshot of a Life Still Defining
This artwork is a spontaneous approximation of myself in this uncertain surreal world. Involving contrasts of illusion and reality, past and future, war and peace, desperation and hope in entangled monochrome and colour. See the moment before it vanishes; the present is now past.
The Queen of the North
This is Edinburgh, the Queen of the North. Its ancient mysterious and unique beauty enduring throughout the centuries. Its garments constantly revealing various hues of black which add sorrow and sadness, beauty and elegance. Her distinctive smells evoking an aroma of both brewing and bread; reminiscent of eternal life and trade in the city. All this pervades the air and intoxicates us with an unusual, almost weird sense of cosiness and nostalgia; the present still connected to olden times.
Athens of the North in Coldness
‘Everything is hibernating, Mother Nature is hiding her treasures. The entire city is clad in black, as if abandoning its silent empty streets and mourning its barren gardens. The heavy dark clouds collide and compete with each other; who is biggest, the strongest, the most black? The sea is fierce and angry; its waves roaring loudly and pounding the shore intensely without mercy. But today is different, it is an unusual day; colourful, peaceful and quiet; an interlude from the season? A brief respite from winter’s dress.
Sabaho!
The morning for the Lebanese is always exquisitely connected to the senses. Typically starting with the aroma of Lebanese coffee (a combination of Arabia coffee and cardamom) and the spiritual melodies of traditional Lebanese music. Our Mediterranean temperament, innate sense of community and shared yearning for belonging awakes, as if anew, at the beginning of each new day.
The Yellow Windows
In the 70’s and 80’s, Beirut was a war zone. Shelters throughout the city were essential to protecting scarred families in their embattled daily life. Windows were covered with old yellow newspapers to protect those inside from broken glass. The colour and the smell of those newspapers, no longer read, are iconic of those days and times.
Bijoux
warmth, light, fun, sun, crowds…. Despite the cruelty of the civil war, this piece reflects the mood, the atmosphere and the lifestyle of Beirut. The traditional buildings almost huddled up to each other in the sunshine; caressing those who live there; embracing a community that gives life to the city.
Final Outcome
A Collection of 8 Posters
Final Outcome
From an offence on the psyche to an assault on the senses
The ultimate mash-up whereby I blended all the elements of the First Outcome with an instinctive and spontaneous conviction of delivery that synthesised these pieces into vibrant and engaging art. These pieces are the latest work testifying to a transformative journey; a fusion of somatic memory, childhood trauma, mourning and alienation transfused with academic discovery, cultural enlightenment, global rights of passage and personal growth. I was Beirut; I have never left. I am in Edinburgh; it enthuses me towards new expression ~ what was despair and confusion to remain unprocessed is now declared in a visceral riot of positive colour and joyous chaos: Beirut meet Edinburgh, Edinburgh say hello to Beirut.
